It had cellular phones, radio transmitters and a fax machine to allow him to continue with business, which at its peak brought his cartel $60 million dollars a day and oversaw control of up to 80 percent of the cocaine shipped to the United States.While Escobar was living at La Catedral, his family made the trip up from Envigado to visit him three or four times a week, as did friends, professional soccer players and prostitutes when he wished. Ferns line concrete stairs leading to the collapsed foundations of one of Escobar’s bedrooms.
(Recipe included!
Construction continues today.To arrive at La Catedral, you pass scattered country homes on the road up the mountain, either in car or by walking an hour from the last stop on the bus line. Unofficially it was called “Club Medellin” or “Hotel Escobar,” and “resort” would be a more apt description of it than “prison.” Escobar’s designs featured a bathroom with a jacuzzi and a bedroom that had a circular, rotating bed. One of his associates, nicknamed “Popeye,” repeatedly pointed a submachine gun at the minister.
Construction has started on a small planetarium in a former watchtower in the northeast corner of the compound and also on an events center and a museum, the future contents of which the monk who answered my questions about plans for La Catedral did not know.Returning to the access gate and up a separate path that branches off from it, you arrive at the new main monastery of the Benedictine monks sitting on the hill above the facilities built for the elderly residents of the asylum.
La Catedral fu costruita nei pressi di Envigado, al confine con Medellín. Extradition meant being tried in a U.S. court which Escobar wanted to avoid.During negotiations, Escobar also added in conditions that reduced his jail time to five years and that would ensure he served his sentence in a prison of his own construction, surrounded by hand-picked guards as well as protected from his enemies by Colombian soldiers.Despite opposition from hard-liners claiming the negotiated surrender policy was nothing but a farce, the Colombian government added an amendment to the constitution which banned the extradition of citizens in June of 1991. Tracts of native forest still cover large sections of the area, although new home construction has felled much during the past few years. Qui Pablo continuava a gestire i suoi traffici, grazie anche ad altri detenuti di fiducia, tutti suoi uomini scelti, rinchiusi ne La Catedral con il solo scopo di proteggerlo e di servirlo. Nearby, a monument of stacked mountain bikes and an oratory plaque serves as a shrine for the bikers who make it up the mountain. Juli 1992 zwei Regierungsvertreter in "La Catedral" eintrafen, kam es zum Aufstand. Six million dollars were offered for his capture. Escobar would go to jail — the prison, however, would be built to his specifications on three hectares of land that he had bought in preparation of a possible agreement with the state. He chose a location that allowed a direct line of sight to the home of his family, and he supposedly mounted a telescope so that he was able to see them.
It’s generally one of condemnation — except in the poor neighborhoods that Escobar literally built or donated soccer fields and hospitals to — but it’s a condemnation lined with curiosity. The last stretch before arriving at the prison levels out after the steep climb, bringing you to the access gate.From the gate, the main road empties into a parking lot where you are greeted by a gray and white cat with a barroom brawl nose, who now watches over the grounds instead of 40 prison guards. Escobar built his own prison, naming it La Catedral, but unofficially it was called “Club Medellin” or “Hotel Escobar”. Escobar brachte den Staat schließlich soweit, dass er mit „Popeye“ und Co. in das selbst gebaute Luxusgefängnis „La Catedral“ einziehen durfte, das eher eine gemütliche Ranch war. Rumors of buried bins filled with millions of dollars enticed thousands of hunters, including soldiers and police — one treasure-seeker even brought a psychic to aid in the search. La Catedral era una sorta di fortezza che teneva Pablo Escobar al sicuro dai suoi nemici. Escobar arriva a La Catedral accompagnato da numerose personalità ed autorità, e dai suoi più stretti assistenti, mentre il fratello Roberto e il resto del gruppo di sicari arrivano nei giorni seguenti.Ma l'opinione pubblica è incurante del fatto che la prigione di Escobar e del suo clan è una prigione d'oro: la struttura è immensa e prevede sala biliardi, centro fitness, angoli bar di classe, camere comode e spaziose, arredamento di design, vasche idromassaggio, un campo da calcio e un ufficio personale. Indeed, La Catedral was more a fortress than prison, as Escobar effectively kept his enemies out rather than lock himself in and continued to conduct his grisly business.The Colombian government struggled to prosecute Escobar’s However, a small group of politicians and policemen devoted to imposing rule of law in Colombia refused to be intimidated by Escobar. - Biligual driver.-Enter fee to Catedral Pablo Escobar’s prison.