Children's sticker album devoted to drug kingpin sparks row in Colombia
Some Colombians fear popular sticker book inspired by TV series about Pablo Escobar glorifies dead drug lord
Sibylla Brodzinsky in Bogotá
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 9 August 2012 17.24 BST
A boy puts stickers of Pablo Escobar into an album in Medellín, Colombia. Photograph: Luis Eduardo Noriega/EPA
In most of the world, children collect stickers of football stars, pop icons or their favourite cartoon characters. In the Colombian city of Medellín, however, children have been filling the pages of an album dedicated to the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.
The 20-page sticker album – which promises prizes such as an MP3 player, a basketball and a watch for those who collect a full set of stickers – was inspired by a television series currently airing on national television which chronicles the life of Escobar, who was gunned down on a rooftop in 1993.
The album, sold for the equivalent of 7p in small corner stores of the city's poorest neighbourhoods, is filled with images from the television programme and collectors must match stickers, which sell for about 3.5p for four, with the images.
Though the albums are in hot demand, city officials announced on Wednesday they would ban the distribution of the sticker books. Sergio Zuluaga, of the Medellín mayor's office, called the albums a "justification of crime" in a book aimed at children.
Already the television series, Escobar, the Boss of Evil, which has been airing since May, has generated controversy over the legacy of the cocaine king. Many Colombians say the series glorifies Escobar, who declared war on the Colombian state and ordered the bombing of the headquarters of the El Espectador newspaper and of a commercial airline flight, as well as the assassination of politicians and government officials. Many are particularly worried that younger generations, who did not live through the terror he wrought, may see him as a hero.
That is how he is seen in the Pablo Escobar neighbourhood in Medellín. Escobar created the neighbourhood by giving homes to dozens of families who had previously lived in a garbage dump.
Uberney Zabala, president of the community action board of the neighbourhood, said the album was not being distributed in his area but that most residents there already had pictures of the dead drug lord in their homes. "I don't understand the controversy. He's part of our national history and here in Pablo Escobar neighbourhood, he's our hero," said Zabala.
Despite the allure for some, nine-year-old Juan José Alvarez said he was not interested in collecting the album, which is sold in stores throughout the Santo Domingo neighbourhood where he lives. He had seen neighbours and schoolmates with the albums but said: "Why would I want to have an album of Pablo Escobar? He was the worst criminal Medellín has ever seen."
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