The macabre alliance between ETA and Pablo Escobar that has left thousands dead in Colombia

Although there are contradictory versions regarding the first contact, all the witnesses of the time hear to say that a member of the terrorist group ETA is the one who trained the badbadins of Pablo Escobar with the use of explosives. From this macabre alliance valued at half a million dollars, the narco war took a devastating turn that caused thousands of deaths, mostly civilians, with the establishment of More than 250 car bombs.

The existence of ETA that worked for the Medellin cartel and that of Cali was confirmed by several sources, by Roberto Escobar, aka "El Osito", brother of Pablo Escobar; by John Jairo Velasquez, aka "Popeye", the boss of capo hit men; and even by the United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). It all started in a Spanish prison in which ETA met drug traffickers close to the bloodthirsty trafficker.

According to the recollections of 'El Osito & # 39; c & # 39; was Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, one of the leaders of the Cali cartel, who contacted ETA during a prison stay in Spain with whom he shared a prison, after being arrested in November 1985 in Madrid. Thanks to him, the enemy of the Medellin cartel A car bomb exploded in the vicinity of the Monaco building in El Poblado district of Medellin, where Escobar was living with his wife and two children.

Then, the narco-terrorism began among the cartels for defeating Escobar and he wanted to immediately communicate with the explosive. This same version is supported by his son Juan Pablo, but they differ from that of "Popeye", one of the most prevalent. In several interviews with the media, the badbadin stated that he was another of the capo's lieutenants, Jorge Elí Pabón, aka 'El Negro', who shared a prison in the United States with the explosive expert of ETA, the terrorist group of the Basque Country.

In fact, in the controversial book The real Pablo. Blood, betrayal and death, by Astrid Legarda, describes it as "methodical, meticulous and very professional, without woman or drink. Act like a scientist", which was called" Miguel ", and it was in 1988 when they first met at the famous Hacienda Napo del Capo, located in Magdalena Medio. train his killers for half a million dollars and cocaine at a lower price so that ETA can sell it in Spain.

Then the same & # 39; Popeye & # 39; changed the version in an interview with reporter Hollman Morris, accompanied by Federico Arellano, son of one of the victims of one of the largest terrorist attacks in Escobar, the explosion of the Avianca flight 203 on November 27, 1989, he left 110 dead, six crew members, 101 pbadengers and 3 people on the ground; who would have been armed under the techniques of & # 39;Miguel & # 39;.

Popeye reportedly told them that the contact took place with Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez, a member of the Cali Cartel, then partner of Escobar, arrested in Madrid in November 1984 with Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela. In 1986, he was extradited to Colombia and, on his return, he contacted the Medellin cartel leader with the explosive that uses the latest terrorist technology in remotely controlled bombs.

In the "Popeye" version, "Miguel" taught them all the explosive manufacturing techniques with which they designed over 350 car bombs. Until ETA, it seems, also started working with the Cali Cartel. It was at that time that they led the attack in Monaco, which unleashed the fury of Escobar, who ordered the badbadination and dismemberment of the terrorist from ETA, whose remains were slaughtered. at the Magdalena river. This is what the journalist Salud Hernández tells us in an article published in The world, d & # 39; Spain.

"The bomb placed on the Monaco building, where Pablo Escobar's family was, was set up by Miguelito in Cali, and it cost him his life: we kill him"Popeye" told the Spanish journalist: "What has never been known for sure, that is who was the man of ETA". According to the killer: "a well-presented man, he did not use deodorant, which for us is very striking, white, 1.72 in height, 42 years old, chubby, intelligent, very well spoken, jovial" .

For its part, a report from the DIA known by the Basque newspaper, dated September 1991, reveals that two ETA members badociated with the Medellin cartel, identified as Juan Maria Oyarbide and Manu Urionabarrenetxea. Although the same media reported that this version was unlikely, they would have died in clashes with the Civil Guard in 1989; a year earlier, while they reportedly went to Colombia, they were at the head of a series of attacks in the European country and were persecuted. by the authorities.

The truth is that, thanks to this relationship between ETA and the Colombian drug cartels, an unprecedented urban urban war has been unleashed in Colombia, which has intensified the way violence is taking place in the country and has leash more than 15 thousand dead estimated in 20 years of narco-terrorism. With disastrous actions such as the bombing of the DAS building in 1989, which left 70 dead and 700 wounded.

The result of this criminal alliance is also the 100 bombs exploded between September and December 1989 in supermarkets, banks, schools and electrical and telephone installations. The 85 bombs placed between January and May 1990 in the offices of Drugs La Rebaja all over the country, properties of the cartel of Cali. And the other 10 in December 1992, and the other 20 exploded in 1993.