Rodrigo Lara

Lawyer

Birthday August 11, 1946

Birth Sign Leo

Birthplace Neiva, Huila, Colombia

DEATH DATE 1984-4-30, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia (37 years old)

Nationality Colombia

#25933 Most Popular

1946

Rodrigo Lara Bonilla (Rodrigo Lara Bonilla; August 11, 1946 – April 30, 1984) was a Colombian lawyer and politician, who served as Minister of Justice under President Belisario Betancur, and was assassinated by orders of Pablo Escobar because of his work as Minister in prosecuting cocaine traffickers mainly belonging to the Medellín Cartel.

Lara's death led to Escobar's indictment for murder.

Born in Neiva, capital of the department of Huila, Lara studied law at the Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Years later he joined the Liberal Revolutionary Movement party, founded and led by former Liberal president Alfonso López Michelsen.

1969

In 1969, when he was only 23 years old, Lara was appointed mayor of his hometown.

1983

In August 1983, Lara, who belonged to the New Liberalism created by him and Luis Carlos Galán, was appointed by President Belisario Betancur as Minister of Justice, replacing Bernardo Gaitán Mahecha.

Lara, together with Galán, publicly denounced the drug cartels, especially in Medellín, where the cartel was led by Escobar.

When Escobar was elected to the Congress, Lara denounced him, citing his connection to drug cartels.

Lara also exposed Escobar and the cartel for influencing politics and sports through corruption.

This triggered a trap set by some politicians, drug dealers, and journalists who were threatened by the explosive growth of Lara in government and especially in the fight against drug trafficking.

Jairo Ortega, Escobar's ally in Congress, presented a check (eventually shown to have been falsified) to the chamber, supposedly drawn by known drug trafficker Evaristo Porras.

After the alleged link between Lara and the drug cartels was discredited, the government began uncovering the shadowy dealings of the Medellín Cartel, specifically Escobar.

Escobar was expelled from the Congress and his U.S. visa cancelled.

The Minister went further, reviving criminal charges against Escobar and other drug lords, such as Carlos Lehder.

Lara also ordered the seizure of 250 of Escobar's planes.

1984

On April 30, 1984, Rodrigo Lara Bonilla was in his 1976 Mercedes-Benz W123 when Byron Velasquez and Ivan Dario Guisado drove past his SUV convoy on a Yamaha motorcycle.

Guisado shot a Mac-10 (.45 ACP caliber) through the window, hitting him multiple times.

Lara was killed instantly, but the driver was left unharmed.

1995

His bodyguards shot and killed Ivan Dario Guisado, but Byron Velasquez was arrested and was paroled on October 15, 1995.

Within a few days of Lara’s assassination, Pablo Escobar and his family fled to Panama.

After Lara's death, the Betancur government immediately approved the extradition law and began a war against organized crime.

In turn, Enrique Parejo González was appointed Minister of Justice.

He directed a harsh attack against drug trafficking, leading to the extradition of three members of the Medellín Cartel to the United States.

2009

In 2009, Rodrigo Lara Restrepo and the sons of the late Luis Carlos Galán announced to the media their forgiveness of Sebastian Marroquin (formerly Juan Pablo Escobar), son of the late Pablo Escobar, who apologized for the damage done to the country in his two decades of narco-terrorism, as told in the documentary film Sins of My Father (2009).