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Manuela Escobar Biography: Quick Facts
Manuela Escobar Biography: Quick Facts
Manuela Escobar is the only daughter of notorious yesteryear Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Let’s
take a look at her childhood, family, personal life etc.
Quick Facts
Famous as Pablo Escobar's Daughter
Nationality Colombian
Born on 25 May 1984 AD
Zodiac Sign Gemini
Father Pablo Escobar
Mother Maria Victoria Henao
Siblings Sebastián Marroquín
Manuela Escobar is the only daughter of notorious yesteryear Colombian drug lord and narco-terrorist
Pablo Escobar, often referred as "The King of Cocaine”. Her life so far is no less than a thrilling story as
she experienced things that one would probably never imagine in wildest of dreams. She was the apple
of her father’s eye. Pablo, considered the wealthiest criminal in history, would go to any extent to fulfil
even the smallest wishes of his daughter. It was also rumoured that once he burned $2 million to keep
his little princess warm. Manuela who was then considered a spoilt little girl of her daddy had all the
lavishness of the world in her little hands. However, this fairy tale life ended when her father was shot
and killed by Colombian National Police when she was just nine years old. Things changed drastically
following her father’s death that saw her fleeing from Colombia with her mother and brother to escape
reprisals. The three traveled different places including Brazil, Ecuador, South Africa and Peru before
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taking refuge in Argentina. Manuela changed her name to Juana Manuela Marroquin Santos and since
then has almost led a quiet and private life away from the limelight.
Life as a Princess:
Manuela was born on May 25, 1984 to Pablo Escobar and his wife Maria as the youngest among
their two children. Her elder brother, Juan Pablo Escobar Henao, who grew up to be an architect
and author, has also changed his name to Sebastián Marroquín. Unlike children of her age,
Manuela led a rather different life that saw her getting homeschooled instead of attending a
public school. Such step was taken to ensure her safety from her father’s foes. In fact, on January
13, 1988, she experienced an almost deaf situation when a murder attempt was made on her
father that saw a car bomb explosion at their Monaco apartment building. Pablo apparently
blamed Colombian drug trafficker, Hélmer Herrera, for such attack.
Manuela lived like a princess when her father was alive. Pablo, regarded as one of the most
dreaded narcoterrorists and anti-socials across the globe, was a doting father at home who would
pamper his two children and literally go to any length to carry out their wishes. Once she wanted
a unicorn as her birthday present. Although an impossible proposition, the loving father that
Pablo was, he created a unicorn out of a horse for his daughter. A cow’s horn was stapled on the
forehead of the horse and wings were attached to its back. The horse, however, succumbed to
infection in this process. It was also speculated that while hiding with his family in the Medellin
mountainside, Manuela’s father burned stacks of dollar bills worth around $2.0 million to protect
her from hypothermia. According to sources, when the darling daughter enquired about the value
of a billion dollars the doting father said “the value of your eyes, my princess”. Sources also
reveal that her father once gave her word that she will be the last of his line. Pablo loved his
daughter so much that he kept his words by making one of his mistresses abort her baby.
Manuela’s life took a different turn when her father was shot dead in a shootout by the
Colombian National Police on December 2, 1993. She had to leave behind all the opulence of her
life and flee from Colombia in 1995 with her mother, María Henao presently known as María
Isabel Santos Caballero, and brother, Juan. In pursuit of escaping from reprisals of her father’s
enemies, the family first fled to Mozambique and thereafter to Brazil. Moving from country to
country seeking asylum, the family arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on tourist visas and
finally settled there as citizens in exile from Colombia.
She started her new life as Juana Manuela Marroquin Santos in Argentina with her mother and
brother who also adopted new names. The little girl was so attached with her father that she
would sleep with the shirt Pablo wore on his last day. She also used to keep a piece of beard from
Pablo under her pillow. In Argentina she started going to school with her brother while her
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mother gradually became a successful real estate entrepreneur. However, as things started to
normalise, one of her mother’s business associates discovered her mother’s real identity
following which Henao absconded with her earnings. Henao was tracked down, incarcerated for
one and a half year while her funds were investigated. As the authorities couldn’t find any
association of her finances with any illegal activity, Henao was released. However, this incident
and revelation of identity of her family affected the life of Manuela once again who rolled herself
back to the four walls of her home and refused to go back to school. She was thereafter given
private classes at home.
Not much is known about Manuela’s present life as it seems that she has chosen to stay away
from the spotlight. Although the years that followed saw her mother and brother speaking to the
media several times with the latter also remaining vocal about their father and also published a
book ‘Pablo Escobar: My Father’ (2014) under the name Juan Pablo Escobar, Manuela
maintained a long silence. She is also not active on social media and seems to be content living a
quiet life with her new identity away from the dark shadows of her past.
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