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Sebastian Marroquín
Best-Selling Author & Son of Colombian Drug Lord, Pablo Escobar
Sebastian Marroquín
Best-Selling Author & Son of Colombian Drug Lord, Pablo Escobar
Biography
Sebastian Marroquín is the son of the late Colombian cocaine drug lord, Pablo Escobar. Formerly Juan Pablo Escobar, he changed his name to Sebastian Marroquín to protect his family after moving to Argentina where he has lived in exile for two decades. Marroquín has come out of the shadows to share his personal story and identity in his international best-selling book translated in fourteen languages, Pablo Escobar: My Father. Now, he reveals the darkest secrets of the global mafia and corruption in his second book: Pablo Escobar in Fraganti: The Stories that My Father Never Told Me.
Pablo Escobar was the head of the largest Mafia organization in history, the Medellin Drug Cartel. At its height, the Medellin Cartel controlled over 80 percent of the cocaine shipped into the United States. By some estimates, Escobar’s cocaine empire was generating $20 billion a year, making him one of the richest men in the world. Escobar ran the Medellin Cartel with an iron fist, and in its course, his cocaine business was responsible for ordering the deaths of over 3,000 people and the bombings of countless buildings. It’s no wonder that after moving to Argentina, Marroquín became an architect, hoping that in some heartfelt way he could make up for the buildings his father was responsible for destroying by helping to build new ones.
It is difficult to fathom the moral burden Sebastian Marroquín has had to shoulder. As a young boy, he could not possibly comprehend the gravity of his father’s actions. It was only after his father’s death, as a young adult, that he recognized the terrible crimes his father committed and how sheltered he was from the truth. Instead of following in his father’s footsteps, Marroquín has dedicated his life to publically advocating against the use of drugs. In an interview with NPR he said, "I feel I have a moral responsibility to go before society, recognize my father's crimes and apologize to the victims of these crimes."
Pablo Escobar’s life and his cocaine empire have been the subject of many documentaries, some painting him as public enemy #1 while others showed him as a hero who built homes, churches, hospitals and schools to support of the poorest people of Columbia. Most recently, Netflix produced the popular miniseries Narcos, which Marroquín criticized for many inaccuracies, prompting the show’s producers to acknowledge that they took creative liberty to dramatize parts of the story. The focus of Narcos was on the terror Escobar wreaked on Columbia and the lives that were destroyed in the wake of his drug trade, but the lives of his own family were shattered as well.
In 2009, Marroquín agreed to participate in a documentary entitled, Sins of My Father, by filmmaker Nicholas Entel. The film focused on Marroquín’s meetings with the sons of the most prominent victims his father had killed: presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan and Minister of Justice Rodrigo Lara Bonilla. The purpose of the meetings was to promote reconciliation and to put an end to the circle of violence, hoping that with this generation, the hatred of the past could be replaced with peace.
In his provocative presentations, Marroquín takes you inside the walls of the Escobar family. He is soft-spoken and eloquent, speaking about the sins of his father, advocating against drugs and promoting peace. He may never be able to escape the sins and transgressions of the past, but Marroquín harbors no hatred, instead he is an inspiration for forgiveness and peace.
Speech Topics
The Sins of My Father: My Story of Reconciliation & Forgiveness
It is difficult to fathom the guilt Sebastian Marroquín has had to shoulder as the son of the man responsible for ordering the deaths of countless people. He was only a young boy when his father, Pablo Escobar, ran the Medellin Cartel. Sins of My Father is a documentary film that followed Marroquín as he attempts to reconcile with the victims of narco-violence, asking forgiveness of the children whose family members were order assassinated by his father. This riveting film promoted reconciliation and ending hatred. In this talk, Marroquín gives you an intimate perspective as the son of Pablo Escobar and what asking forgiveness has meant to him in his own personal journey to end hatred.
Pablo Escobar: My Father
There are hundreds of stories published about Pablo Escobar as well as individuals involved in hunting him down who speak publically about him, but it’s only part of the story. Sebastian Marroquín has taken great risk to come out of exile, use is own name and tell his story. Pablo Escobar was a father and husband, but he was also the head of “the most notorious Mafia organization in human history.” In this talk, Marroquín recounts the terrible things his father did and the enormity of realizing the truth about his father. This is a rare and shocking look at the violence as well as the consequences of that violence from someone who knew the notorious drug lord best. Drug trafficking gave Pablo Escobar everything, but also took everything from him….including his life.
Narcoterrorism: A History Never to Be Repeated
The most famous example of “narcoterrorism” is that of Pablo Escobar. As the head of the Medellin Drug Cartel, Escobar waged violence against the Columbian government in order to receive political concessions. Escobar exacted pressure by way of assassinations, kidnappings, bombings, hijackings and other violence in order to pressure the government to revise its extradition treaty. In this powerful talk, Marroquín takes you behind the curtain and explains how this is a history never to be repeated.