Tico lawmaker blasts soap opera based on Pablo Escobar’s life

The prime-time airing in Costa Rica of a Colombian soap opera based on the life of deceased kingpin Pablo Escobar sparked controversy among Ticos, social media networks and even Social Christian Unity Party lawmaker and former presidential candidate Luis Fishman.

The lawmaker said that “if necessary, I will ask President Laura Chinchilla to prevent the series to be displayed on a schedule open to all audiences.”

“What you see [on the show] is the most terrible list of things: murders, sexual scenes, cruelty, all types of crime, perversion and everything this country doesn’t need to watch,” Fishman told a local news daily.

“Escobar, the Boss of Evil” consists of 70 episodes that will premiere on Feb. 4 on local Channel 6.

Mayra Chaverri, director of the Justice Ministry’s Office of Control and Rating of Public Spectacles, said the series does not contain sex scenes or graphic violence, and that all material has been edited to make it suitable for general audiences.

The soap opera of the famous Colombian drug trafficker broke audience records in Colombia and is based on the book “The Parable of Pablo” (2001), written by Alonso Salazar.

Escobar, Colombia’s most powerful crime boss, was killed by police on Dec. 2, 1993, in the city of Medellín.