Who is Manuela Escobar? 7 Facts About the Kingpin's Daughter

As we grew up, we were introduced to the narco-terrorist: Pablo Escobar. The Colombian crime legend was known for his large drug smuggling ring, powerful contacts, and heroic escapades till he was gunned down in the cold December of 1993. The interest in his life and work was rejuvenated with the popular Netflix series, Narcos. However, the show went beyond his image of a globally notorious drug lord and illuminated his domestic life as well. We learned about his family and mistresses, besides his large list of enemies.

The dearest to him was his daughter, Manuela Escobar. While a lot is known about Pablo’s wife (Manuela’s mother) and his son who went on to pen down about his father’s life, Manuela’s whereabouts and identity remain enshrouded. This article is going to give you a glimpse of the drug lord’s beloved daughter.

Manuela was born on 25^th June 1984 to Pablo Escobar and Maria Henao. The two previously had a son, Juan Pablo Escobar. As soon as she was born, she became the apple of her parents’ eyes. There was never a time when she asked for something and her parents did not get her. It seemed as if she were Pablo’s lifeline.

Amidst threats from enemies and the authorities on the lookout for him, Pablo made sure that Manuela was safe and was free from any trouble that might transpire from his work. It is rumored that she once overheard her father talk about a billion dollars. Little Manuela, naïve as she was, asked her dad how much money would a billion dollars make? Pablo smiled at her and told her, it had the same value as her eyes had. There is no doubt that despite his despicable criminal activities, he had an unparalleled affection for Manuela.

She was kept away from harm’s way by being provided with stern and vigilant security guards. Since her life would be at stake from attack by her father’s unyielding foes, she was not allowed to lead the same life as her peers. She had little to non-existent social life because she was not provided with the right amount of social exposure. Manuela achieved her preliminary education at home as attending a school might be a risk to her life. Pablo would have lost his mind had anything happened to her on his watch.

Like all girls of her age, little Manuela loved unicorns. Since, Pablo could not turn down his little daughter’s wishes, when Manuela asked for a unicorn, she was given one.

The most expensive horse in the area was purchased and changed into a unicorn just for Escobar’s princess. The head of the handsome stallion was altered by punching in a cow’s horn to make it match the majestic horn of a unicorn. Wings were glued on to the back of it to make it resemble the mythical creature.

Sadly, the entire procedure left the poor white horse in a miserable condition and it ultimately succumbed to the infection caused by the modifications.

Once authorities and enemies started chasing Escobar to make him surrender, he fled with his entire family from one area to another. During one of these escapades, in the Medellin mountainous region, the cold did no good to poor Manuela. Her life was endangered by the hypothermia that kept on progressing. To keep her warm, Pablo took out as much money from the stash that the family carried with itself as he could to ignite a fire large enough to keep Manuela warm while they stayed there. It is said that this money was used as mere firewood amounted to about $2 million!

While she did have every luxury known to man, Manuela did not experience the life of a normal child. Despite the unusual escapades from her father’s rivals and the forces, she never had the opportunity to attend a school or make friends. She was schooled at home for the most part of her life until her father died; she changed her name and shifted to another city. However, as you will learn later, all these measures did nothing substantial to establish normalcy in her life. In Argentina, her mother was to bring Manuela disgrace.

Pablo had made Manuela a promise; he told her that she would be the seal for her lineage and no one would ever succeed her. So, when Pablo’s mistresses became pregnant, they were all compelled to abort to allow Manuela Escobar to maintain the status of being the last of Pablo’s surviving progeny, besides his first-child: Juan.

The least known of Pablo’s family members happens to be his most doted daughter, Manuela. It does not come as a surprise as during his own life, in an attempt to keep her safe, he kept her as far away from the outside world as possible. All the happiness she desired was presented to her within a golden cage and the comfortable confines for her own security. Later on, the family had to give up their real names and identities, fleeing from one country to another, waiting for acceptance by anyone of them.

Under the agreement signed by the authorities, the family was forced to give up its past and burn all bridges. It was very hard to locate them till Manuela’s mother was arrested for money laundering and later on when her brother wrote a book about their father. Yet, very little is known about Manuela Escobar herself. She did not even comment on the book her brother wrote.

After Pablo’s death, the family’s notorious past became a hurdle in them being accepted by nearby countries. Brazil had immediately turned down to accept the group of three, so did Mozambique.

Manuela and her family took a shot at arriving in Argentina on a traveler’s visa. They later on settled here and changed their status to Colombian exiles.

Manuela changed her name to Juana Manuela Santos in Argentina, to rid herself of the shame the title Escobar brought to her and the remaining family. Perhaps, it was her way of bidding goodbye to the life of crime that her father had spent in Colombia. Even though she had no part in any of his misdeeds, but forgiving her father for the lives that he had taken and the ways that he chose must have been hard. Such grief cannot just be overcome by changing a name.

There are several reports suggesting that Manuela is now a married woman and is leading a content life. The identity of her spouse, however, is not known to anyone.

Manuela shared a special relationship with her father. It is said that she could not sleep for days following Pablo’s death. Her slumber would only descend after she hugged the shirt that he wore before leaving the family forever to succumb to a gunshot in an encounter. She would keep a small lock of her father’s beard under her pillow to feel close to him.

The rest of her family has been under the limelight for quite some time. The fact they have little knowledge about where Manuela is and how she is doing goes on to show that she has severed ties with her mother and brother.

It seems like Manuela does not want to be known or shown to the world. None of the social media sites have any account even closely resembling the characteristics that we know about her up till now. A few of her pictures do appear on various websites and in all of them she seems to be happy.

Her marriage and family life may have occupied her enough to help her get over the past marred by her father is the King of Cocaine.

Manuela Escobar might be her daddy’s little princess who would get whatever she desired, but the same Manuela had to see her father being killed and had to stay on the run just to find a place to live. Juana Manuela, on the other hand, seems to be in Argentina somewhere, cooking her family delicious meals. Maybe, she has finally found her peace and needs nothing else to do with the world. Very little is known about her today, but we sincerely hope that she is happy and at peace.