The premiere of Griselda, Sofía Vergara‘s new series, has reopened the debate about whether narco-series promote a discourse in which drug traffickers are idealized and, at the same time, a wrong vision is given of those countries in where stories unfold. And it is precisely this last point that has caused a lot of noise in Colombia, a country in which drug trafficking left a very deep wound, which has led the government, for decades, to focus all its efforts on the fight against this crime.
After the premiere of the new Netflix series, inspired by the life of Griselda Blanco, better known as ‘The Black Widow’, several important Colombian figures have spoken out against the way the production makes the country look. Roy Barreras, Colombia’s ambassador in London, was one of them and stated that narco-series and narco-cinema “live off gangster culture and do great damage to the image of Colombia abroad.”
These statements were taken up by journalist Jorge Ramos in an interview with Sofía Vergara, in which he questioned the actress about her opinion regarding her, to which she responded directly and bluntly to a truth that is already known.
“In part you are very right, there are spectacular characters, but it is not easy for those wonderful stories to be told,” responded the actress.
And she added: “I wasn’t lucky enough to get any of those stories, to have any of the studios listen to me to do it, but you bring them something that has to do with drug traffickers and it’s a fascination.”
Who Was Griselda Blanco, the Drug Trafficker Played by Sofía Vergara?
Griselda Blanco Restrepo was the name that caused chills in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s because she was not your average gangster. With nicknames like “The Black Widow” and “The Godmother of Cocaine,” she blazed a bloody path through the drug trade, leaving a legacy of violence and wealth in her wake long before Pablo Escobar. Griselda was born in 1943 in Colombia and because she lived in poverty since she was a child, when she reached adolescence she began to get involved in the world of drugs.
By 1970, Ella Blanco had already built a drug empire in Miami, which was fueled by fear and violence, which in the blink of an eye made her one of the richest and most powerful criminals in the city epoch. In 1985, Blanco was arrested and imprisoned in the United States. However, in 2004 she was deported to Colombia. In 2012, while Griselda was in Medellín, she was shot and killed. Those responsible were never arrested.
This story was written in Spanish by Mariana Martell in Cultura Colectiva.