1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: Diversion audio. This episode contains mature content and descriptions of 2 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:20,319 Speaker 1: violence that may be disturbing for some listeners. Please take 3 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: care in listening. November seventh, nineteen ninety Bogota, Colombia, at 4 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: seven oh five pm, Maruja Pachon de Via Mizar and 5 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: Biatrice Via Misar de Guerrero slide into the backseat of 6 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: their Renault twenty one after work at Fox Scene, the 7 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: state run enterprise for the promotion of the film industry. 8 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: Maruja was an award winning journalist, and she attended to 9 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: all press matters. Since drug traffickers had started randomly kidnapping 10 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: journalists in August, she developed a habit of looking over 11 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: her shoulder wherever she went. As Moduha's sister in law 12 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: and personal assistant, Beatrice had even less reason to be 13 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: suspicious as their new chauffeur navigated through rush hour traffic 14 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: to bring them home for the day. But her intuition 15 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: was right. Eight men were following them. Twenty minutes later, 16 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,479 Speaker 1: and less than two hundred meters from Maruja's family home, 17 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: a stolen yellow cab cut off Moduha's car and hemmed 18 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: it into the left hand curb. Their driver slammed the 19 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: brakes to avoid a wreck. At the same time, a 20 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: Mercedes pulled up behind the car, trapping them all. Three 21 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: armed men approached the car, then five more. Beatrice assumed 22 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: it was a hold up. She pulled two rings off 23 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: her right hand and threw them out the window, but 24 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: money was not what they were After two men opened 25 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: the back doors on each side, and the fifth shot 26 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: their driver in the head with an uzi through a silencer. 27 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: The men separated the women. Bea Trees went into a 28 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: third car, where they made her lie on the floor 29 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: with a filthy smelling jacket over her head. Maruha went 30 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: into the Mercedes in the middle of the back seat 31 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: with a man on either side. They forced her head 32 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: down against her knees so that it was hard to breathe. 33 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: We only want you to deliver a message. One of 34 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: them said, you'll be home in a couple of hours. 35 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: As the car wove through traffic, Maruha, the journalist asked, 36 00:02:54,440 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: who are you people? Welcome to the greatest true crime 37 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay mcbraer. Today's episode, we're 38 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: calling Pablo Escobar's hostages not just bargaining chips. It's the 39 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: story of Pablo Escobar's eventual surrender, but not how you've 40 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: heard it before. To negotiate his terms, Escobar kidnapped and 41 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: held hostage ten journalists and their teams. In this episode, 42 00:03:47,320 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: we're following two women's stories, Marujampachon and Diana Torbai. Gabriel 43 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: Garcia Marquez is one of my favorite authors. If you 44 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: know his name, you probably know him from his magical 45 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: realist fiction titles like one Hundred Years of Solitude or 46 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: Love in the Time of Cholera, or my personal favorite 47 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:36,839 Speaker 1: of Love and Other Demons. Until I got to visit 48 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 1: Cartagena de Indias in Colombia, I actually didn't know that 49 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: he was a journalist. First, Gabriel or Gabo is the 50 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: name most associated with magical realism, but at the same time, 51 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: starting around nineteen forty eight, when he left Bilgotav for 52 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 1: Cartagena because of political unrest, he cut his teeth on 53 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: journalism more importantly, or at least more relevantly. I had 54 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: never heard of his book News of a Kidnapping. This 55 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: is one of his significant works of creative nonfiction, and 56 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,799 Speaker 1: it's the one from which this episode takes the bulk 57 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: of its research. I don't think news of a kidnapping 58 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: is super ubiquitous in English translation, at least I've never 59 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: seen it before, so it's unlikely that you'll happen upon 60 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: it on a shelf next to The General and his Labyrinth, 61 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: or The Autumn of the Patriarch, or even his posthumous 62 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: novel released just this year until August. But don't worry, 63 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: we will link to it in the show notes. And 64 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: if you're translator loyal like me, then you can rest 65 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: easy because this book is also translated by the inimitable 66 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: Edith Grossman. I also want to thank you in advance 67 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 1: for affording me grace when I'm pronouncing these names. I'm 68 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 1: doing my best and I have practiced, but I'm not 69 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: fluent in Spanish, so thank you for understanding. Frankly, it's 70 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: just like me to pick up a serious work of 71 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: true crime to read on vacation. Most people on a 72 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: rooftop slurping the monata concocos, chit chat with other expats, 73 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: or dance to the throbbing music that you'd have to 74 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: shout over regardless, but you know who you can find 75 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: in the far corner of the pool behind black sunglasses 76 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: and under a sun hat and a bikini too small 77 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: for this advanced stage of pregnancy me and probably since 78 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: you're listening to this, you let me start by saying, 79 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: Colombia in nineteen ninety one is very different politically from 80 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: Colombia in twenty twenty four. In nineteen ninety one, Well, 81 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: that's the stereotypical Colombia you think of when you free associate. 82 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: I'm going to give a very truncated, extra dreamely generalized 83 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: political landscape of nineteen ninety one. If you're listening and 84 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: you're super familiar with the details of this time and place, 85 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: please have mercy, and when you write in to correct me, 86 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: do be nice about it. So when Maruja asked her 87 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: kidnappers in that Mercedes, who are you people, they said, 88 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: we're from M nineteen, I didn't know what that was, 89 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: quick and dirty. M nineteen in nineteen ninety one was 90 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: the former Gorilla Group. In nineteen ninety one, they were legal, 91 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: they were campaigning for seats in the Constituent Assembly and 92 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: had been pardoned in the late nineteen eighties. Very very generally, 93 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: here's how I understand the trajectory of M nineteen. They 94 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: were a gorilla group who rebelled against dictatorship and fraudulent elections. 95 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: When they agreed to demobilize and instead affect changed through 96 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: legal politics, the remaining members were formally pardoned and they 97 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: created a legitimate political party. All that to say, when 98 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: these kidnappers told Maduha, a journalist that they were part 99 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: of M nineteen, she immediately knew they were bullshitting her 100 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: and Maruja again, a journalist, pressed for the truth. She said, seriously, 101 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: are your dealers or gorillas? They said they were gorillas. 102 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: They were lying dealers, coppos or captains. Pretty much everyone 103 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: really who worked for Pablo Escobar was at this time 104 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: part of a group called the extraditibles. So what is 105 00:08:55,320 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: an extraditible? Bottom line, At the time in nineteen ninety one, 106 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: not anymore. The government was still so full of corruption 107 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: that the drug dealers wanted to be tried in their 108 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: home country. What they didn't want was to be extradited, 109 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: specifically to the United States for crimes committed here, because 110 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: the US was having no mercy. In fact, sentences were 111 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: extraordinarily harsh. One Colombian drug dealer who was extradited in 112 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven received life imprisonment plus one hundred and 113 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: thirty years. The so called extraditibles hid behind the peril 114 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: that their families would face once the actual criminals were 115 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: behind bars. Naturally, the Colombian government was reluctant to grant 116 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: the huge acquiescence of guaranteeing non extradition. They thought Pablo 117 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 1: Escobar essentially wanted to continue carrying out business as usual, 118 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: but this time with physical protection from the government. The 119 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: new nineteen ninety one Colombian government was knocked down with 120 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: being complicit in grand crimes against humanity, so Pablo started 121 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: taking hostages to get what he wanted. I should mention 122 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: here that extradition to the US was possible at all 123 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: because of a treaty signed under President Julio Cesar Torbai. 124 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: He was in office from nineteen seventy eight to nineteen 125 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: eighty two. Two subsequent presidents continued that treaty. The presidential 126 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 1: candidate of the New Liberalism Party had Torbain's full support, 127 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: Luis Carlos Galan was leading with sixty percent approval in 128 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: the polls, and then Pablo Escobar tried to take power 129 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,559 Speaker 1: of the New Liberalism party, Galan denounced him in a 130 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: rally and declared a staunch position against drug cartels. The 131 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: cartels assassinated Galan before the end of the presidential race. Okay, 132 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,679 Speaker 1: technically his murder is still unsolved, but I mean they 133 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: all but confessed to his killing. In nineteen eighty nine, 134 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: Goalan's campaign director, Seesar Gaviria came into office. Gavidia defended 135 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: extradition as quote an indispensable tool for strengthening the penal 136 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: system and announced an unprecedented strategy against the drug traffickers 137 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: who surrendered and confessed and they could obtain non extradition 138 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: in return. Sounds fair, right generous even to me. Yeah, 139 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: it wasn't good enough for the extraditibles. Gavidia is the 140 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 1: president during our story, but I thought it was relevant 141 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: to give you more background slash history on the presidential 142 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: office because when Pablo Escob didn't get his way with 143 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: the extradition clause, he started taking hostages. The first hostage 144 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: was seized on August thirtieth, nineteen ninety. Diana Torbai was 145 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:17,319 Speaker 1: also an award winning journalist, director of the television news 146 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: program Krypton and of the Boco Ta magazine Oi Oi. 147 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: Diana was also the daughter of former president and leader 148 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 1: of the Liberal Party, Julio Cesar Torbai. They got Diana 149 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:46,959 Speaker 1: on a bait and switch. Dianna was supposed to interview 150 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: the former Spanish priest and guerrilla fighter, Yes, priest turned 151 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: guerrilla fighter, Manuel Perez. Her team had their suspicions, but 152 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: nothing could have stopped Diana from trying to engage in 153 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: a dialogue about peace with the leader of the Colombian 154 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: National Liberation Army or the eal IN. He was the 155 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: leader of the second largest gorilla group at the time. 156 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: She and her team of five all drove from Bogota 157 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: to Onda. There, they got in two vehicles and rode 158 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: with the stated guerrillas overnight. Then they waited for a 159 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: landslide to be cleared. The next four hours, Diana and 160 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: the lone woman on the crew rode on horses while 161 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: the men walked through forests. People knew Diana's face even 162 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 1: in the coffee groves and peaceful valleys. They called out 163 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: to her as she passed. That evening, they dismounted near 164 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: a city that had to be Mediine. It was not 165 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: Yalen territory. The crew continued to Copacabana and entered a 166 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: little house. A masked man told her that the priest 167 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 1: was waiting, but the women to go first for safety. 168 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: Her cameraman was wary. This supposed guerrilla fighter was wearing 169 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: a rolex and these guys weapons were not gorilla weapons. 170 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: He warned Diana against it, and we all know the 171 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: first role of horror movies is you never split up 172 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: the group. But she couldn't prevent it. After a two 173 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: hour forced march during a storm, she Asusenna Leavanon, who 174 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: was editor in chief and director, and Tuan Vida, who 175 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: was an editor, arrived at the first house, where they 176 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: would be held hostage. By the end of nineteen ninety, 177 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: Escobar and the extra didivals had abducted ten people to 178 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: use his bargaining chips. What the hell was he thinking? 179 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: We'll get into that and much more when we come 180 00:14:53,800 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: back to recap. The three people were following most closely 181 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 1: have all been kidnapped. First Diana Torbai, the news show 182 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: and magazine reporter, also the daughter of the former president, 183 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: both a powerful woman in her own right and powerful 184 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: by proxy. Second Maruja, kidnapped three months later, journalist and 185 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: director of press. She was married to Alberto via Meissar, 186 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: campaigning for the Constituent Assembly and writing at the newspaper 187 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: El de'empo. Alberto was a famously tenacious, if not aggressive, 188 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: politician and diplomat. He was a chief ally to President 189 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: Luis Carlos Galan in seeking to limit the power of 190 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: Pablo Escobar. Maruha, too, was both powerful in her own 191 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: right and by proxy. Beatrice via Mussar was Maduha's assistant. 192 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: They'd actually kidnapped her on accident. At the same time, 193 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: Maduha assumed the kidnappers had already let her go because 194 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: she wasn't involved in any press, not really. But when 195 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: they reunited within hours of being abducted, they embraced like 196 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: they had not seen each other in years. They arrived 197 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: to a squalid room with one mattress on the floor 198 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: and two masked guards, and then the main guard, the 199 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: one who was in charge, said he was letting Beatrice go. 200 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: He said, we took you along by mistake. Beatrice said immediately, oh, no, 201 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: I'm staying with Maruha. The guards were genuinely impressed with 202 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: her loyalty. When she asked to use the bathroom, they 203 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: took her down a hallway with a torn nasty cloth 204 00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: over her head. The lavatory was tiny and disgusting. When 205 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: she returned, her circumstances had changed. The guards had heard 206 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,880 Speaker 1: on the radio that Beatrice was the sister of Maduha's husband, 207 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: Alberto via Missar, so she too had become a powerful 208 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: hostage to them. We know who you are now, the 209 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: guard said, and we can use you too. The radio 210 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: had also revealed that the police knew their escape route, 211 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,640 Speaker 1: which made the current house dangerous for all of them. 212 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: The kidnappers relocated Maruha and Beatrice in the trunk of 213 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: a third car. They led the women into another small, 214 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: dimly lit room with a mattress on the floor, two guards, 215 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: and a bed in the corner. On the bed was 216 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 1: Marina Montoya. Maruja and Beatrice knew Marina, and they knew 217 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 1: she had been kidnapped three months earlier, just after Diana. 218 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: She was thought to be dead, since by all deduction, 219 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: her abduction was a form of vengeance. The unconfirmed story 220 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: was that Marina's brother, the Secretary General, had agreed to 221 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:29,920 Speaker 1: negotiate terms that the government had not fulfilled. In other words, 222 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: Marina was not a bargaining chip. The common theory was 223 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: that she had been kidnapped only to execute. Marina was 224 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: in a bad condition. She was a skeleton and her 225 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: white hair hung limp where she lay on the bed. 226 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: She was alive, she did not move. Marina was sixty 227 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: four years old, and she was renowned for her beauty, 228 00:18:55,560 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: especially her beautifully groomed hands and fingernails. This person was 229 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 1: not how they remembered her. It didn't take long for 230 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: Maruha and Beatrice to understand what sent Marina into decline. 231 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,680 Speaker 1: The rules of the captivity were harsher than those of 232 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: a prison. They could only speak if urgent, and even 233 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 1: then only in a whisper. They could not get off 234 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: the mattress they had to share. The room was hardly 235 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: lit at all, and it had no ventilation, so it 236 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: was hard to breathe in the heat and stench. In 237 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,440 Speaker 1: the night, the room turned freezing and the walls dripped water. 238 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,640 Speaker 1: Their clothes were confiscated and replaced with two sweatsuits. They 239 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 1: had to ask permission from the two guards for everything 240 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:47,400 Speaker 1: they needed, from sitting up to speaking to smoking. Maruha 241 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: even got death threats for snoring in her sleep. They 242 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: did however, have a television and it was always set 243 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: to one new station or another. Alberta Villa. Mussar was 244 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: on news shows eight times in the first two days, 245 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: hoping Maruha and Viatrice would hear him. Plus nearly all 246 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,920 Speaker 1: of Maruja's six children worked in the media, and they 247 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:20,360 Speaker 1: used their resources to communicate to her. It was unquestionably 248 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: awful for all the hostages, but I was surprised to 249 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 1: learn that after weeks of captivity, the hostages realized that 250 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: their guards were also kind of hostages. The guards were 251 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:40,440 Speaker 1: the worst part of the captivity. They were boys, young, uneducated, brutal, 252 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,160 Speaker 1: and volatile. They worked in pairs for twelve hour shifts 253 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: with their submachine guns ready. Marquez says in News of 254 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: a kidnapping quote, the boy's common condition was absolute fatalism. 255 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: They knew they were going to die young. They accepted 256 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: and cared only about living for the moment. They made 257 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: excuses to themselves for their reprehensible work. It meant helping 258 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 1: the family, buying nice clothes, having motorcycles, and insuring the 259 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: happiness of their mothers, whom they adored above all else 260 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: in the world, and for whose sakes they were willing 261 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: to die, never mind that a mother would never ever 262 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: make that decision for her child. It didn't seem much 263 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: like any of them had choices, though the guards had 264 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: names that suited their personalities, Monk Spots or the scariest one, 265 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: the one who flirted with Marina and hated Maruja. Barabas 266 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: One was afraid the Extra Didivils would kill him when 267 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: they no longer needed him, just as a precaution in 268 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: case he wanted to tell some of their secrets. Between 269 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: late November and December seventeenth, the government worked hard and 270 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 1: in secret to revise the extradition treaty and get the 271 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: hostages freed. During that time, I think as a gesture 272 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: of good faith, the Extra Diitibles released four hostages. That 273 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: meant they still held six. Three were together, Maruja, Beatrice 274 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: and Marina. Maruja thought the Extra Diitibles were burning all 275 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: the low cards. Only the bargaining chips were still being 276 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:34,400 Speaker 1: held and Marina, and then in a different location there 277 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: was Diana Torbai and Richard Basseera. The last detained alone 278 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: was Paco Santos. Christmas came and went. Their spirits sank 279 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: when the captors of Maruja, Beatrice, and Marina, including the 280 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 1: family whose house they were held in, insisted on a 281 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: big New Year's Eve celebration. The hostages didn't really know 282 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: what to do with that. Then, sometime in January, one 283 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: of the guards burst into Pacho Santo's room and said, 284 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 1: it's all fucked up. They're going to kill the hostages. 285 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: He explained that first they would kill Mariina Montoya every 286 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:20,640 Speaker 1: three days, another in this order, Richard Bassea, Beatrice, Maruja, 287 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: and then Diana. The guard told Pacho he would be last. 288 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: He said, but don't worry. This government can't stomach more 289 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: than two dead bodies. In reality, Pacho was the first 290 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,119 Speaker 1: on the list for some reason, though his sentence was 291 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: not carried out. January twenty third, Madina's favorite guard, Monk, 292 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: came into the room. We came to take Granny to 293 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: another house, said Maduha asked, outright, are you going to 294 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: kill her? Monk was so upset by the question that 295 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: he disconnected the TV and radio and confiscated them. Medina said, 296 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: who knows, maybe they're going to release me. Maduha and 297 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: Beatrice decided the kindest thing to do was to agree 298 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: but they knew better. After they took Manina away, they 299 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,880 Speaker 1: realized the TV and radio had been taken to keep 300 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: them from knowing how the night ended. This part of 301 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: the story is the saddest part of the story. Medina's 302 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: body was found the next morning in an empty lot 303 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: north of Bokotah. The corpse wore a hood that obscured 304 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: her vision, and there were six entrance and exit wounds 305 00:24:51,680 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: in her skull, which she never saw coming. Because of 306 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 1: the crazy number of unidentified bodies in Bogota at the time, 307 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,120 Speaker 1: the Jane Doe was dumped in a common grave after 308 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,360 Speaker 1: the autopsy, but one of the pathologists who had performed 309 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: the autopsy believed quote the corpse of the lady with 310 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: the fine clothes and the impeccable nails was in fact 311 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:34,360 Speaker 1: Marina Montoya. He was correct as soon as her identity 312 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: was established. However, someone claiming to be from the Justice 313 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,679 Speaker 1: Ministry called the Institute of Forensic Medicine, urging them not 314 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: to reveal that the body was in a mass grave. 315 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: It was bad. Pr officials had a hard time locating 316 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 1: the body when Mariina's son came to identify her. When 317 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: they did, she was difficult to recognize because the wounds 318 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 1: had so disfigured her face. Several days had passed between 319 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: Manina's death and the public awareness of her death. On 320 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 1: January twenty fifth, two days after Manina's death but before 321 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: its discovery, a guard burst into the house where Diana 322 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:24,199 Speaker 1: Torbay and Richard Berrera were held hostage. He shouted the 323 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: law is all over us. Dianna and Richard started getting 324 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,919 Speaker 1: ready to leave. The kidnappers gave them white hats so 325 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: that from the helicopters above they would look like innocent 326 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,680 Speaker 1: composinos or local farmers. They further disguised the hostages by 327 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 1: throwing a black shawl over Dianna and putting Richard in 328 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: a leather jacket. Then the guards literally told them to 329 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 1: run for the hills. This is the shootout. Remember, current 330 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:02,200 Speaker 1: President Gavida promised that no armed rescue mission would take place, 331 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: and definitely not without permission from the families. Dianna and 332 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: Richard tried to sprint up the hill, but after months 333 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: in captivity, they both gave out fast nearly as soon 334 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: as the helicopters were in sight. Richard threw himself to 335 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: the ground at the first sound of gunfire, and then 336 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 1: Dianna fell face down beside him. They killed me. She screamed, 337 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: I can't move my legs. She asked Richard to look 338 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: at her back because she had felt something like an 339 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: electric shock before she fell. He saw just above her 340 00:27:37,880 --> 00:28:01,160 Speaker 1: left hip bone a clean, tiny hole with no blood. 341 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 1: The Elite Corps was approaching, though they didn't know that 342 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: at the time. They were the front line troops in 343 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 1: the battle against drug trafficking two years earlier, two members 344 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,399 Speaker 1: of the Elite Corps approached Richard and Diana lying on 345 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:22,360 Speaker 1: the hillside. Guns raised. Where's Pablo, they asked. Richard explained 346 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 1: who they were, showed his id and with the help 347 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: of some actual compass, he knows the local farmers who 348 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 1: had taken cover in the underbrush. They got Diana to 349 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:37,879 Speaker 1: a helicopter. A military source called former President Torbai and 350 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: told him that Diana had been rescued in Mediyanne. He 351 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: was overjoyed, and he tried to contact Diana's mother, Nitia 352 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: to inform her as well. Nydia, by the way, was 353 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,480 Speaker 1: also a hot shot reporter with her own television show 354 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:59,560 Speaker 1: who was also extremely connected. President Torbay dispatched his chief 355 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: bodyguard to drive to Nydia to tell her the good news, 356 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: but she was having none of it. The latest report 357 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: said that Diana was in intensive care, but she believed 358 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: her own instincts over the news, and she called the 359 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: President straightway. They killed Diana, she told him, and it's 360 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,040 Speaker 1: your doing, it's your fault, and it's what comes of 361 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: having a soul of stone. He corrected her that Diana 362 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: was alive. She rejected his news. He asked, how do 363 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: you know that, She said, because I'm her mother and 364 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 1: my heart tells me so. An hour later, news arrived 365 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 1: that Diana had bled to death despite hours of medical intervention. 366 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: It was a hopeless case. A high velocity, medium caliber 367 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: explosive bullet had shattered her spinal column at the waist. 368 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: As I mentioned before, her mother, Nydia, was also a 369 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: formidable woman. She went to see Diana at the hospital, 370 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: and even in her grief and despair, she held a 371 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: press conference right outside the operating room. She told the 372 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,840 Speaker 1: press a detailed account of the appeals that she and 373 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: the Torbis had made to the President about not attempting 374 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: a rescue. When the criminals panicked from being under attack, 375 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: they might do anything, even on accident. Many of Escobar's 376 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: recruits were kids, after all, and she blamed both the 377 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: stupidity and criminality of the extra diibles. She also said 378 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 1: that the government and the president were equally culpable for 379 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 1: ignoring their requests for the safety of the hostages. The 380 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: media quoted her a verbatim, public opinions solidified in her support, 381 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: and the public became indignant with the government. President Gavidia 382 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: wanted to issue a denial of Lydia's statement, but then 383 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: he thought better of it. You cannot argue with the 384 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: mother's grief. He said instead that they would go to 385 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 1: the funeral, the president and the entire government. They did, 386 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: and after the morning, Nydia went to his office and 387 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: got straight to the point. She said that she was 388 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:46,280 Speaker 1: wrong for accusing him because now she knew he had 389 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: not been aware of it. In case you missed it, 390 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: this woman, this journalist grieving her murdered daughter. Her both 391 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: apologized to the president for accusing him of her daughter's death, 392 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,680 Speaker 1: and then said she wasn't mad at him anymore because he, 393 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: the president, didn't know what his own military was doing. 394 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:21,239 Speaker 1: Just incredible. Nydia had learned that the mission's purpose had 395 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: been to liberate the hostages, not to find Pablo Escobar, 396 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: which is what the president had been told. The military 397 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: had tortured a captive guard until he revealed the hostage's location. 398 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,959 Speaker 1: Nydia told President Gavinia all of this, in addition to 399 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: the fact that the guard had been killed in the operation. 400 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 1: I'm not sure how she knew this honestly, but sometimes 401 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 1: journalists are able to procure a fuller picture of an 402 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: objective truth, at least more able than a powerful political figure, 403 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: if only for the reason that journalists can get straight 404 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: answers from more people without them fearing blowback. It's also 405 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: unsurprising that the official version of events was directly contradicted 406 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 1: by the extra didibles. Although Gavidia launched a full investigation 407 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 1: into the mission that ended in Diana Torbay's death, there 408 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: was no undoing it. The official statement given by police 409 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: almost immediately after, which seems to be consistent with Richard 410 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 1: Beretta's testimony, is that Diana was shot by one of 411 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: the kidnappers as they were fleeing. Escobar spun that story. 412 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,120 Speaker 1: He actually agreed with the points that Nydia made to 413 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:52,080 Speaker 1: the president. Escobar said that police had carried out the 414 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: raid knowing that the hostages were there, and they knew 415 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: that because they had arrested and tortured two of his men, 416 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: one of whom had guided the officers to the location 417 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: from a helicopter. He said that Diana was killed when 418 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,040 Speaker 1: she had already been released, and that she'd been shot 419 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: by police. He also said that three bystanding compasinos had 420 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:21,319 Speaker 1: been killed, while police identified the dead as criminals. It 421 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 1: makes perfect sense that each side would pin the culpability 422 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:33,760 Speaker 1: on the other, but there are a couple other things 423 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 1: to consider. Richard Bassetta was there for all of it. 424 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:47,760 Speaker 1: His statement said that Diana's death was accidental, accidental, of course, 425 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,840 Speaker 1: with the full full knowledge that a bunch of dudes 426 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,160 Speaker 1: armed with submachine guns running up a hill had clear 427 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,400 Speaker 1: intention of firing them at someone. What's not clear is 428 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 1: who shot Diana or whether they meant to shoot her. 429 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: At least there was no conclusive evidence to prove that 430 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:14,880 Speaker 1: it was intentional. Most people supported this soul eyewitness testimony, 431 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,760 Speaker 1: but listener, you and I know that he was also 432 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:24,520 Speaker 1: under extreme stress at the time. I would never say 433 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:28,640 Speaker 1: that he was outright lying, but is it possible that 434 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: he misremembered some details. Sure could he have been paying 435 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:37,600 Speaker 1: more attention to his critically injured colleague than trying to 436 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:42,560 Speaker 1: identify where the shots originated? I think so. He also 437 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: said that the members of the Elite Corps who came 438 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:48,799 Speaker 1: upon him and Deanna asked him where's Pablo? They did 439 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:53,000 Speaker 1: not ask, are you Richard Bessea? So the intent of 440 00:35:53,040 --> 00:36:10,839 Speaker 1: the mission that's unclear too. Not long after Marina Montoya's 441 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:16,239 Speaker 1: body was identified, it surprised everyone. The public thought she 442 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:21,000 Speaker 1: had been executed long ago. And not long after that, 443 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:26,160 Speaker 1: on January twenty ninth, Decree three to three was issued. 444 00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 1: It cleared all the obstacles that had interfered with the 445 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: drug traffickers surrender. Extradition was not granted for political crimes, 446 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:41,919 Speaker 1: not for any native born Colombians. The government was never 447 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 1: able to shake the public belief that the issuance was 448 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:51,040 Speaker 1: quote an active contrition of Dianna's death. I tend to agree, 449 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:55,960 Speaker 1: since extradition was re established in a constitutional amendment in 450 00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:10,360 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven for the Torbai family, Dianna's parents, her siblings, 451 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: her husband, and her children, that decree was too little 452 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:19,239 Speaker 1: and too late, but it made a huge difference for 453 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:24,840 Speaker 1: their remaining hostages. The extraditibles immediately released a statement announcing 454 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:30,840 Speaker 1: that they canceled the remaining executions. Maruja and Beatrice knew 455 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 1: nothing about any of those news breaks. They hadn't had 456 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:37,840 Speaker 1: access to any form of news. They had no idea 457 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,040 Speaker 1: that some hostages had been released, and they had no 458 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,640 Speaker 1: idea that some of them, including their friend Marina, had 459 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 1: been killed. Once they even had an opportunity to escape, 460 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:52,880 Speaker 1: one of the guards had a heart attack and dropped 461 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:58,040 Speaker 1: his weapon. Both Maruja and Beatrice had military training. Beatrice 462 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:02,400 Speaker 1: had even taken special Artillery Corps, but they had everything 463 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:07,279 Speaker 1: to lose. On February second, the woman who kept the 464 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:10,759 Speaker 1: house where they were captive told them that two hostages 465 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:15,799 Speaker 1: would be released. Maruja and Beatrice were wary. They had 466 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,439 Speaker 1: heard this before, but the woman was so sure she'd 467 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: already bought them new makeup and razors in preparation for 468 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:28,160 Speaker 1: their release. It happened on February seventh, but only Beatrice 469 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,319 Speaker 1: was released. The guards told Maruja she would have to 470 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: wait another week, and Maruja was pissed. Happy for her 471 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,720 Speaker 1: sister in law, of course, but angry at her husband. 472 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 1: Why had he not negotiated for her release too. She 473 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:45,840 Speaker 1: knew he would have to be a part of the 474 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: hostage negotiation, not only because of his professional position as 475 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:54,120 Speaker 1: political diplomat with the Mediine cartel even before they were kidnapped, 476 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:57,640 Speaker 1: but also because he was very closely related to both 477 00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:02,040 Speaker 1: of them. They discussed the story via Trice would need 478 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:06,840 Speaker 1: to tell Alberto, specifically how to navigate the details around 479 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:24,719 Speaker 1: Alberto's impulsive nature so that they protected everyone's safety. The 480 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:28,960 Speaker 1: bosses gave Beatrice ten minutes to get ready. Maduha helped her. 481 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,600 Speaker 1: It had been three months since either of them had 482 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:39,239 Speaker 1: seen their own reflections, and they were appalled they were ashen, underweight, 483 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:43,879 Speaker 1: with limp untinded hair. Beatrice tried to make herself up, 484 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:47,120 Speaker 1: and Maruja stopped her, saying, as pale as you are, 485 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,920 Speaker 1: you'll look awful if you put that on. That is 486 00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:54,680 Speaker 1: a real friend notifying you about a wardrobe malfunction. Before 487 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:59,279 Speaker 1: you get out of the house. The bosses blindfolded Beatrice 488 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,440 Speaker 1: and had her life down on the floor of a jeep. 489 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,480 Speaker 1: They dropped her off in Normandya with a bill in 490 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,600 Speaker 1: her hand. For the first cab she saw. If you 491 00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:12,560 Speaker 1: tell the press. You are with Donia Marina Montoya. We'll 492 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:18,400 Speaker 1: kill Maruja, they said. A cab pulled up immediately, and 493 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,400 Speaker 1: she realized later that this driver was also a plant. 494 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,560 Speaker 1: He asked where she was going, and she had to 495 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:28,040 Speaker 1: repeat her address for him three times. That's when she 496 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:32,520 Speaker 1: realized she was whispering. It would be a symptom of 497 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 1: her captivity that took her a long time to shake. 498 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,040 Speaker 1: When they arrived at her house, Beatrice had to go 499 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 1: inside to get change for the cabby. The old porter 500 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,520 Speaker 1: shouted when he recognized her, gave her a big hug 501 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,960 Speaker 1: and took her up to the flat. After reuniting with 502 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 1: her husband and children, she called her brother Alberto. He 503 00:40:54,280 --> 00:41:01,880 Speaker 1: was at her house in ten minutes. Meanwhile, Maduha became 504 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:06,080 Speaker 1: convinced that they had murdered Beatrice, despite the repeated refrain 505 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:11,839 Speaker 1: a dead hostage has no value. They finally allowed her 506 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:15,440 Speaker 1: to watch the midday news on TV, where Beatrice was 507 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:19,400 Speaker 1: surrounded by her family, and that's when Madoha discovered that 508 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:23,160 Speaker 1: her husband had redecorated their apartment. He had done it 509 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,319 Speaker 1: to keep her spirits up. He'd tried to follow the 510 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:29,840 Speaker 1: design plan she'd mentioned to him before her kidnapping, but 511 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: the colors were wrong and her favorite antique was improperly curated. 512 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:39,920 Speaker 1: Maduha was irate. She yelled at the TV. It's just 513 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:44,840 Speaker 1: the opposite of what I said. I loved this moment 514 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:47,120 Speaker 1: of reading their story, just like I loved the moment 515 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:50,120 Speaker 1: of Beatrice making up her face. I guess because it 516 00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:53,040 Speaker 1: feels so human, It feels so much like what I 517 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:56,280 Speaker 1: would do. I mean, how relieving for just a moment 518 00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,360 Speaker 1: to concentrate on how that orange toned lipstick makes my 519 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,400 Speaker 1: teeth look, or how they put the library in the 520 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,279 Speaker 1: wrong room of my apartment, rather than whether or not 521 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:15,640 Speaker 1: I will be executed by submachine gun that afternoon. But 522 00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:20,440 Speaker 1: it wasn't long before Maruja grew depressed. The bosses had 523 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:23,440 Speaker 1: a changing of the guard. These new guards were nicer, 524 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:27,239 Speaker 1: more educated, talked to her like a person, and her 525 00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:30,919 Speaker 1: spirits lifted a bit. And then the old guard came back, 526 00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:35,560 Speaker 1: and so did her depression. One of the bosses called 527 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:39,960 Speaker 1: the newly freed Miatrice more than once, screaming medicine because 528 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:44,440 Speaker 1: he couldn't remember the heart medication Maduha required. In the end, 529 00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:48,320 Speaker 1: Francisco Santo's the other journalist held in a different house 530 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:52,840 Speaker 1: near Bogota, and Maruja Pachon were not released until Monday, 531 00:42:53,160 --> 00:43:19,640 Speaker 1: May twentieth. That's almost seven months of living as a hostage. 532 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:25,319 Speaker 1: In line with Pablo Escobar's need for publicity, Maduha would 533 00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:28,520 Speaker 1: be released in time for the seven o'clock news, and 534 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:31,319 Speaker 1: Francisco would be released in time for the news at 535 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:35,800 Speaker 1: nine point thirty. The woman who kept the house offered 536 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:39,759 Speaker 1: to buy Maduha anything she needed. Maduha just asked for 537 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:45,680 Speaker 1: the essentials mascara, lipstick and eyebrow pencil, and, because this 538 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:49,240 Speaker 1: was nineteen ninety one, a pair of stockings to replace 539 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:53,240 Speaker 1: the ones that kidnappers tore during her abduction. She also 540 00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:56,160 Speaker 1: asked them to return the emerald ring they had taken 541 00:43:56,200 --> 00:44:00,759 Speaker 1: at her initial abduction, but they couldn't find it. Her 542 00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:04,360 Speaker 1: drive to freedom was fast and uneventful. They put a 543 00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:06,600 Speaker 1: hood over her head and had her lie on the 544 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:10,200 Speaker 1: floor of the car, just as Beatrice had, and after 545 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:13,080 Speaker 1: forty or so minutes, they pushed her out of the car. 546 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:18,279 Speaker 1: She did as they had instructed both women take the 547 00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:22,839 Speaker 1: first cab. The first driver she saw recognized her immediately. 548 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:25,399 Speaker 1: He took her to the nearest house to call her 549 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,239 Speaker 1: family using their phone, and everyone there recognized her and 550 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:33,120 Speaker 1: embraced her as well. Alberto and their son were in 551 00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,680 Speaker 1: their cars on the way to her as soon as 552 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:39,560 Speaker 1: they could take down the address. The reporters were waiting 553 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:44,640 Speaker 1: outside her home. She knew them. She said, take it easy, guys, 554 00:44:45,040 --> 00:45:05,279 Speaker 1: it'll be easier to talk in the apartment. I don't 555 00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:08,400 Speaker 1: want to detract from our focus here. Telling the story 556 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:10,880 Speaker 1: of the journalists who were held hostage is the point 557 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:14,959 Speaker 1: of this episode. Pablo saw them as bargaining chips. That's 558 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:18,720 Speaker 1: how he used people in this instance, as bargaining chips. 559 00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:23,320 Speaker 1: But the psychopathy runs so deep that nowadays it's pretty 560 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:28,680 Speaker 1: clear that he saw most people as expendable. It's important 561 00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:32,600 Speaker 1: to this show that we illustrate they were not expendable. 562 00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:38,480 Speaker 1: Pablo's hostages were people, mothers of journalists, wives to ambassadors, 563 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:44,000 Speaker 1: sisters to politicians, daughters of presidents. Yes, they were powerful people, 564 00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:49,319 Speaker 1: both by their associations to decision makers who could be 565 00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:53,520 Speaker 1: manipulated to a criminal's needs. But they were also powerful 566 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:59,319 Speaker 1: in themselves. They were journalists and television news crews, survivors, 567 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,600 Speaker 1: women who talked back to their child guards, and demanded 568 00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:08,360 Speaker 1: basic accommodations, even at gunpoint, who traveled for days and 569 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:11,640 Speaker 1: hours at the promise of talking peace with a violent radical. 570 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:16,760 Speaker 1: But they were people first, people who had very distinct 571 00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:20,200 Speaker 1: visions of how their living room should be decorated. People 572 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:23,520 Speaker 1: who ran the neighborhood cafe, the ones who might remember 573 00:46:23,560 --> 00:46:25,600 Speaker 1: your order and your name as soon as you walked 574 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:28,680 Speaker 1: in the door. But I don't want to leave you 575 00:46:28,719 --> 00:46:32,640 Speaker 1: hanging either. Because they were abducted for essentially one reason, 576 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:36,640 Speaker 1: Pablo Escobar didn't want to be tried for his crimes 577 00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:41,279 Speaker 1: in the United States, their time spent as hostages was 578 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:46,440 Speaker 1: not in vain. Within a week, President Gavidia had negotiated 579 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:51,680 Speaker 1: surrender terms with Escobar. They actually negotiated through a televangelist priest, 580 00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:56,880 Speaker 1: Father Garcia Edreros, which is just wild to me. The 581 00:46:56,960 --> 00:47:00,640 Speaker 1: actual surrender was done via helicopter in the pucker field 582 00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:04,720 Speaker 1: on the estate of Pablo's mansion, surrounded by beautiful tropical 583 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:09,400 Speaker 1: flowers and heavily armed guards. Pablo hugged each one of 584 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,640 Speaker 1: them and then climbed into the helicopter, which took them 585 00:47:12,680 --> 00:47:15,840 Speaker 1: from Pablo's soccer field to the soccer field at the 586 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:22,320 Speaker 1: local prison. In the helicopter, Alberto Villa, Mussar, Maruja's husband 587 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:27,399 Speaker 1: and Beatrice's brother asked Pablo why he had abducted them. 588 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:32,400 Speaker 1: Pablo's response is going to repulse you. It sounds like 589 00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:37,200 Speaker 1: something a spoiled child would say. He said, I was 590 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:40,440 Speaker 1: kidnapping people to get something, and I didn't get it. 591 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:45,560 Speaker 1: Nobody was talking to me, nobody was paying attention. So 592 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:48,600 Speaker 1: I went after Donia Maruja to see if that would work. 593 00:48:16,440 --> 00:48:20,680 Speaker 1: I didn't know anything of Pablo's ultimate fate. I probably 594 00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:24,279 Speaker 1: should have, But in case you're like me, here's the real, 595 00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,399 Speaker 1: quick and dirty end of Pablo Escobar. So remember how 596 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,280 Speaker 1: the government thought he'd basically use them as a shield 597 00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:35,239 Speaker 1: and continue running his drug cartel from prison. Well, they 598 00:48:35,239 --> 00:48:40,280 Speaker 1: weren't far off. He bribed the guards and he smuggled 599 00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:43,600 Speaker 1: in enough shit to make his personal private prison a 600 00:48:43,719 --> 00:48:48,080 Speaker 1: high end acienda. The government realized what he was doing 601 00:48:48,719 --> 00:48:51,320 Speaker 1: and they planned to move him to another prison without warning. 602 00:48:52,640 --> 00:48:55,800 Speaker 1: When Pablo got wind of the change through his numerous bribes, 603 00:48:55,880 --> 00:49:00,799 Speaker 1: as paranoid people tend to do, he broke out. This 604 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,759 Speaker 1: was two hundred and ninety nine days, so less than 605 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:07,800 Speaker 1: a year after his initial surrender, he bounced from safe 606 00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:10,920 Speaker 1: house to safe house, leaving a huge body count of 607 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:15,520 Speaker 1: bodyguard's innocence and his own thugs in his wake. Eighteen 608 00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:20,480 Speaker 1: months later, Plain closed, police barricaded his hideout, and Pablo 609 00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:38,520 Speaker 1: was killed during the gunfire. Soon after her release, Maduha's 610 00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:41,440 Speaker 1: emerald ring was returned to her in a package tied 611 00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:45,080 Speaker 1: with a ribbon. There was a diamond chip missing, but 612 00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:48,000 Speaker 1: it was her ring, and she was regaining her health 613 00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:52,360 Speaker 1: so fast that it almost fit. It definitely fit again 614 00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:55,720 Speaker 1: by the time two years later when she was elected 615 00:49:55,800 --> 00:50:19,600 Speaker 1: Columbia's Minister of Education. Join me next week on the 616 00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:23,000 Speaker 1: greatest true crime Stories ever told for our episode on 617 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:27,160 Speaker 1: Linda Taylor, or at least we think that was her name. 618 00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:32,080 Speaker 1: We're talking about the first ever welfare queen and the 619 00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:37,600 Speaker 1: ultimate scam artist. Maybe I'd like to shout out a 620 00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:39,840 Speaker 1: few key sources that made it possible for me to 621 00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:45,200 Speaker 1: tell this week's story, especially Gabriel Garcia Marquez's nonfiction work 622 00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:48,799 Speaker 1: entitled News of a Kidnapping. We will link to it 623 00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:53,600 Speaker 1: in our show notes. For more information about this case 624 00:50:53,719 --> 00:50:59,359 Speaker 1: and others we cover on the show, visit Diversionaudio dot com. 625 00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:02,520 Speaker 1: One more thing before I go. If you haven't already, 626 00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:05,360 Speaker 1: I'll love you forever. If you pre order my forthcoming 627 00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:08,920 Speaker 1: true crime book, Madam Queen, The Life and Crimes of 628 00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:13,120 Speaker 1: Harlem's underground racketeer Stephanie Sinclair, there's a link to do 629 00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:17,080 Speaker 1: it at your favorite retailer. In our show's notes, The 630 00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:20,120 Speaker 1: Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of 631 00:51:20,200 --> 00:51:24,920 Speaker 1: Diversion Audio. I'm Mary Kay mcbraer, and I hosted this episode. 632 00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:28,560 Speaker 1: I also wrote this episode, and if you like my writing, 633 00:51:28,640 --> 00:51:32,600 Speaker 1: you should check out my book, America's First Female serial Killer, 634 00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:36,839 Speaker 1: Jane Toppin and the Making of a Monster. Our show 635 00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:41,759 Speaker 1: was edited by Antonio Enriquez. Theme music by Tyler Cash, 636 00:51:42,080 --> 00:51:46,360 Speaker 1: produced by Emma Demuth. Executive produced by Scott Waxman.