If you are looking for me to slam the Zimbalist Brothers along with the rest of Colombia, well I truly can't. As Colombia prepared for the premiere of The Two Escobars on Sunday, Andrés Escobar's family came out in an interview with FutbolRed the documentary that raised eyebrows in the United States.
For the past few weeks, I mentioned how well the Zimbalist Brothers produced and it was good despite there being some inconsistencies in the facts.
For example, how could one of the Cali cartel bosses' kids pay off CONMEBOL president, Nicolás Leoz- a Paraguayan, in the 1989 Copa Libertadores? I was honestly being told that people in the Cali Cartel were betting in favor of Atlético Nacional against Olimpia- a Paraguayan team? At the same time, if the Cali Cartel were so powerful then why weren't they able to make their team four-time Libertadores champs in the mid-80's when they were in four consecutive finals?
Outside of a few things, it was objective and realistic. There were many things that the documentary mentioned that are absolutely spot on, so no complaints on that end.
One thing that really was angering is hearing former Nacional coach Santiago Escobar say,
¨To see Andrés in a documentary where we also see the violence of the 80's and 90's- all the war and the death- that has nothing to do with football. If they wanted to show him, show him playing the game not within the context of violence and drug trafficking. They do not coincide with the reality.¨
¨Sachi¨ Escobar, as well as the Ecsobar family have gone on the record to saying that the documentary should not be shown in Colombia because of the ¨defamation of Andrés¨. He mentions that the producers
At the same time, one can actually realize that some documentaries on this subject have always been touchy socially, professionally, and personally. For years, I have seen documentaries regarding this subject and they in the end try to bend reality by doing anything to get poor, young sicarios from the most violent barrios to say what they wanted them to say.
Many of these documentaries were then exposed after people came out to say that they were paid to say things or that there was some sort of bait and switch in the process.
This documentary did not compare or associate both people. Actually they contrasted the spirit of the hard-working Colombian that had to continue living, surviving, and trying to extract a reputation of a nation entrenched in the dregs of violence and decadence created by the mafiosos in charge.
In the end, this dark topic in Colombian culture during this era is inevitable in any subject. From a personal standpoint it is a consistent black eye and there is no going about it. It hurts and it is something that we are constantly reminded of. If there was something good that came out of this is that people outside of Colombia realized how much the Colombian people suffered during this time in history.
What do you think? Let us know.
Newsodrome
El Octagono
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