COLOMBIA: REMEMBRANCE SERVICE FOR PABLO ESCOBAR

(3 Dec 1995) Spanish/Nat
Demonised by the US government which accused him of shipping hundreds of tons of cocaine into America, Pablo Escobar remains a popular figure in his native Medellin.
Two years after the drug lord was shot down by Colombian police, mourners gathered at his graveside to remember the man who rose from poverty to become the richest and most ruthless gangster the world had ever seen.
Relatives and friends gather to pray at Pablo Escobar's graveside.
This was the man who flooded America and Europe with cocaine and unleashed a terror campaign against his enemies in Colombia which left hundreds dead.
But in Medellin he is seen a sort of home grown Robin Hood who donated millions of dollars to provide homes for the city's poor..
Friends comforted Escobar's mother at a mass held Saturday in his memory.
SOUNDBITE: (in Spanish)
The memory of Pablo - he was a man who could not be compared to anyone.
SUPER CAPTION: mother
SOUNDBITE: (in Spanish)
He was like a father for us, still is and will continue to be even if he is dead."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop
After a year on the run after spectacularly breaking free from jail, Escobar and his bodyguard was cornered in a Medellin apartment and gunned down by elite police.
Escobar brought drug smuggling to levels never seen before him, smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U-S and Europe.
In the 1980s drugs profits fueled the Colombian economy during a decade of economic crisis in Latin America.
SOUNDBITE: Spanish
"Now that Pablo Escobar is dead, and we see what's happening in this country, who are we going to blame for what is happening inside this country."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop
Escobar is buried alongside his bodyguard, friend and confidant Alvaro Agudelo.
Escobar's mother placed flowers on her son's grave along with an emotional letter:
"Since you left I haven't forgotten you. What do I do to resign myself to your absence if every passing day I need you more? My mother's heart tells me you're close to God. Ask him to help me carry this enormous sorrow. Beg him to grant me resignation."
The letter was signed: "I miss you, your mother."
Hundreds of fresh flowers were placed on the grave in memory of his death December 2, and birthday December 1. People continued to visit the graveside to pay their respects.
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