‘Killing Escobar’ documentary – Watch the official trailer here [video]

The Killing Escobar documentary shines a light on the piece of British history often neglected: it’s post-imperial legacy. The documentary focuses on the period in the seventies and eighties.

During that time, mercenaries would roam Africa and Latin America, killing for hire in conflicts on the continents. These mercenaries weren’t politically neutral either. Here’s what you need to know.

‘Killing Escobar’ documentary

The main points: Official info

The Killing Escobar documentary is the “untold story of the attempted assassination of Pablo Escobar, while at the height of his powers, by a small team of elite mercenaries”. As per the official description:

In 1989, Scottish mercenary and ex-SAS operative, Peter McAleese, was hired by a Colombian drug cartel to lead a small team of ex-special forces commandos on a mission to assassinate the world’s biggest drug baron, Pablo Escobar.

With heart-stopping drama reconstruction, access to never-before-seen footage of the mission and first-person accounts from both the mercenaries and the cartel, Killing Escobar is a documentary thriller that reveals how one man’s violent upbringing, training and experience led him to the jungles of Colombia

‘Killing Escobar’ trailer

“At 78 years old and returning to the Catholic faith of his youth, McAleese reflects on one of the most ambitious and perilous assignments of his career; the one that pushed him closer to death than any other, a mission to kill the most feared man in the world, Pablo Escobar”.

The documentary was written and directed by David Whitney, and produced by Glasgow-based Two Rivers Media and Salon Pictures, who are known for the David Bowie film, Stardust.

It follows the crimes of the Columbian drug lord and his links to the SAS soldier Peter McAleese. Killing Escobar was initially screened at the Glasgow Film Festival, which took place between 7 and 10 March 2021.

Pablo Escobar: Early life

Escobar – born as Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria on 1 December 1949 in Colombia – was the third of seven children to father Abel de Jesús Dari Escobar Echeverri , and Hermilda de Los Dolores Gaviria Berrío.

The family settled in the city of Medellin, and it’s believed that Escobar began his criminal career here during his teenage years, by stealing gravestones and selling them to local smugglers.

However, his brother Roberto Escobar denies these rumours, claiming that they received the gravestones from cemetery owners and clients who later refused to pay for sanding down the stones.