Post date: Aug 10, 2012 10:37:10 AM
MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (AUGUST 09, 2012) (REUTERS) - Authorities in Colombia's second-city of Medellin have banned the distribution of a sticker album dedicated to the life of infamous Colombian druglord Pablo Escobar after it became a best seller with children.
Authorities in Colombia pull from sale a sticker book dedicated to notorious Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar that critics say glamourises the feared Medellin cartel chief among young children.
Shops in the once drug-ravaged Colombian city have been struggling to keep up with demand for the 16-page sticker booklet that critics say glamourises the South American country's notorious Medellin cartel boss.
Despite Medellin's government announcing it would seize the book called "Escobar: Boss Of Evil," the ban has not stopped the sale of the album in small stores of the city's poorer regions.
Local resident Luz Helena Monsalve, a mother whose sons are avid collectors of the controversial album, told Reuters she had received reports of children skipping snacks to buy stickers.
"Every day the lady at the store receives albums and the stickers which are sold right away. In other words, right now, there's a shortage; none are available. As a neighbour said, "These (the stickers) are selling more than food. These kids are giving up eating to buy the album and the stickers," she said.
In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in Pablo Escobar with books, movies and television series dedicated to the life of the infamous drug lord.
For many in Medellin's poorest suburbs, Escobar is considered a Robin-Hood like figure, giving out money in slums and housing estates.
"(Escobar) This will never die. It will go on for centuries, I think. We will die and all our children will continue the same-- with the story of Pablo," said Medellin resident Dairon Hernandez.
With large swathes of Colombia ravaged by guerilla violence and trafficking gangs, university sociologist Jaime Rafael Nieto said pop-culture items on Escobar are an integral part of the country's national folklore.
"The album, the soap opera and other cultural products-- be they legal or illegal-- that are found in the city and in the country fit in well I think. They're not forced onto the city or country's sociocultural or even political dynamic because Escobar's brand lives on," he said.
The sticker book comes on the back of popular television series "Escobar: Boss Of Evil" that documents Pablo Escobar's rise to Colombia's most powerful drug kingpin. The first episode attracted over 10 million viewers.
During the height of his cartel empire, Escobar is thought to have controlled tonnes of cocaine shipments to the United States, waged a bombing campaign to pressure the government against extradition and ordered the deaths of hundreds of politicians and rival drug gang members. He was killed by police in a 1993 Medellin shootout.