Activists accuse bar in Paris of glamourising drug trade

Paris: A new Colombia-themed bar in Paris that features waiters in bullet-proof vests, cocktails named after famous cocaine traffickers and a portrait of drug lord Pablo Escobar has been accused by activists of glamourising the trade.

“Medellin” opened last November near the Champs-Elysees, hiding itself behind a fake shopfront for a tacos restaurant with a red neon sign – “Chez Pablo” – indicating what was inside.

The bar-nightclub has since become a hit with its young and wealthy clientele, not all of whom appear to understand all the references found on the menus and walls.

“Medellin” is Escobar’s home town in Colombia, as well as the name of his cartel, while the “Maria Victoria” cocktail is named after Escobar’s widow.

“Whether you want it or not, when you think about Medellin, you think of Pablo, but it’s not the main theme of the bar,” said owner Andren Dimitris, denying that he was “idolising” him.

The Franco-Greek businessman, 37, admits that he removed a fake tomb for Escobar where clients could light a candle for him “because it offended the Colombian population.”

The entrance hall to the bar, which features full-length mirrors, features the song Tuyo by Rodrigo Amarante, the music from the Netflix series Narcos which recounts the life of the late drug lord.

But activists in Paris have campaigned against the nightspot, while pictures of it have sparked outrage on social media in Colombia where Escobar’s brutal rein in the 1980s and 90s continues to divide people.

“As a Colombian, I find it shocking that we glorify publicly the most deadly killer in the history of Colombia,”said Juan David Castillo, who started the online group “Stop Medellin”.

“Pablo Escobar is responsible for the deaths of more than 5,000 people in Colombia ... for me it’s an insult that people can go dancing over there,” the 35-year-old chef added. — AFP