"I'm more of a dog man myself, but no cat deserves this." "Did you tell anyone about why you were down here?" "Someone on the plane?" "Someone you met at a restaurant?" "'Course not." "Not to get personal, but have you had any, uh... encounters?" " "Encounters"?" " Yeah." "I'm married." "Right." "Only people I've encountered outside the DEA and my wife are those Colombian cops in Medellín." "No, no, Carrillo's solid." "Did anyone have access to your credentials?" "Did you drop your wallet?" "Passport." "How important is this cat to you?" "Excuse me?" "You gave someone your passport?" "We were trying to get Puff through Immigration." ""Puff"?" "I didn't name it, dude." "Traffickers pay people at the airports for intel." "A gringo coming in from Miami raises suspicions." "That's how you got made." "Don't let it rattle you." "That's what they want." "You probably got a price on your head, but no one's gonna take the contract." "Fucking price on my head?" "There's a standing bounty of 350,000 US on any DEA down here, but you're safe... because of Kiki." "The "Kiki" Peña was referring to was Kiki Camarena, a DEA agent who went after the Guadalajara cartel in Mexico." "Kiki was captured and tortured." "They skinned his legs, put a bullet in each limb, used an electric drill on his head until he died." "What the fuck were they thinking?" "They could kill an American government agent and get away with it?" "Uncle Sam doesn't fuck around." "The cocksuckers paid in blood." "They went after them so hard, every single narco in the world got the message that the DEA is off-limits." "Kiki was like Jesus Christ to us." "He died to save us all." "Do not tell Connie that story." "I won't." " But you shouldn't forget it either." " Why?" "This cat is DEA." "Mark my words, it will get justice." "My name is everywhere." "Newspapers... magazines..." "Everyone is talking about the "Paisa Robin Hood."" "Pablito, I'm sorry." "If I had known that" "You're going to have to pay for that, my love." "Anything you want, Pablito." "Anything I want?" "Yes, my love, whatever you want." "You sure?" "Uh-huh." "Then... you're going to help me get into Congress." "Yes, Pablo." "Yes." "Those shitty oligarchs." "Those people, all of their lives... don't know what it's like to wonder where their next meal is coming from." "I come from nothing, Valeria... and I have more money than any of those sons of bitches." "If you run for Congress, you put yourself in the public eye, you become a target." ""I made my money from taxis" isn't going to work when you face the press." "Pablo, you need a party that supports you." "You need a proper political campaign." "I buy the press, my love." "And as far as a political party," "I am quite sure that I can buy one of those as well." "I don't want to be good." "I am going to be great." "A PAISA ROBIN HOOD" "A drug dealer running for president." "It was crazy, right?" "Well, not in Colombia." "Not in the mid-'80s." "As far as Colombians go, Pablo wasn't a drug dealer at all." "He was a fucking winner." "The living embodiment of the Colombian dream." "The guy who'd buy houses for the poor in exchange for nothing." "As far as Pablo could tell, the doors to political success were there... and all he had to do was to get to them." "And in order to do that, he asked Valeria Velez to introduce him to Fernando Duque." "Duque was a lawyer and a lobbyist who represented the New Liberals, a party who claimed to represent the people." "Pablo!" "I should've gotten into the taxi business." " Valeria, how are you doing?" " Well, thank you." "Mr. Duque." "It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the Hacienda Nápoles." " Nice to meet you." " Please, come." "After you, Valeria." "Please." "Look, I am not a rich person." "I am a poor person with money." "And for that reason, I think that..." "Well, I think that I understand the people to whom the New Liberalism wants to give a voice." "The party clearly needs to hear what you have to say, Mr. Escobar." "There is a great deal of talk about how you have made your money." "I need guarantees concerning the origins of your fortune." "And Valeria told you..." "how much I am going to donate?" " No, no" " Look, I am not a politician." "I am not a successful lawyer like you." "I come from the street... brother." "I want to reassure you that you will receive your piece." " It's not about that" " Assuming your piece is ten percent, your piece would be what?" "$300,000 just for you." "Does that seem like a sufficient guarantee for the Justice Minister or what?" " Most definitely." " All right, then." "Let's go look at the hippos." "Come on." "Blackie." "Pablo?" " And what about me?" " What about you?" "I don't get my piece?" "No, my queen." "The thing is that you... you're in this for love, right?" "Look, Minister..." "Escobar has founded schools, clinics." "He has created sources of employment throughout Medellín." "The people love him, and he loves the people." "And from a legal point of view, his money is clean." "And according to Forbes Magazine, he's a drug trafficker." "Are you going to believe all of that American imperialist propaganda?" "Take a look." "These are property holdings papers." "Look." "He's the owner of hundreds of properties in Colombia and also the United States." "In addition, this man has no criminal record." "If there was, there would be proof of his background." "How much is he paying you?" "I am thinking about our party, Minister." "Escobar is prepared to contribute millions of dollars." "We already support Jairo Ortega so that he can campaign in Antioquia." "Let's let Escobar be his alternate." "What do you prefer..." "rumors and insinuations, or fewer representatives in Congress?" "And just like that..." "an honest man blinked." "You're not going back to that comuna!" "What, you want me to stay in this apartment for the next two years?" "Oh, my God, you do." "Honey, your cat was killed as a warning to me." "Our cat." "OK, our cat." "What if you went back to Miami just for a little while until things quiet down?" " Oh, you're gonna make them quiet down?" " You're that good, huh?" "I'll tell you what." "I'll agree to go back to Miami if you agree to go back, too." " You prepared to do that?" " I'm not giving in on this one!" "OK." "I'll be waiting to take you home." "I already stick out like a sore thumb." "The bodyguards are only gonna draw more attention." "Just humor me." "I can't do my job if I'm worried about your safety." "Mm..." "Hey, mind parking down the street a little?" "I'll scream if I need you." " Buenos días, Father." " Connie." "What, are you surprised to see me?" "We've had American volunteers." "They come and go." "Well, this one will keep coming." "Surprised to see Elisa, a communist M-19 guerrilla, working in the comuna?" "That's because you don't know the liberation church in Colombia." "And the priest... innocent, right?" "Wrong." "He's more of a commie than she is." "Who is the gringa?" "A child of God, just like you." "Hm." "Got it." "Let's see, you are here for a cat?" "This isn't just any cat." "This is a gringo cat of the DEA." " What's he saying?" " I'm telling him about the cat." "And what you want is for me to find a cat killer." "It was the narcos, Suárez." "We don't take this shit lightly." "Your friend is a little crazy." "No hablo español." "I don't know what you're saying." "I don't speak English." "Get me some information, Suárez." "Look, I don't have enough people to go through hundreds of hours of chatter over a fucking cat." "If this was information about the narcos, yes, my people are interested." "But they won't give a fuck about the cat." " What is he saying?" " They don't like cats in this country." "Tell me about it." "But if you want to put all my people to work to find out who killed the fucking cat, that is going to cost you more." "They broke into the house to kill his cat." "I think they made him when he arrived at the airport in Bogotá." "Find out." " Is that a D-103?" " Yup." "Let me get this straight." "Gotta pay this cop off for information," " then you gotta get a receipt?" " I gotta get reimbursed." "This gentleman is an employee of the American Embassy in our country, and he assures me that you gave out his personal information to certain criminals." "That's not true." "These guys killed his cat." "Maybe you don't know this, but the mistreatment of animals is a federal crime." "Is this funny to you?" "They can bring formal charges against you, and you could lose your job." "Do you not need your job, Santiago?" "Yes, I need it." "Mr. Murphy, do you recognize these men?" "Yeah, you guys stalled me at the airport so you could take my passport and copy and scan it, didn't you?" " What?" " May I?" "You both are being accused of conspiring against a federal agent of the United States." "The cat is under the jurisdiction of the American government." "And to kill it is the same as to kill a police dog." "This is absurd." "Look, I'm a Colombian citizen, and I know exactly my" "You will not disrespect them!" "Is that clear?" "If I open my mouth, they kill me..." "and they kill my wife." "He's having problems with his wife." "Shut up!" " Imbecile." " OK, gentlemen." "This is quite simple." "I can get the phone number of the person to whom you sent those documents, and I can tell him that you accused him of being the cat killer." "How does that sound?" "I sent a copy of that passport... to a man they call..." ""Poison."" "OK, Poison." "You're going to take this money to Fernando Duque in Bogotá." "And this is the address." "If they stop you on the road, just salute the official, give them a little bribe and continue forward." "No violence." "And you call me every two hours." " Of course, boss." "Whatever you say." " OK, then." "No showing off." "No showing off!" " Nice and simple." "Go unnoticed." " Got it." "What the fuck are you doing?" "Getting ready, right?" "You are meeting up with politicians, not with gangsters." "Aren't they the same thing, boss?" "Politicians scare easily." "You're fine with just a pistol." "Go to it, then." "Go to it, dumbass." "According to CNP wiretaps, the sicario "Poison"" "was recorded saying he was driving to Bogotá this afternoon." "For what purpose, we don't know." "But if we don't respond to the obvious threat to Agent Murphy, we're sending the wrong message." "Police have the information, then they should make the arrest." "No." "No, if we leave it to them, someone will sell us out." "The narcos have informants in their department." "What Peña's driving at is that Major Carrillo should man a roadblock." " We can trust Carrillo." " I don't have authority" " over the Colombian police." " All due respect, Ambassador, but you know where we are." "With enough money, you can get anything done." "Excuse me for saying so..." "but this isn't much of a roadblock, is it?" "Well, if the roadblock is too obvious," "Pablo can be tipped off by a cop or by a passerby, who knows." "Can anybody in this country keep a secret?" "I've got a spotter set up about four kilometers away." "He's gonna let us know when Poison passes." "You're gonna question them, right?" "Because we need to" "Poison's killed three of my men already." "If I catch him alive, you guys can question him here." "Then you guys gotta go." "Hey, hey, hey, hold on, 65?" "Sixty-five." "Hey, brother, that's a lot." "You sure?" "I counted every single son of a bitch." "All right!" "Sure, but are you counting what happened last night?" "Of course, that was number 65." "Don't bullshit." "I was the one who shot that faggot." " Bullshit." " Bullshit... if I was the one who killed that little man." "You only shot him once he was already on the ground, dead." "I shot him first." "Come in." "Did you give information about Poison to the DEA?" "So?" "I'm still listening to their phone conversations, and it's not a shipment of drugs." "They're carrying three million dollars to Bogotá, and if two guys from the DEA stop that car," "Pablo is going to hang you by the balls." " You don't have 65, Poi." " Yes, I do." "Eh!" "What are you doing, Gonorrhea?" "!" "Look, 65, man!" "Now we're going to have to wash the car, man!" "Son of a bitch." "Yes?" "Hi, Pablo." "I have good news for you." "I'm going to help you avoid an enormous loss." "And how much is it going to cost me?" "Ten percent... $300,000." " How did you find out?" " One of your men." "That Poison... he talks too much." "You should take his phone away." "Five percent." "Suspicious vehicle approaching." "OK." "We have visual confirmation." "Four kilometers away." " Hello?" " Poison?" "You bring your fucking mouth back here immediately!" " Yes." "I'm sorry, boss." " Now!" "The son of a bitch policeman tapped my phone!" " These fags." " You have a very big mouth, Poison." "Pablo is really pissed off." "Shut that mug, or you will never reach 66, you hear?" "OK!" "I'm calling this off." "Nobody's coming." " What the fuck has happened here?" " Maybe Poison spotted the spotter." "Either that or Suárez sold you out." "Yeah, if he did, he must've had a better offer, and it wasn't a fucking cat." "He has been called the "Paisa Robin Hood,"" "but he is much more than that." "He is a man to whom the people mean a great deal." "All of us." "To avoid suspicion and questioning about his fortune," "Pablo ran as an alternate for Jairo Ortega, a former congressman from Antioquia." "It was the first time an alternate was more important than the main candidate." "I am tired... of the people with power running this country." "This is a fight between the people with power and poor people, weak people." "And this fight must begin here!" "To have power does not mean that one can abuse the poor." "If I am elected... if my friend, Jairo, is elected... those who have never had a voice will have a voice." "Those who are hungry will have food." "Those who want to learn will have schools." "And those who have dreams will see that there are no limits to what you can achieve." "In me, you have a friend whom you have always had, the friend of today, the friend of yesterday and the friend of tomorrow." "Thank you very much." " Pablo!" "Pablo!" "Pablo!" " Thank you very much." "My friend, Jairo Ortega!" "Pablo!" "Pablo!" "Pablo!" "Thank you very much." " You were marvelous, my love." " You sure?" " Yes." " Very good, Pablo." "There are a few things we can improve, but we'll work on them." "OK, whatever you say." " Congratulations." " Thank you so much, Valeria." "Congratulations, ma'am." "Excuse me." "To vote for Jairo Ortega is to vote for the one and only Pablo!" "Tata, what's wrong?" "Why does that woman need to know everything about each step you take?" "What are you talking about?" " Valeria Velez." " My love..." "Tata, she's a newspaper woman, a reporter who follows the news." "And right now, I'm the news." "When you win, don't disrespect me anymore with that bitch." "Come here." "Come here, come here, come here." "Slowly... come on." "Come on." "You are going to be the First Lady of this country one of these days." "Therefore, you are going to have to learn to deal with the press." "That woman is not on your level, Pablo." "She degrades you." "Please, don't worry about Valeria." "Pablo!" "A car, please!" "A car to the hospital, now!" "You know what, Pablo?" "To me, it looks like you are handling things very badly." "You need to start thinking more about your family... and about business." "Thing is, you can't be a politician." "Says who?" "You can't go strutting around giving things to people simply so they will love you." "We... are bandits." "If you run for Congress, find someone else to manage the laboratories." "Señor Escobar?" "Come meet your daughter." "God has blessed us with a girl, Pablo." "How beautiful." "Shh." "Shh." "Pablo is out of control." "Mother Mary, man." "What do you want us to do?" "You can't give Pablo Escobar a spanking as though he were some spoiled brat." "Oh, no?" "And why not?" "Careful with the threat you cannot execute." "You know what he's doing, right?" "According to Colombian law, a congressman has total immunity." "Do you think he's protecting himself while we remain in the drift?" "I do." "He thinks he's that fucking "Paisa Robin Hood."" "So what do we do?" "Well... we fulfill our duties, stuffing the ballot box, and later we let Pablo receive the applause, and take the risk." "We continue with our business..." "in the shadows, like always." "Carlos, what are the guys saying?" "I imagine that they're worried, right?" "They are not politically conscious, brother." "How can you expect them to understand your objectives?" "You do understand me, brother." "Imagine... a state governed by us." "Immunity for everyone, brother." "We, Carlos, belong to the people." "I need you to use your influence with the others to convince them that I am right." "If you win, you don't need to explain anything." "And if you lose..." "there's nothing to explain." "I like that." " Hitler said it." " Fuck off." "Yes." "He also said that no politician should ever let his picture be taken in a bathing suit." "Well, that's what he said." "And if I tell you, Carlos... that what I want, sincerely... is to help the poor people of this country... do you believe me or what?" "Pablo held most of his campaign rallies in the poorest neighborhoods of his electoral district." "He placed himself on the side of the poor and the weak in the fight against the oligarchs, "The Men of Always."" "And just like any politician, he made plenty of promises." "Only difference was Pablo had the men and the money to back them up." "It was becoming clear to everyone that Pablo was gonna win." "Pablo!" "Pablo!" "The only question remaining was..." "what to do about that." "Gustavo made good on his promise to quit the labs, so Pablo put Carlos Lehder in charge." "With characteristic German efficiency, he turned the labs into Nazilandia, and production rose 12 percent in just two short months." "Gacha and the Ochoas adopted a wait-and-see attitude, debating how and when Pablo would dispose of Jairo Ortega, his front man, once the election was over." "As soon as the results come out, Jairo Ortega will resign." "I say he's running toward his death." "As for us, we were kind of divided." "We cannot have Colombia become a narco state." "We need to find someone who can prove this guy is a drug dealer." "Let's stop his campaign before it starts." "No one will go on record." "I got a better idea." "We let him win." "If we put him in the spotlight and prove he's a trafficker, the embarrassment alone might get this country off its ass." "But first, we had to get proof that Pablo was the drug dealer we knew he was." "So we went to Suárez, and gave him a lot of money." "First, he told us that Pablo was arrested for trafficking back in '76, and then he gave us the name of a sergeant who could give us the files." "Problem was, Suárez was on both the DEA and the narcos' payroll." " Sixty-six." " Bullshit." "I shot him first." "Then Suárez gave us the name of the journalist who reported the arrest and then the lawyer who defended Pablo... and finally, the judge who signed Pablo's arrest warrant." "We were like the Bermuda Triangle." "You get too close to us, you disappear." "We gotta get something on this motherfucker." "If he was arrested, there's gotta be a mug shot." "Yeah, well, the file's gone." "If there was a mug shot, then it's gone, too." "If there was a photo, there's a negative." "Finally, it dawned on us." "We had to find someone without Suárez's help, and that was the photographer who had taken Pablo's mug shot years ago." "We got his negatives, and for safekeeping, we put him into witness protection." " How long have you had this picture?" " That's classified." "And what am I doing here?" "It's not America's role to get involved in other countries' elections." "Once again, the hand of the United States remains invisible." "Your party took money from Escobar." "I should think you'd want to get ahead of this." "Everyone took money." "By the way, it's all American money, so why don't you take this to the press?" "It should come from you." "You're the Minister of Justice." "Come election day, sure enough, it was a landslide." "The New Liberal party had the candidate who got the most votes in all of Antioquia... and his name was Jairo Ortega." "Ladies and gentlemen, with clear use of my mental and physical faculties..." "I wish to communicate to you my decision to resign from my seat in the Congress of the Republic for reasons of family and health." "But I am completely certain that my friend Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria is going to continue our social and political ideas, because Pablo is the voice of the people." " Thank you very much." " Thank you very much, Jairo." "I will give my best effort." "Thank you very much." "Imagine you were born in a poor family, in a poor city, in a poor country, and by the time you were 28 years old, you have so much money you can't even count it." "What do you do?" "You make your dreams come true." "Problem is, nobody can control the dreams they have." "Especially if you were Pablo Escobar." "Especially if you grew up in Colombia." "There's a reason magical realism was born in Colombia." "It's a country where dreams and reality are conflated... where, in their heads, people fly as high as Icarus." "But even magical realism has its limits." "Congressman Escobar..." "Sir!" "Excuse me." "Allow me to remind you of the norms of etiquette." "You cannot enter the hall if you don't have a tie." "All right." " What is your name?" " Juan." "Look, Juan... that is a really nice tie." " My girlfriend gave it to me." " Really?" "Yes." "Well, she's in the history books now." " Thank you very much, my son." " Thank you, sir." " Thank you." " All right." "And when you get too close to the sun... your dreams may melt away." "Good morning." "This is to inform you that we have a quorum and may now begin our session." "The Minister of Justice, Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, is present here today to address this honorable Congress." "I give the floor to you, Mr. Minister." "Thank you very much." "Much has been made of the issue of drug money," ""hot money," in our national political process." "I myself have been accused of receiving campaign contributions from the narcotics traffickers who have bought influence in these halls." "To this charge, I plead guilty." "In my eyes, the sin of turning a blind eye is as great as the sin of outright corruption." "We are a nation of the blind, and in our blindness, we have sold our country to the highest bidder." "It's time for us to open our eyes and to see the light." "Congressman Escobar... you stated that your great fortune was built from a taxi company." "This photograph clearly contradicts your claim." "For this reason, I demand your resignation." "You are not welcome in this chamber." "You don't belong here." "Thank you very much, Juan." "Very kind." "What interests the narcos isn't just the fall of the Minister of Justice, but also to impede the strategy of the government to combat his interests." "His two arms: silver or lead." "I want to inform the people that the Minister of Justice has 24 hours within which to present concrete proof regarding the insinuations he made the day before yesterday in the Hall of Representatives." "To the contrary, I will proceed to denounce him legally before the authorities and before the Colombian justice system." "Pablo and his lawyers went on the offense, trying to smear Lara with accusations." "I am not looking for, nor do I long for a confrontation before the Colombian people." "I look for peace, I have always preached peace, and have longed for peace and the prosperity of the Colombian people." "It's important to realize that when members of Congress can be threatened or bought at will, we see with clarity the real dimension of the drug problem here in Colombia." "But Lara wouldn't back down." "He denounced narcos at every opportunity, going after the guys that we hadn't been able to touch." "He revealed that six of the country's nine soccer teams were owned by drug traffickers." "Gacha the Mexican was forced to give up ownership of his team, aptly nicknamed "The Millionaires."" "Lara denied flying permits for 57 planes in the Ochoa fleet." "He even fined Pablo for illegal importation of elephants and camels from Africa." "And with the action of one brave man," "Pablo knew his dream of presidency was over." "What are required are honest men, men who are able to put themselves up against drug traffickers, who with complete tranquility buy or kill any person or government institution who is against their interests." "Rodrigo Lara became the most important political figure in Colombia with his stand against the narcos." "He just wouldn't stop going after them." "His bravery in the face of danger made him the most wanted man in the country." "For his own safety, he was appointed Colombian ambassador to Czechoslovakia." "He was slated to leave in two weeks, but a lot could happen in two weeks." "I think it might be a good idea for you to wear this until you leave." "You feel responsible, is that it?" "Somewhat, yes, sir." "Are you so arrogant to think you had any influence over my actions?" "That I put my life and the life of my family at risk for American policy objectives?" "Let me assure you, Agent Murphy, outside of providing me with the picture, you... did nothing." "The decision to speak out was solely mine." "And I highly advise you to wear this vest, sir." "I will accept this vest... out of respect for your concern with my well-being." "But I would advise you one thing while you remain in Colombia." "And what is that?" "We accept your help, but never your condescension." "When all this is over, Colombians will be the heroes, and the victims." "John Wayne only exists in Hollywood." "Just wear the vest." "Oh, Pablito." "We knew they wouldn't accept you in that circle." "Damned bastards." "You're too good for them, Pablito." "This is a fight that you cannot win, cousin." "You need to think more about your family and the business... and abandon that ridiculousness once and for all." "I will fix it." "Due to the vicious lies and slander cast my way by Minister Lara and his cronies," "I've decided to announce my resignation from Congress of the Republic." "I ran as a representative for the common man, a voice for those who had no voice, but that has happened through much of our history." "The powerful have conspired to silence me." "I dreamt of doing good." "Those dreams are over." "But make no mistake..." "I will not go quietly." "I will fight." ""The Men of Always" are mistaken if they think they can defeat Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria!" "Thank you very much." "Thank you very much." "He didn't wear it." "Wouldn't have made a difference." "Our strategy had gotten a good man killed." "It was the first time I'd felt guilty about my job." " As for Suárez..." " Hey." "...he made so much money playing both sides, he decided to lift our spirits by giving the DEA a token of his appreciation." "I brought this for your friend's wife." " I hope she likes it." " No, gracias." "You're fucking crazy, asshole."