Pablo Escobar and Prestige oil spill: Difference between pages

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'''{{Infobox Criminal
| subject_name = Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria
| image_name = Traqueticopabloescobar.png
| image_size = 160px
| image_caption =
| date_of_birth = {{birth date|1949|12|1|mf=y}}
| place_of_birth = [[Rionegro, Antioquia|Rionegro]], [[Antioquia Department|Antioquia]]
| date_of_death = {{death date and age|1993|12|2|1949|12|1}}
| place_of_death = [[Medellín]]
| alias = El Patrón, El Doctor
| conviction = [[Illegal drug trade|Drug trafficking and smuggling]], [[Racket (crime)|racketeering]], [[money laundering]], [[murder]]
| penalty =
| status = Killed
| occupation = Head of the [[Medellín Cartel]]
| spouse = [[Maria Victoria Henao de Escobar]]
| parents =
| children = Juan Pablo and Manuela Escobar}}


[[Image:PrestigeVolunteersInGaliciaCoast.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Volunteers cleaning the coastline in Galicia in the aftermath of the Prestige catastrophe, March, 2002]]
'''Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria''', a.k.a. '''El Patrón''' or '''El Doctor''' ([[December 1]], [[1949]] – [[December 2]], [[1993]]) gained world [[infamy]] as a [[Colombian People|Colombian]] [[drug lord]]. Escobar became so wealthy from the drug trade that in 1989 [[Forbes|''Forbes'' magazine]] listed him as the seventh richest man in the world.<ref>[http://www.cocaine.org/colombia/pablo-escobar.html Pablo Escobar (1949 - 1993)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


The '''''Prestige''''' was an [[oil tanker]] whose sinking in [[2002]] off the [[Galicia (Spain)|Galician]] coast caused a large [[oil spill]]. The spill polluted thousands of [[kilometer]]s of [[coastline]] and more than one thousand [[beach]]es on the [[Spain|Spanish]] and [[France|French]] coast, as well as causing great damage to the local [[fishing|fishing industry]]. The spill is the largest [[environmental disaster]] in [[History of Spain|Spain's history]].
He is considered to be the most ambitious and powerful drug lord in history. His brutal ruthlessness was also legendary; he would kill anyone who stood in his way and was responsible for the killing of 30 judges, 457 policemen, and other deaths at a rate of 20 each day for two months. In total it is said he is directly responsible for the deaths of over 4,000 people.
<ref>[http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article231650.ece Killing Pablo, by Mark Bowden - Reviews, Books - Independent.co.uk<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


==Early years==
==The Event==
The ''Prestige'' was a [[Greece|Greek]]-operated (Coulouthros family), single-[[hull (ship)|hulled]] oil tanker, officially registered in the [[Bahamas]], but with a [[Liberia]]n-registered single-purpose corporation as the owner.


The ship had a deadweight tonnage, or carrying capacity, of approximately 81,000 tons, a measurement that put it at the small end of the "aframax" class of tankers, smaller than most carriers of crude oil but larger than most carriers of refined products. It was [[classification society|classed]] by the American Bureau of Shipping and insured by the London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association, a shipowners' mutual known as the London Club.
Pablo Escobar and Carolina Moreno began their criminal lives while they were still in school by stealing [[tombstone]]s and selling them to smugglers from Panama. When they were teenagers they began to steal cars from the streets of [[Medellín]]. They became involved in other rackets which led them to become powerful figures in their area. They also allegedly stole headstones from graveyards and sold them in other villages of the department of [[Antioquia]] (this allegation has never been proven).{{Fact|date=December 2007}} They eventually moved into the [[cocaine]] business and began building an enormous drug empire during the 1970s, which eventually became known as the [[Medellín Cartel]].


[[Image:Bay of Biscay map.png|thumb|right|300px|The French, Spanish and Portuguese governments refused to allow the ''Prestige'' to dock in their ports.]]
Their reputations grew after a well known Medellín drug dealer named [[Fabio Restrepo]] was murdered in 1975, reportedly by Escobar, from whom he had purchased 14 kilograms of cocaine, after which all of Restrepo's men were informed that they were to work for Escobar. In May 1976, Escobar and several of his men were arrested after returning from a drug run to [[Ecuador]]. As the case against Escobar was being made, he tried to bribe the judge but was unsuccessful. After many months of legal wrangling, Escobar had the two arresting officers killed and the case was dropped. Here began his pattern of dealing with the authorities by either bribing them or killing them.
On [[November 13]], [[2002]], while the Prestige was carrying a 77,000-ton cargo of two different grades of heavy fuel oil, one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], in northwestern Spain. Fearing that the ship would sink, the captain called for help from Spanish rescue workers, with the expectation that the vessel would be brought into harbour. However, pressure from local authorities forced the captain to steer the embattled ship away from the coast and head northwest. Reportedly after pressure from the French government, the vessel was once again forced to change its course and head southwards into Portuguese waters in order to avoid endangering France's southern coast. Fearing for its own shore, the Portuguese authorities promptly ordered its navy to intercept the ailing vessel and prevent it from approaching further.

==Gaining notoriety==
{{Medellin Cartel}}
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:DASbomb.jpg|thumb|left|Effects of the bomb in [[Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad]] (DAS) building and Paloquemao trade Center. [[December 6]], [[1989]]]] -->

In 1982, Escobar was elected as a deputy/alternate representative to the Chamber of Representatives of [[Congress of Colombia|Colombia's Congress]], as part of the [[Colombian Liberal Party]].<ref> "Así conocí a Pablo Escobar". Revista Semana. May 12, 2007.</ref>

During the 1980s, Escobar became known internationally as his drug network gained notoriety; ''[[Medellín Cartel|El Cartel de Medellín]]'' controlled a large portion of the drugs that entered into the United States, [[Mexico]], [[Puerto Rico]], and the [[Dominican Republic]] with [[cocaine]] brought mostly from [[Peru]] and [[Bolivia]], as Colombian [[coca]] was initially of substandard quality. Escobar's product reached many other nations, mostly around the [[Americas]], although it is said that his network reached as far as [[Asia]].
With the French, Spanish and Portuguese governments refusing to allow the ship to dock in their ports, the integrity of the single hulled oil tanker was deteriorating quickly and soon the storm took its toll when it was reported that a huge 40-foot section of the starboard hull had broken off, releasing a substantial amount of oil.
Escobar bribed countless government officials, judges and other politicians. He often personally executed uncooperative subordinates and routinely had anyone else he viewed as a threat murdered. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of individuals, including civilians, policemen and state officials. Corruption and intimidation characterized Escobar's dealings with the Colombian system. He had an effective, inescapable policy in dealing with law enforcement and the government, referred to as "''plata o plomo''," (which in Spanish literally means "silver or lead," but in [[Colombian Spanish|Colombian slang]] loosely translates to<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO SILVER OR LEAD--> "money or bullets"<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO SILVER OR LEAD-->). This term referred to a bribee's option of either taking the bribe or facing death at the hands of the Medellín Cartel. Escobar was responsible for the murder of Colombian presidential candidate [[Luis Carlos Galán]], one of three assassinated candidates who were all competing in the same election, as well as the bombing of [[Avianca Flight 203]] and the [[DAS Building bombing]] in [[Bogotá]] in 1989. The Cartel de Medellín was also involved in a deadly drug war with its primary rival, the [[Cartel De Cali]], for most of its existence.


At around 8:00 AM on [[November 19]], the ship split in half, and sank completely that same afternoon releasing over 20 million gallons of oil into the sea. The oil tanker was reported to be about 250 kilometers from the Spanish coast at that time. An earlier oil slick had already reached the coast. The Greek captain of the ''Prestige'', [[Apostolos Mangouras]], was taken into custody, accused of not co-operating with [[Marine_salvage|salvage]] crews and of harming the environment.
It has been claimed{{Weasel-inline}} that Escobar was behind the 1985 [[Palace of Justice siege|storming of the Colombian Supreme Court]] by left-wing guerrillas from the [[19th of April Movement]], also known as M-19, which resulted in the murder of half the judges on the court. Some of these claims were included in a late 2006 report by a Truth Commission of three judges of the current Supreme Court. One of the included claims was made by "Popeye", a former Escobar hitman. At the time of the siege, the Supreme Court was studying the constitutionality of Colombia's extradition treaty with the U.S.<ref>[http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Noviembre162006/pablo.html El Pais - Cali Colombia nacional “Pablo Escobar financió la toma del Palacio de Justicia” “Escobar financió toma del Palacio de Justicia”<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Former M-19 leaders that did not participate in the events have denied that the druglord was behind the assault on the Supreme Court.


After the sinking, the wreck continued leaking oil. It leaked approximately 125 [[Ton|tons]] of oil a day, which polluted the sea bed and contaminated the coastline, especially along the territory of Galicia. The affected area is not only a very important ecological region, supporting [[coral reef|coral reefs]] and many species of [[shark|sharks]] and [[bird|birds]], but it also supports the crucial fishing industry. The heavy coastal pollution forced the region's government to suspend offshore fishing for six months.
==Height of power==
[[Image:Pescobar.png|thumb|right|500px|Pablo Escobar at the height of power]] In 1989, at the height of his empire's power, ''Forbes'' magazine estimated Escobar to be the seventh-richest man in the world; the Medellín cartel was taking in up to $30 billion annually and controlled 80 percent of the global cocaine market.


==Cleanup==
While seen as an enemy of the United States and Colombian governments, Escobar was a hero to many in Medellín (especially people in poverty); he was a natural at [[public relations]] and he worked to create goodwill among Colombia's poor. A lifelong sports fan, he was credited with building [[football (soccer)|football]] fields and multi-sports courts, sponsoring also little league football (soccer) teams as well as [[Atletico Nacional]].
[[Image:Nunca Máis Flag.jpg|thumb|[[Plataforma Nunca Máis|Nunca Máis]] Flag]]
In the subsequent months, thousands of volunteers were organized by the Galician and Spanish Governments to help clean the affected coastline. The massive cleaning campaign was a success, recovering most portions of coastline not only from the effects of the oil spill but also from the accumulated usual contamination. A year after the spill Galicia had more [[Blue Flag beach|Blue Flags]] for its beaches (an award for those beaches with the highest standards in the European Union) than in the previous years.


Initially, the government thought just 17,000 tons of oil had been lost, and that the remaining 60,000 tons would freeze and not leak from the sunken tanker. In early 2003, it announced that half of the oil had been lost. Now that figure has risen to about 63,000 tons according to some sources. In 2004 the remaining 13.000 m³ of cargo oil was removed from the wreck, by means of aluminium shuttles and remote operated vehicles. In total, 20 million gallons of oil were spilled.
Pablo Escobar was also responsible for the construction of many churches in Medellín, which gained him popularity inside the local [[Roman Catholic Church]].<ref name="Killing Pablo">Mark: The Hunt For The World's Greatest Outlaw." Atlantic Monthly Press, New York 2001</ref> He worked hard to cultivate his "[[Robin Hood]]" image, and frequently distributed money to the poor through housing projects and other civic activities, which gained him notable popularity among the poor. The population of Medellín often helped Escobar by serving as lookouts, hiding information from the authorities, or doing whatever else they could do to protect him.


More than eighty per cent of the tanker's 77,000 tons of fuel oil is now thought to have been spilled off Spain's north-west coast.
At the height of his power, drug traffickers from Medellín and other areas were handing over between 20 to 35% of their Columbian cocaine-related profits to Escobar.


Experts predicted marine life could suffer pollution from the ''Prestige'' for at least ten years due to the type of oil spilt, which contain light fractions called [[Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon|polyaromatic hydrocarbon]]s. These toxic chemicals could poison plankton, fish eggs and crustaceans, leading to [[carcinogen]]ic effects in fish and other animals higher in the food chain.
===La Catedral prison===
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Dianaturbay.JPG|thumb|Monument to [[Diana Turbay]].


The environmental damage caused by the Prestige was most severe in the coast of Galicia, where some local activists founded the environmental movement ''[[Plataforma Nunca Máis|Nunca Máis]]'' (Galician for Never Again), dedicated to "[[Agitprop|agit-prop]]" against the government.
The kidnapping and assassination of this Colombian journalist, among others, was intended to create pressure against the [[extradition]] treaty with USA]] -->


==Aftermath==This oil spill cost 50 billion dollars to clean up.
After the assassination of [[Luis Carlos Galán]], then a current presidential candidate, the administration of [[César Gaviria]] moved against Escobar and the drug cartels. Eventually, the government negotiated with Escobar, convincing him to surrender and cease all criminal activity in exchange for a reduced sentence and preferential treatment during his captivity.
===Hull cleanup===
In the two years following the sinking, engineers used robots to seal cracks in the tanker's hull, now 4000 meters below the sea surface, and slowed the leakage to a trickle of 20 litres a day. By 2004, engineers had removed the oil still in the tanker by drilling of small holes in the wreck, using remotely operated submersibles like the one that originally explored the wreck of the [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']]. The oil was then pumped into large aluminium shuttles, especially manufactured for this salvage operation. The filled shuttles where then floated to the surface. The original plan to fill large bags with the oil proved to be too problematic and slow. After the oil removal was completed, a slurry rich in microbiologic agents was pumped in the hold to speed up the breakdown of any remaining oil. The total estimated cost of the operation was over €100 million.


A recent report by the Galicia-based [[Barrie de la Maza]] economic institute criticised the Spanish government's handling of the catastrophe. It estimated the cost of the clean-up to the Galician coast alone at €2.5 billion. The clean-up of the ''[[Exxon Valdez]]'' cost US$3 billion.
After declaring an end to a series of previous violent or [[terrorism|terrorist]] acts meant to pressure authorities and public opinion, Escobar turned himself in. He was confined in what became his own luxurious private prison, ''[[La Catedral]]''. Before Escobar gave himself up, the extradition of Colombian citizens had been prohibited by the newly approved [[Colombian Constitution of 1991]]. That was controversial, as it was suspected that Escobar or other druglords had influenced members of the Constituent Assembly.


Since the disaster, oil tankers similar to the ''Prestige'' have been directed away from the French and Spanish coastlines. The then European Commissioner for Transport, Spaniard [[Loyola de Palacio]], pushed for the ban of single-hulled tankers.
Accounts of Escobar's continued criminal activities began to surface in the media. Escobar brought the Moncada and Galeano brothers to La Catedral and murdered them, accusing them of stealing from the cartel.{{fact}} When the government found out that Escobar was continuing his criminal activities from La Catedral, it attempted to move Escobar to another jail on [[July 22]], [[1992]]. Escobar escaped (or more accurately walked out), fearing that he could be extradited to the United States.


The government was criticized for its decision to tow the ailing wreck out to sea &mdash; where it split in two &mdash; rather than into a port. [[World Wildlife Fund]]'s senior policy officer for shipping, Simon Walmsley believed most of the blame lay with the classification society. "It was reported as being substandard at one of the ports it visited before Spain. The whole inspection regime needs to be revamped and double-hulled tankers used instead," he says. The US and most other countries are phasing out single-hulled tankers by 2012.
=== Search Bloc and Los Pepes ===
{{See also|Los Pepes|Search Bloc}}


===Legal Consequences===
In 1992 United States [[Delta Force]] operators (and later [[Navy SEAL]]s from [[SEAL Team Six]]) joined the all-out manhunt for Escobar. They trained and advised a special Colombian police task force, known as the [[Search Bloc]], which had been created to locate Escobar. Later, as the conflict between Escobar and United States and Colombian governments dragged on and the numbers of his enemies grew, a [[vigilante]] group known as ''[[Los Pepes]]'' ('''Los Pe'''rseguidos por '''P'''ablo '''Es'''cobar - People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar), financed by the [[Cali Cartel]] and [[Carlos Castaño]] (among others), carried out a bloody campaign fueled by thirst for [[vengeance]] in which more than 300 of Escobar's associates and relatives were slain and large amounts of his cartel's property were destroyed.
For the world maritime industry, a key issue raised by the Prestige incident was whether classification societies can be held responsible for the consequences of incidents of this type. In May 2003, the Kingdom of Spain brought civil suit in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] against the [[American Bureau of Shipping]] (ABS), the Houston-based international classification society that had certified the Prestige as "in class" for its final voyage. The "in class" status states that the vessel is in compliance with all applicable rules and laws, not that it is or is not safe. On 02 January 2007, the docket in that lawsuit (SDNY 03-cv-03573) was dismissed. The presiding judge ruled that ABS is a "person" as defined by the [[International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage]] (CLC) and, as such, is exempt from direct liability for pollution damage. Additionally, the Judge ruled that, since the United States is not a signatory to the International CLC, the US Courts lack the necessary jurisdiction to adjudicate the case. Spain's original damage claim against ABS was some $700 million.


International maritime trade publications including TradeWinds, Fairplay and Lloyd's List regularly presented the dispute as a possibly precedent-setting one that could prove fateful for international classification societies, whose assets are dwarfed by the scale of claims to which they could become subject.
Some observers<ref name="Killing Pablo"/> claim that members of the Search Bloc, and also of Colombian and United States intelligence agencies, in their efforts to find and punish Escobar, either colluded with ''Los Pepes'' or moonlighted as both Search Bloc and ''Los Pepes'' simultaneously. This coordination was allegedly conducted mainly through the sharing of intelligence in order to allow ''Los Pepes'' to bring down Escobar and his few remaining allies, but there are reports that some individual Search Bloc members directly participated in missions of the ''Los Pepes'' death squads.<ref name="Killing Pablo"/> This brings into question the role the United States played in gathering intelligence on Escobar's organization, because some of this information was later used by the ''Los Pepes'' organization in its crusade of retributive executions.<ref name="Killing Pablo"/> One of the leaders of ''Los Pepes'' was [[Diego Murillo Bejarano]] (also known as "Don Berna"), a former Medellín Cartel associate who became a drug kingpin and eventually emerged as a leader of one of the most powerful factions within the [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia|AUC]]. Some have speculated that Murillo would have admitted to his organizations' potential connections to the U.S. if it were not for some unforeseen circumstances{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.


The Spanish government had promised an investment plan for Galicia across several years, which was cancelled by the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|Socialist Party]] after the change in Government in March 2004. In the following local elections, the [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] got good results at the affected [[Costa da Morte]].
==Personal life==
In March 1976 at the age of 27, Escobar married Maria Victoria when she was 15 years old. Together they had two children: Juan Pablo and Manuela. Escobar was known to have affairs, and as time went on he increasingly preferred teen and underage girls {{Fact|date=June 2008}}. Pablo Escobar created and lived in a luxurious estate called ''[[Hacienda Napoles]]'' (Spanish for ''Naples Ranch'') and had planned to construct a Greek-style [[citadel]] near it. Construction of the citadel was started but was never finished. The ranch, the zoo and the citadel were expropriated by the government and given to low-income families in the 1990s under a law called ''extinción de dominio'' (domain extinction). The property is currently being converted to a theme park.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7390584.stm]


===Relatives===
===Investigation===
One of Escobar's surviving relatives is his cousin [[José Obdulio Gaviria]]. Former member of the political movement ''[[Firmes]]'', which supported the 1982 presidential aspiration of leftwing politician [[Gerardo Molina]], José Obdulio Gaviria became politically close to [[Álvaro Uribe]], within the [[Colombian Liberal Party]] in Antioquia. Two of Gaviria's brothers were detained in the U.S. during 1983 on drug-related charges.<ref>http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=94241</ref><ref>[http://www.eltiempo.com/finano/loshechosdelao/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_ESPECIALES-3375995.html EL TIEMPO.COM - Especial fin de año -> Esta es la historia de José Obdulio Gaviria: el escudero del presidente<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
After Uribe's election in 2002, Gaviria became one of his presidential advisors and has been said to be his "[[ideologue]]", often defending Uribe's government before the media. According to ''[[La Otra Verdad]]'' journalist Julio César García Vásquez, Escobar's and Uribe's families are genealogically related, sharing a distant ancestor.<ref>[http://www.laotraverdadpi.com/LAZOS.htm Documento sin título<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


{{cquote|The environmental devastation caused is at least on a par, if not worse, than the [[Exxon Valdez Oil Spill|Exxon Valdez]]. The amount of oil spilled is more than the ''Valdez'' and the toxicity is higher, because of the higher temperatures.|20px|20px|''Simon Walmsley''|[[World Wildlife Fund|World Wildlife Fund's]] senior policy officer for shipping.}}
==Death and afterward==
[[Image:Pabloisdead.png|thumb|right|250px|[[Colombian National Police|Colombian policemen]] standing by Pablo Escobar's dead body on roof.]]


The massive environmental and financial costs of the spill has resulted in an ongoing inquiry into how a structurally deficient ship was able to travel out to sea, much less approach Spain.
The war against Escobar ended on [[December 2]], [[1993]], as he tried to elude the Search Bloc one more time. Using radio [[triangulation]] technology provided as part of the United States efforts, a Colombian electronic surveillance team found him hiding in a middle-class [[barrio]] in Medellín.


Investigators have since learned that prior to the spill the Prestige had set sail from [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]], [[Russia]], without being properly inspected. It traveled to the [[Atlantic]] via the shallow and vulnerable [[Baltic Sea]]. A previous captain who complained about numerous structural deficiencies within the ship was rebuffed, and later resigned in protest.
The shootout between Escobar and the Search Bloc personnel ensued after the house was located. How Escobar was killed during the confrontation has been debated but it is known that he was cornered on the rooftops of Medellín and after a prolonged gunfight, suffered gunshots to the leg, torso, and the fatal one in his ear. It has never been proven who actually fired the final shot into Escobar's head, whether this shot was made during the gunfight or as part of possible execution, and there is wide speculation about the subject. His brother, Roberto Escobar, believes that he shot himself through the ears: "He committed suicide, he did not get killed. During all the years they went after him, he would say to me every day that if he was really cornered without a way out, he would shoot himself through the ears and he shot himself through the ears."<ref>Zero Hour: Killing of the Cocaine King (documentary)</ref>


The ownership of the ''Prestige'' is unclear, making it difficult to determine exactly who is responsible for the oil spill. Evidence is now pointing to a secretive [[Greece|Greek]] family who allegedly registered the ship to a front company in [[Liberia]]. Thus the Prestige sinking has exposed the difficulties in regulation posed by [[flags of convenience]].
After Escobar's death, the Medellín Cartel fragmented and the cocaine market soon became dominated by the rival [[Cali Cartel]], until the mid-1990s when its leaders, too, were either killed or captured by the government.


Others have argued that the Spanish government's refusal to allow the ship to take refuge in a sheltered port was a major contributing factor to the scale of the disaster.
The Robin Hood image that he had cultivated continued to have lasting influence in Medellín, as many there, especially many of the city's poor that had been aided by him while he was alive, lamented his death.


Recently, Spanish investigators have concluded that the failure in the Prestige's hull was entirely predictable and indeed had been predicted already: the Prestige's two sister ships, Alexandros and Centaur, had been submitted to extensive inspections under the "Safe Hull" program in 1996. The company which was in charge of the inspections, the [[American Bureau of Shipping]], found that both Alexandros and Centaur were in terminal decline. Due to metal fatigue in their hulls, modeling predicted that both ships would fail at holds 61 and 71 within five years. Alexandros, Centaur and a third sister ship, Apanemo were scrapped between 1999 and 2002. For some reason, however, Prestige was not scrapped, and, little more than five years after the inspection, as predicted, Prestige's hull failed between holds 61 and 71.<ref>Mercado, Francisco, El Pais, June 9, 2008, "El fallo estructural que hundió al 'Prestige' era conocido desde 1996", retrieved June 9 2008 from http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/fallo/estructural/hundio/Prestige/era/conocido/1996/elppgl/20080609elpepinac_12/Tes</ref>
=== Exhumation ===
[[Image:pabloescobook.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Colombian National Police|Colombian policemen]] posing by Pablo Escobar's dead body. Mark Bowden's book cover.]]
On [[October 28]], [[2006]], Escobar's body was exhumed by request of his nephew Nicolás Escobar, two days after the death of mother Hermilda Gaviria (who opposed exhumation) to verify that the body in the tomb was in fact that of Escobar and also to collect [[DNA]] for a paternity test claim. According to the report by the ''[[El Tiempo]]'' newspaper, Escobar's ex-wife Maria Victoria was present recording the exhumation with a video camera. Some of the family members believe that Escobar could have committed suicide.<ref>[http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2006-11-08/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3317670.html {{es icon}} EL TIEMPO - Pablo Escobar's body exhumed]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVZoULtUCd8 Video of Escobar's exhumation {{es icon}}]</ref>


==Recent Developments==
===Virginia Vallejo's claims===
In [[March 2006]], new oil slicks were detected near the wreck of the Prestige which investigators found to match the type of oil the Prestige carried. A study released December 2006 led by José Luis De Pablos, a physicist at Madrid's Center for Energetic and Environmental Research, concluded that 16,000 to 23,000 tons of oil remained in the wreck, as opposed to 700 to 1300 tons claimed by the Spanish government; that bioremediation of the remaining oil failed; and that bacteria corroding the hull could soon produce a rupture and quickly release much of the remaining oil and create another catastrophic spill. The report urged the government to take "prompt" action. -Science Vol. 314 December 22, 2006, p. 1861.
{{See also|Virginia Vallejo|Alberto Santofimio|Alfonso López Michelsen|Ernesto Samper|Álvaro Uribe}}
[[Virginia Vallejo]], one of Pablo Escobar's lovers, released a book published in 2007 titled ''Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar'', where she accused several past and present politicians of being involved with Escobar and other drug traffickers in different capacities, including [[Alberto Santofimio]], Presidents [[Alfonso López Michelsen]], [[Ernesto Samper]] and [[Álvaro Uribe]].
President Uribe denied Vallejo's allegations.<ref>{{cite article | first=Simon | last=Romero | pages=1 | title=Colombian Leader Disputes Claim of Tie to Cocaine Kingpin | date=October 3, 2007 | publisher=[[New York Times]] | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/world/americas/03colombia.html?ex=1349150400&en=5b0977a0af0df0c6&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite article | first=Francesc | last=Relea | pages=1 | title=‘That Blessed Lad’: Why Drug Lord Pablo Escobar Idolised the Colombian President | date=October 17, 2007 | publisher=[[Znet]] | url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=14063}}</ref>


==References==
==In popular culture==
<references/>
{{Refimprove|date=May 2008}}
*''[http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994100 Prestige oil spill far worse than thought]'', article from ''New Scientist'', August 27, 2003
[[Image:Pabloescopaint.png|thumb|right|170px|Artist [[Fernando Botero]], a native of Antioquia, the same region as Escobar, portrayed Pablo Escobar's death in one of his paintings about the violence in Colombia.]]
* ''[[Escobar (2009 film)|Escobar]]'' is a film based on the life of Pablo Escobar, starring [[Edgar Ramirez]] and directed by [[Antoine Fuqua]]. Expected to be released in late 2008 or early 2009
* Escobar is depicted in the 2001 drama film ''[[Blow (film)|Blow]] ''in which Escobar, played by [[Cliff Curtis]], becomes a business contact of the main character [[George Jung]].
* Photographer James Mollison's book ''The Memory of Pablo Escobar'' tells Pablo's story with over 350 photographs and documents. The journalist Rainbow Nelson conducted over 100 interviews with family members, Medellin Cartel associates, Colombian police & judges, and survivors of Escobar's killing sprees.
* The hunt for Escobar was documented in [[Mark Bowden]]'s book ''[[Killing Pablo]]''. A TV movie based on the book was titled ''The True Story of Killing Pablo'',<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365866/ The True Story of Killing Pablo (2002) (TV)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. It often plays on The History Channel. A [[motion picture]] based on this book is scheduled for release sometime in 2009.<ref>[http://imdb.com/title/tt0284236/ Killing Pablo (2009)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* Escobar is depicted in the 2006 documentary film ''[[Cocaine cowboys|Cocaine Cowboys]].''
* The 2007 film ''Pablo of Medellín'' by Jorge Granier-Phelps explores the mixed legacy of a man hailed in the Barrio as a saint while despised elsewhere as a demon.
* The plot and characters of the [[Tom Clancy]] novel ''[[Clear and Present Danger]]'' (and subsequent [[Clear and Present Danger (film)|motion picture]] of the same name) are similar, featuring a Colombian drug lord named "Ernesto Escobedo".
* [[Gabriel Garcia Marquez]]' book, ''News of a Kidnapping'', details the series of abductions that Escobar masterminded to pressure the then Colombian government into guaranteeing him non-extradition if he turned himself in.
* Riley Freeman, a character in [[The Boondocks]] comic strip uses the nickname "Esco", after Pablo Escobar. He has also instructed other characters in the strip to refer to him as "Mr. Escobar.".<ref>[http://www.gocomics.com/boondocks/2007/07/01/ Gocomics.com: Comics, editorial cartoons, email comics, comic strips<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* In the video game "[[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]", the airport is named Escobar International Airport.
* In the HBO series ''[[Entourage (TV series)|Entourage]]'', the main character [[Vincent Chase]] plays the lead role in "Medellín", a film about the life story of Pablo Escobar.
* In 1994 after Pablo Escobar's death, the death metal band [[Brujeria (band)]] released a single named "El patrón", after Escobar's nickname.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}
* Rapper Nasir Jones, better known as [[Nas]], took the nickname "Nas Escobar" when drug-dealer culture became more and more relevant within rapping. He used it most primarily while a member of his supergroup [[The Firm (group)|The Firm]]. Since then, he is sometimes referred to as "Esco", "Nas Escobar", etc. He also says in [[Got Yourself a Gun]] " I'm the N the A the S-I-R / and if I wasn't I musta been escobar".
* In [[Rick Ross (rapper)|Rick Ross]]' first hit single "Hustlin," there are numerous references to Pablo Escobar ("I know Pablo, Noreaga - the real [[Manuel Noriega|Noriega]] he owe me a hundred favors").
* In the film ''[[Traffic (film)|Traffic]]'', [[Catherine Zeta Jones]]' character says her recently jailed husband is being compared to Pablo Escobar.
* The Latin musical group, [[Los Tigres del Norte]], wrote a song about Pablo Escobar, and his donations to the poor.
* The Serbian rock band [[Deca Losih Muzicara]] recorded a song lamenting the death of Don Pablo Escobar.
* The hardcore punk band [[Underminded]] has a song on their first full length titled "Pablo Escobar's Secret Stash."
* Escobar is also the subject of an episode in a documentary series called [[Situation Critical]], in production as of September 2007.
* In the television show [[Nip/Tuck]], the recurring enemy drug trafficker who smuggles drugs into Miami, Florida by transporting them in the breasts of young women who are promised a career in modeling, is named Escobar.
* In the movie [[Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]], [[Jay and Silent Bob|the titular characters]] meet in Hollywood a crack dealer named Pumpkin Escobar.
* In the 2000 film, [[Scary Movie]], the lead character Cindy speaks by phone with her dad about if he's doing business with "Uncle Escobar". In the movie, it is revealed that Cindy's father deals with freebase.
* In [[Chris Ryan]]s book 'Stand by, Stand by' Escobar is mentioned as the notorious drug baron and what he has done to stop anyone that gets in his way, the men who are being briefed are warned to stay clear of anyone in the Medellín cartel.
* Rapper [[The Game]] raps in his song "Money" from "L.A.X.", "That Pablo Escobar crack money."

===Films===
====Escobar====
'''''Escobar''''' is scheduled to be a [[2008 in film|2008 film]] directed by [[Antoine Fuqua]],<ref name=ign>[http://movies.ign.com/articles/825/825868p1.html Rival Pablo Pics Fuqua directing Stone's Escobar.] ''[[IGN]]'' ([[October 9]], [[2007]]). Accessed [[November 28]], [[2007]].</ref> based on the book ''Mi Hermano Pablo'' by Roberto Escobar, the true story of [[drug lord]] [[Pablo Escobar]].<ref name=var>Michael Fleming ([[October 8]], [[2007]]) [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117973662.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=escobar Stone to produce another 'Escobar'] ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. Accessed [[November 28]], [[2007]].</ref> The film is being [[Film producer|produced]] by [[Oliver Stone]] and distributed by [[Justin Berfield]]'s [[J2 Pictures]]. ''Escobar'' will star [[Edgar Ramirez]] in the title role. Filming will take place on location in [[Colombia]] and [[Puerto Rico]]. Filming is expected to commence in January 2008. The film is currently scheduled to be released on [[November 30]], 2008.<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009086-escobar/ ''Escobar (2009)''] [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. Accessed [[November 28]], [[2007]].</ref>

''Escobar'' is in direct competition with another Pablo Escobar [[biopic]], ''Killing Pablo''.<ref>[http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/weekly-screengrab-101007.html Sparring Partners] [[Tribeca Film Festival]]. Accessed [[November 28]], [[2007]]</ref> Both films were announced around the same time, but ''Escobar'' has been delayed due to Stone's involvement with the George W. Bush Biopic, [[W. (film)|W.]]<ref>[http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/no-bardem-for-killing-palbo.php No Bardem for KILLING PALBO] [[Obsessed With Film]]. Accessed [[August 14]], [[2008]]</ref>

Recent interest in Pablo Escobar is credited to the fictional film, ''Medellín'', from the [[HBO]] series ''[[Entourage (TV series)|Entourage]]''. [[Film producer|Producer]] Oliver Stone even said "This is a great project about a fascinating man who took on the system. I think I have to thank, ''[[Scarface (1983 film)|Scarface]]'', and maybe even [[Ari Gold (Entourage)|Ari Gold]]."<ref name=var />Also the movie "Blow", starring Johnny Depp, features Escobar.

====Killing Pablo====
'''''Killing Pablo''''' is to be directed by [[Joe Carnahan]], based on the book ''[[Killing Pablo (book)|Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw]]'' by [[Mark Bowden]], the true story of the death of Pablo Escobar. The film has been in development for several years and is set to begin production in early 2008.<ref>Dave McNary ([[October 1]], [[2007]]) [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117973147.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=Killing+Pablo Yari fast-tracking Escobar biopic] ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. Accessed [[November 29]], [[2007]].</ref> The plot claims to tell the true story of how the [[Colombian]] [[gangster]] and [[terrorist]] Pablo Escobar was [[assassinated]] and his [[Medellín]] cocaine cartel dismantled by US special forces and intelligence, the [[Colombian military]], and a vigilante gang controlled by the [[Cali cartel]]. The cast was reported to include [[Christian Bale]] as Major [[Steve Jacoby]] and [[Javier Bardem]] as Escobar<ref>Devin Faraci ([[August 14]], [[2008]]) [http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/15941/1/JOE-CARNAHAN-IS-GOING-TO-BE-KILLING-A-NEW-PABLO-AND-WE-KNOW-WHO-IT-IS/Page1.html|JOE CARNAHAN IS GOING TO BE KILLING A NEW PABLO, AND WE KNOW WHO IT IS] ''[Chud.com]''. Accessed [[August 14]], [[2008]].</ref> however due to scheduling conflicts Bardem has now been replaced by [[Edgar Ramirez]].


== See also ==
== See also ==
*[[Manuel Rivas]]
*[[Flag of convenience]]


==External links==
* [[George Jung]]
*[http://www.plataformanuncamais.org/ Plataforma Nunca Máis], ''Prestige'' activists (in Galician)
* [[Ochoa brothers|Ochoa]]
*[http://otvm.uvigo.es/ Coordination Technical Bureau of Scientific Intervention Program against Accidental Marine Spills], This bureau is responsible for management and coordination works of research projects.
* [[Medellín Cartel]]
*[http://www.spreex.net/ Spill Response Experience Coordination Action - SPREEX] This project is responsible for management and coordination research needs in Europe.
* [[Cocaine Cowboys]]
*[http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/crisis/spain_oil_spill/index.cfm WWF crisis response page on Prestige]

*[http://TarotCanada.tripod.com/PrestigeOilSpillNuncaMais.html Prestige Oil Spill - first hand story of a Canadian volunteer, with photos]
== References ==
*[http://www.eagle.org/news/press/prestige/ All ABS Press Releases relevant to the Prestige]
{{citation style}}
*[http://terrestrial.eionet.europa.eu/en_Prestige Maps and statistics of affected costal area]
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
*[http://rakontur.com/cocainecowboys Cocaine Cowboys (documentary about the Medellín Cartel)]
*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=yVZoULtUCd8 Pablo Escobar's recent disinterment video]
*[http://www.casoabierto.com/Reportajes/Cronica-Negra/Pablo-Escobar-the-cokes-tzar.html Pablo Escobar, the coke's tzar]
*[http://www.medellinthefilm.com/ HBO's Entourage - Medellín the Film]


[[Category:Oil spills]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escobar, Pablo}}
[[Category:Medellín Cartel traffickers]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 2002]]
[[Category:Colombian murderers]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[category:Galicia (Spain)]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Colombia]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Galician culture]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in Spain]]
[[Category:Mob bosses]]
[[Category:2002 in Spain]]
[[Category:Colombian drug lords]]
[[Category:Colombian terrorists]]


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Revision as of 22:55, 10 October 2008

Volunteers cleaning the coastline in Galicia in the aftermath of the Prestige catastrophe, March, 2002

The Prestige was an oil tanker whose sinking in 2002 off the Galician coast caused a large oil spill. The spill polluted thousands of kilometers of coastline and more than one thousand beaches on the Spanish and French coast, as well as causing great damage to the local fishing industry. The spill is the largest environmental disaster in Spain's history.

The Event

The Prestige was a Greek-operated (Coulouthros family), single-hulled oil tanker, officially registered in the Bahamas, but with a Liberian-registered single-purpose corporation as the owner.

The ship had a deadweight tonnage, or carrying capacity, of approximately 81,000 tons, a measurement that put it at the small end of the "aframax" class of tankers, smaller than most carriers of crude oil but larger than most carriers of refined products. It was classed by the American Bureau of Shipping and insured by the London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association, a shipowners' mutual known as the London Club.

The French, Spanish and Portuguese governments refused to allow the Prestige to dock in their ports.

On November 13, 2002, while the Prestige was carrying a 77,000-ton cargo of two different grades of heavy fuel oil, one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off Galicia, in northwestern Spain. Fearing that the ship would sink, the captain called for help from Spanish rescue workers, with the expectation that the vessel would be brought into harbour. However, pressure from local authorities forced the captain to steer the embattled ship away from the coast and head northwest. Reportedly after pressure from the French government, the vessel was once again forced to change its course and head southwards into Portuguese waters in order to avoid endangering France's southern coast. Fearing for its own shore, the Portuguese authorities promptly ordered its navy to intercept the ailing vessel and prevent it from approaching further.

With the French, Spanish and Portuguese governments refusing to allow the ship to dock in their ports, the integrity of the single hulled oil tanker was deteriorating quickly and soon the storm took its toll when it was reported that a huge 40-foot section of the starboard hull had broken off, releasing a substantial amount of oil.

At around 8:00 AM on November 19, the ship split in half, and sank completely that same afternoon releasing over 20 million gallons of oil into the sea. The oil tanker was reported to be about 250 kilometers from the Spanish coast at that time. An earlier oil slick had already reached the coast. The Greek captain of the Prestige, Apostolos Mangouras, was taken into custody, accused of not co-operating with salvage crews and of harming the environment.

After the sinking, the wreck continued leaking oil. It leaked approximately 125 tons of oil a day, which polluted the sea bed and contaminated the coastline, especially along the territory of Galicia. The affected area is not only a very important ecological region, supporting coral reefs and many species of sharks and birds, but it also supports the crucial fishing industry. The heavy coastal pollution forced the region's government to suspend offshore fishing for six months.

Cleanup

Nunca Máis Flag

In the subsequent months, thousands of volunteers were organized by the Galician and Spanish Governments to help clean the affected coastline. The massive cleaning campaign was a success, recovering most portions of coastline not only from the effects of the oil spill but also from the accumulated usual contamination. A year after the spill Galicia had more Blue Flags for its beaches (an award for those beaches with the highest standards in the European Union) than in the previous years.

Initially, the government thought just 17,000 tons of oil had been lost, and that the remaining 60,000 tons would freeze and not leak from the sunken tanker. In early 2003, it announced that half of the oil had been lost. Now that figure has risen to about 63,000 tons according to some sources. In 2004 the remaining 13.000 m³ of cargo oil was removed from the wreck, by means of aluminium shuttles and remote operated vehicles. In total, 20 million gallons of oil were spilled.

More than eighty per cent of the tanker's 77,000 tons of fuel oil is now thought to have been spilled off Spain's north-west coast.

Experts predicted marine life could suffer pollution from the Prestige for at least ten years due to the type of oil spilt, which contain light fractions called polyaromatic hydrocarbons. These toxic chemicals could poison plankton, fish eggs and crustaceans, leading to carcinogenic effects in fish and other animals higher in the food chain.

The environmental damage caused by the Prestige was most severe in the coast of Galicia, where some local activists founded the environmental movement Nunca Máis (Galician for Never Again), dedicated to "agit-prop" against the government.

==Aftermath==This oil spill cost 50 billion dollars to clean up.

Hull cleanup

In the two years following the sinking, engineers used robots to seal cracks in the tanker's hull, now 4000 meters below the sea surface, and slowed the leakage to a trickle of 20 litres a day. By 2004, engineers had removed the oil still in the tanker by drilling of small holes in the wreck, using remotely operated submersibles like the one that originally explored the wreck of the RMS Titanic. The oil was then pumped into large aluminium shuttles, especially manufactured for this salvage operation. The filled shuttles where then floated to the surface. The original plan to fill large bags with the oil proved to be too problematic and slow. After the oil removal was completed, a slurry rich in microbiologic agents was pumped in the hold to speed up the breakdown of any remaining oil. The total estimated cost of the operation was over €100 million.

A recent report by the Galicia-based Barrie de la Maza economic institute criticised the Spanish government's handling of the catastrophe. It estimated the cost of the clean-up to the Galician coast alone at €2.5 billion. The clean-up of the Exxon Valdez cost US$3 billion.

Since the disaster, oil tankers similar to the Prestige have been directed away from the French and Spanish coastlines. The then European Commissioner for Transport, Spaniard Loyola de Palacio, pushed for the ban of single-hulled tankers.

The government was criticized for its decision to tow the ailing wreck out to sea — where it split in two — rather than into a port. World Wildlife Fund's senior policy officer for shipping, Simon Walmsley believed most of the blame lay with the classification society. "It was reported as being substandard at one of the ports it visited before Spain. The whole inspection regime needs to be revamped and double-hulled tankers used instead," he says. The US and most other countries are phasing out single-hulled tankers by 2012.

Legal Consequences

For the world maritime industry, a key issue raised by the Prestige incident was whether classification societies can be held responsible for the consequences of incidents of this type. In May 2003, the Kingdom of Spain brought civil suit in the Southern District of New York against the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the Houston-based international classification society that had certified the Prestige as "in class" for its final voyage. The "in class" status states that the vessel is in compliance with all applicable rules and laws, not that it is or is not safe. On 02 January 2007, the docket in that lawsuit (SDNY 03-cv-03573) was dismissed. The presiding judge ruled that ABS is a "person" as defined by the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC) and, as such, is exempt from direct liability for pollution damage. Additionally, the Judge ruled that, since the United States is not a signatory to the International CLC, the US Courts lack the necessary jurisdiction to adjudicate the case. Spain's original damage claim against ABS was some $700 million.

International maritime trade publications including TradeWinds, Fairplay and Lloyd's List regularly presented the dispute as a possibly precedent-setting one that could prove fateful for international classification societies, whose assets are dwarfed by the scale of claims to which they could become subject.

The Spanish government had promised an investment plan for Galicia across several years, which was cancelled by the Socialist Party after the change in Government in March 2004. In the following local elections, the People's Party got good results at the affected Costa da Morte.

Investigation

The environmental devastation caused is at least on a par, if not worse, than the Exxon Valdez. The amount of oil spilled is more than the Valdez and the toxicity is higher, because of the higher temperatures.

— Simon Walmsley, World Wildlife Fund's senior policy officer for shipping.

The massive environmental and financial costs of the spill has resulted in an ongoing inquiry into how a structurally deficient ship was able to travel out to sea, much less approach Spain.

Investigators have since learned that prior to the spill the Prestige had set sail from St. Petersburg, Russia, without being properly inspected. It traveled to the Atlantic via the shallow and vulnerable Baltic Sea. A previous captain who complained about numerous structural deficiencies within the ship was rebuffed, and later resigned in protest.

The ownership of the Prestige is unclear, making it difficult to determine exactly who is responsible for the oil spill. Evidence is now pointing to a secretive Greek family who allegedly registered the ship to a front company in Liberia. Thus the Prestige sinking has exposed the difficulties in regulation posed by flags of convenience.

Others have argued that the Spanish government's refusal to allow the ship to take refuge in a sheltered port was a major contributing factor to the scale of the disaster.

Recently, Spanish investigators have concluded that the failure in the Prestige's hull was entirely predictable and indeed had been predicted already: the Prestige's two sister ships, Alexandros and Centaur, had been submitted to extensive inspections under the "Safe Hull" program in 1996. The company which was in charge of the inspections, the American Bureau of Shipping, found that both Alexandros and Centaur were in terminal decline. Due to metal fatigue in their hulls, modeling predicted that both ships would fail at holds 61 and 71 within five years. Alexandros, Centaur and a third sister ship, Apanemo were scrapped between 1999 and 2002. For some reason, however, Prestige was not scrapped, and, little more than five years after the inspection, as predicted, Prestige's hull failed between holds 61 and 71.[1]

Recent Developments

In March 2006, new oil slicks were detected near the wreck of the Prestige which investigators found to match the type of oil the Prestige carried. A study released December 2006 led by José Luis De Pablos, a physicist at Madrid's Center for Energetic and Environmental Research, concluded that 16,000 to 23,000 tons of oil remained in the wreck, as opposed to 700 to 1300 tons claimed by the Spanish government; that bioremediation of the remaining oil failed; and that bacteria corroding the hull could soon produce a rupture and quickly release much of the remaining oil and create another catastrophic spill. The report urged the government to take "prompt" action. -Science Vol. 314 December 22, 2006, p. 1861.

References

  1. ^ Mercado, Francisco, El Pais, June 9, 2008, "El fallo estructural que hundió al 'Prestige' era conocido desde 1996", retrieved June 9 2008 from http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/fallo/estructural/hundio/Prestige/era/conocido/1996/elppgl/20080609elpepinac_12/Tes

See also

External links

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