Pablo Escobar’s son smiles for a selfie with the son of the Colombian justice minister killed by the drug lord 33 years ago in a symbol of peace.
The Colombia narcoterrorist, who built a multi-billion dollar empire dealing cocaine, was responsible for the murder of thousands of people, including politicians, judges, journalists and rival traffickers.
Among those he ordered to be murdered during his reign of terror was Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in 1984.
He was gunned down in his car at the hands of an assassin sent by Escobar. He had been his fiercest critic in the government after he was expelled from the Colombian Congress.
The son of Pablo Escobar posed for a selfie with Jorge Lara, son of Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, who his father ordered to be murdered in 1984
The drug lord and justice minister had sons of a similar age.
Since their fathers’ deaths Juan Pablo Escobar and Jorge Lara have embarked on a reconciliation effort in the country once torn apart by the drugs trade.
They first met almost a decade ago and came together again in Cartagena, in the north of Colombia, during the visit from Pope Francis over the weekend.
Sebastian Marroquin, born Juan Pablo Escobar, captioned the photo: ‘Peace is real. Thanks to Pope Francis for these moments of prayer in the church of San Pedro Claver of Cartagena, for peace, for reconciliation.
‘Picture with Jorge Lara, son of the minister of justice Rodrigo Lara Bonilla (RIP), murdered by my father.’
In a previous interview Marroquin said: ‘Running for office was my father’s biggest mistake. For years, the country’s elite tolerated him. But after he meddled in politics, they decided to destroy him.’
He was 17 when his father died in Medellin in 1993.
Lara, who was eight when his father was assassinated, said he originally sought revenge for his father’s death.
He still seeks justice for his father’s murder, but said he had made peace with Escobar’s son.
Rodrigo Lara Bonilla (left) served as Minister of Justice and was assassinated by orders of Pablo Escobar (right) because of his work in prosecuting cocaine traffickers mainly belonging to the Medellín Cartel
Sebastian Marroquin is the son of the infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar
From a poor family in the town of Medellin, in Colombia’s north-east, Escobar grew up to become the world’s most wanted men
Marroquin was only 17 when his father died in Medellin in 1993 after he was shot by Colombian National Police, one day after his 44th birthday
Marroquin first met Jorga Lara in 2009 along with the son of Luis Carlos Galan, a presidential candidate who was also assassinated under Escobar’s orders (in 1989).
He admitted he was ‘surprised’, saying ‘reconciliation is not usually part of a Colombian’s vocabulary.’
The architect was particularly moved when they told him: ‘You were also a victim of Pablo Escobar.’
He said: ‘I don’t know if that’s true. But if so, I’m the last person in Colombia who deserves any sympathy.’
‘Nothing is more important than peace. I think it is worth it to really risk our lives and everything we have so that peace really happens in Colombia someday’, he added.
‘Drug trafficking destroyed my family. It gave us the world, and then it took it away.’