Gustavo Gaviria

Gustavo de Jesús Gaviria Rivero (25 January 1949, in Pereira – 12 August 1990, in Medellín) was a cousin of Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar and financial head of the Medellín cartel.

Biography

Gaviria was Pablo Escobar's cousin and right-hand man, and the Medellín cartel's financial head. He and Escobar had collaborated in their criminal careers since the early 1970s.

Though owner of a fortune comparable to Escobar's, Gaviria was not as well known as he kept a lower profile. He was killed by the Search Bloc of Colombia, illegally. The Search Bloc then made it look like he was involved in a shootout with the police.

Death

Gaviria's death deeply affected Escobar, given their deep personal and professional relationship. Nonetheless, Escobar did not attend his cousin's funeral but instead listened to the mass via a radio that his assistant had attached to the officiating priest. After Gaviria's death, Escobar decided to turn himself in but to stay in a jail of his own making, guarded by his own guards.

Since Gaviria died five days after César Gaviria took office, at the time, the media and the country in general thought the president had begun his term with an offensive against the narcoterrorists. In response, Gaviria's death triggered a counter-offensive by Escobar that initially destabilized the new president's government.