Souvenirs with pictures of the late infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar may be banned in Colombia if legislators approve a bill introduced his week in the South American nation's congress. The bill generates a polarizing debate between those selling the goods to tourists from all over the world who are against the bill, and those who think the country should no longer be affiliated with mob bosses are in support it . The proposed law demands that sellers of items featuring Escobar or other convicted criminals should be fined up to $170, adding that police could also wear T-shirts, hats, or other clothes that shows a sort of reverence of the the notorious drug lord.
Drug lord known for association with Pablo Escobar arrested at luxury villa Real-life story of 'cocaine godmother' Griselda Blanco and Pablo Escobar link "These items are revictimizing people who were victims of murderers," said Cristian Avendaño, a representative from Colombia’s Green Party and co-drafter of the bill. "We must protect the right of the victims to recover..
.and find other symbols for our country." Meanwhile, the drug lord's notroious image is highly marketed by locals who want to cash in on the rising interest in him among tourists from North America, Europe, and other Latin American countries.
In Bogota's La Candelaria area, souvenir sellers said they opppose the bill, which they claimed was trying to limit free speech. A street vendor told the Associated Press that he would stop selling Escobar items if the bill passes just so that he wouldn't have to deal with police issues. But he also said that the members in Colombia's Congress should instead work on lowering the crime rate in the city and let him go about his business.
Narco toys go on sale so kids can play with their favorite drug cartel boss Vicious herd of Pablo Escobar's illegally imported hippos are terrorizing locals Sex-crazed hippos high on cocaine to be killed as population spirals "Many people make a living from this," the street vendor told the Associated Press. "It's not a trend that I came up with. The Mexicans, the Costa Ricans, the Americans, are always asking me for Escobar.
" One of Colombia's most powerful and notorious drug lords, Escobar cut a highly controversial figure. "El Patrón" was head of the the Medellín cartel from the 1970s to the early 1990s, and became one of the world's richest people at the time for masterminding industrial-scale cocaine trafficking. In one of the bloodiest times in the country's history, Escobar was infamous for assassinations on dozens of judges, police officers, politicians, and journalists, and even the 1980 bombings of Avianca Flight 203 that killed over 100 people.
The drug lord was ultimately gunned down in 1993 on a rooftop in Medellin, as he tried to escape from Colombian authorities..
