In 1989, Forbes magazine ranked Escobar as the seventh richest person in the world, with a personal fortune of nearly $25 billion, while his Medellin cartel controls 80 percent of the global cocaine market. Although Escobar is seen as an enemy of the United States and the Colombian government, he is a hero to many in Medellin, especially the poor. A natural at public relations, he worked to build goodwill among Colombia’s poor. A lifelong sports fan, he is credited with building football fields and multi-sport fields and sponsoring minor league football teams.
Escobar appears to have been responsible for building many of the churches in Medellín, making him popular with the local Roman Catholic Church. He worked hard to maintain his “Robin Hood” image, and often donated money to the poor through public welfare activities such as building houses, and enjoyed a high reputation among the poor. People in Medellin often helped Escobar by serving as guards, withholding information from authorities or doing everything they could to protect him.
Despite his popularity in the Medellin community, Escobar was seen among his business associates as an insecure, paranoid and ruthless killer. His brother reportedly said Pablo was so loyal that he once threatened him at gunpoint over a minor misunderstanding. His brother said his ability to befriend dangerous people and intimidate powerful ones made him as unstoppable as he was. At the height of his power, drug dealers from Medellin and elsewhere handed Escobar 20 to 35 percent of their cocaine profits in Colombia.
Escobar’s ongoing struggle to maintain his supremacy meant that Colombia quickly became the murder capital of the world, with 7,081 casualties in 1991 alone. Escobar offered money to poor young people as rewards for killing police officers, contributing to a rise in murders, in which more than 600 people died.
