Maria Victoria Henao was Pablo Escobar’s wife until 1993, when the Colombian narco-terrorist was killed by Colombian law enforcement on the rooftop of a Medellin neighbourhood.
She was widowed at only 32 years old.
The lady was married to Pablo Escobar for 17 years, and although the world might think very negative things about Escobar, to Maria, the drug lord made her feel like a princess.
Maria Escobar was born in 1961 in Colombia. She was born in the small village of Palmira Valle Del Cauca to her parents, Carlos Henao Vallejo and Leonor Zuleta.
She grew up alongside her two siblings, a brother named Carlos Mario Henao Vallejo (who worked with Pablo), and a sister named Pastora Henao Bayen.
In 1974, 13-year-old Maria met Pablo Escobar through her brother Carlos (who worked with him), and the two fell in love.
In her book, Mrs Escobar: My Life With Pablo, Maria describes how Escobar wooed her: “He made me feel like a fairy princess and I was convinced he was my Prince Charming,”
Due to Carlos’ involvement with Escobar, Maria’s family was well aware of his criminal activities and opposed the union. As a result, the couple was forced to elope. At the time, Maria was only 15 years olds.
A year later, at 16 years old, Maria gave birth to their first child, Juan Pablo Escobar (born on February 24, 1977), without her parents and siblings’ support. Their daughter, Manuela Escobar, was born seven years later, in 1984.
It is reported that until Pablo’s arrest in 1977, Maria believed that he was in the real estate business.
Though Maria and Pablo were happily married, Pablo was involved in numerous affairs and had many mistresses, one of whom was journalist Virginia Vallejo, whose affair with Pablo was well-known and also well-documented.
Maria knew everything about this affair and Pablo’s other mistresses, but she never abandoned him.
While many suggest that it was her unconditional love towards Pablo which made her tolerate all his debaucheries, Virginia, in her book Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar, suggested that Maria was addicted to the lavish lifestyle that she had with Pablo.
Perhaps, Maria also knew that it would be almost impossible for her to take care of herself and her children without her husband’s support.
Also, since she had severed all ties with her family to marry Pablo, she could not even seek her family’s help.
In the years immediately following Pablo’s death, life got complicated for Maria and her children. Though she longed for a stable home, Pablo’s reputation followed the family everywhere they went.
Maria was forced to continually flee from place to place to keep her family safe, often changing her name in the process.
Her children also changed their names: Juan became Sebastian Marroquin and Manuela became Juana Manuela Marroquin Santos.
After changing her name to Maria Isabel Santos Caballero, she finally created a home in Argentina. Once there, she and her family maintained a very low profile.
However, despite taking extra caution, Maria and her son were arrested in the year 1999 after a television show revealed their whereabouts.
The charges brought against them were theft and money laundering. The investigation suggested that Maria was involved in drug trafficking and that she had details of Pablo’s business. Maria denied all the allegations and stated that she was just Pablo’s wife and had nothing to do with his illegal businesses.
After 15 months, Maria and her son were both released due to insufficient evidence. In 2018, they were arrested again for allegedly helping a drug trafficker launder money.
Her son works as an architect and lecturer. He has also authored a popular book titled Pablo Escobar: My Father. Her daughter has never mentioned her father in public and has cut all ties with the family.
There was a lump sum supposedly set aside to take care of Escobar’s family, but that money apparently never reached its intended hands. Some of the liquid assets were ultimately seized by the law, but the hard assets and hidden cash remain largely unaccounted for.
Maria Victoria Henao knew Pablo Escobar as a loving husband and father, and despite the drug lord’s infidelity, she stuck by him through thick and thin. Though Pablo’s illegal activities shone a light on his family and had adverse effects on Maria and their kids, today, Maria lives a quiet life away from the limelight.
