Escobar pub accused of glorifying drug lord’s reign of terror

Owners of a South American-themed bar that shares its name with notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar have been urged to rethink their branding.

Colombians living in Nottingham said calling the venue Escobar was in poor taste, given the pain and death inflicted by the famous cartel boss.

They also criticised a mural inside the bar that appears to depict Escobar.

A bar spokesperson said the venue’s name was just a “play on words” and the mural was not based on Pablo Escobar.

Pablo Escobar was the leader of the Medellin drugs cartel in Colombia and one of the wealthiest villains in history.

During the 1980s, he was the biggest manufacturer and distributor of cocaine in the world, responsible for as much as 80% of the global trade in the drug at that time.

Thousands of people were killed during his reign of terror before he was shot dead by police in 1993.

The Escobar venue launched in Market Street in Nottingham in December but could not host customers until May due to Covid restrictions.

Maria Motonya, who left her home in Medellin in 1985 and has lived in the UK for 20 years, said she was appalled at the bar’s name.

“For me it’s very distasteful and insensitive,” she said.

“Clearly the owners did not do their research.

“In Medellin we were terrified, afraid to come to the door.

“My father’s family were beheaded because they wouldn’t give him [Escobar] their farm.

“Escobar is a very common name in South America but with the mural and everything else, this bar has a very clear association with Pablo Escobar.

“You’d have to be blind not to see that.

“And what are we saying to young people who visit this bar. That it’s OK to be a gangster? That it’s OK to be associated with drugs?

“I think they [the owners] have probably been watching too many American films.”