Pablo Escobar’s Son listening

What do you know about Pablo Escobar?Listen to the first part of the report and make notes on the man.2

Discuss these questions and then listen to the next part of the report and check your ideas:

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1 Pablo Escobar’s son, Sebastian Marroquin, says he had every type of luxury as a child, but could not enjoy them. Why do you think that was the case? 2 Why do you think he went hungry although he had $3 million in cash in the house?3 When was Pablo Escobar killed?4 What happened to Sebastian Marroquin after his father was killed?

Listen to the next part of the report and make notes on what Sebastian Marroquin ended 2

Listen to the next part of the report and make notes on Jorge Lara’s story. Then summarise it in your own words.

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Do you agree with Marroquin’s advice? How difficult do you think it is to forgive in these circumstances? How are Colombians viewed in your country?

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up doing. Then summarise the events in your own words.

Discuss these questions and then listen to the next part of the report and check your ideas:

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1 What do you think happened when Marroquin apologized to Lara?2 How do you think Lara describes Marroquin?3 What advice do you think Marroquin gives young people?4 What do you think Marroquin urges public officials to do?

Listen to the final part of the report and make notes under these headings:Reconciliation Forgiveness Colombians abroad

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mid-intermediate+ (B2+)week of 26.09.16

student pages 1

Transcript

Pablo Escobar’s Son listening

Teacher’s notes 1

2RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: It is a common family drama - a son rejects everything his father stands for and strikes out on his own. But in this case, the father is the late Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar. The son became an architect, but his last name got in the way of business. Today he is a motivational speaker who denounces drug cartels. Reporter John Otis has this story.JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: The son of Pablo Escobar, now

known as Sebastian Marroquin, gets a warm welcome from the crowd in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes. Here and elsewhere in Latin America, he tells surreal stories of being raised by the founder of the Medellin cocaine cartel. During the 1980s and early ‘90s Escobar exploded car bombs, killed policemen and blew up an airliner. He was responsible for the deaths of some 3,000 Colombians. He also became a billionaire.

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2 OTIS: Now 39, his son describes the family’s mansions, sports cars, helicopters and airplanes. Marroquin, whose birth name is Juan Pablo Escobar, says, “we had every type of luxury you could imagine.” But they were impossible to enjoy because the Escobars were constantly on the run. Marroquin recalls going hungry even though one of their hideouts was overflowing with $3 million in cash. I asked myself, what’s the point of having so much money if you can’t even go out to the

corner grocery to buy bread?, he says. In 1993, Pablo Escobar was killed by Colombian police. A distraught Marroquin, who was only 16, decided to forge his own path. After receiving new identities from the Colombian government, Marroquin, along with his girlfriend, mother and sister, moved to Argentina. Accustomed to bodyguards and servants, Marroquin was suddenly on his own.

3 OTIS: He tells me, I was afraid to go into McDonalds and order a burger. I’d always been isolated. I lived in a bubble. In Buenos Aires, Marroquin studied architecture. He wanted to put up buildings after watching his father knock them down with car bombs.

But when clients learned his true identity work dried up, so Marroquin began giving conferences on what he’s learned from his family’s violent legacy. He also sought out Escobar’s victims.

4 JORGE LARA: When my father was killed, I was 6. I was going to be 7.OTIS: Jorge Lara is the son of Rodrigo Lara, a Colombian justice minister who was one of Escobar’s fiercest critics. Escobar’s hitmen killed Rodrigo Lara in

1984.LARA: The bodyguards took the body of my father and ran away to the hospital. So we had some images that are impacted in our minds, you know?

5 OTIS: After Marroquin apologized to Lara the two became friends.LARA: For him it’s very difficult, the stigma. People tell me sometimes, how can you talk to that guy? But he’s traveling around. He’s putting the face. He’s not hiding. So he’s a very brave guy, but who’s got a very difficult life.OTIS: Marroquin tells his story in his autobiography,

Pablo Escobar: My Father, which has just been published in the US After his performances, fans line up to get their copies signed. In the book and in his talks, Marroquin tells young people to avoid the lure of drug gangs. To remove their power, he urges public officials to legalize cocaine. And he asks forgiveness for the sins of his father.

6 OTIS: Marroquin’s contrition comes as Colombia braces for a process of national reconciliation. Later this month, the government and Marxist rebels will sign a historic peace treaty to end a half-century-old guerrilla war. That conflict has killed more than 200,000 people. But not all Colombians are in a forgiving mood. During the question-and-answer period at Marroquin’s talk,

a Colombian woman says her father was kidnapped during the height of Colombia’s drug war. The woman, Ines Sarmiento, adds that due to Escobar’s violence, Colombians abroad are often viewed as criminals.As Marroquin listens, Sarmiento declares, I suffered from the things that your father did. I’m John Otis in Aguascalientes, Mexico.