Roberto Suárez Goméz

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Roberto Suárez Goméz
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Born 8 January 1932
Trinidad, Beni, Bolivia
Died 20 July 2000 (aged 68)
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Nationality Bolivian
Other names King of Cocaine
El Padrino (The Godfather)
El Robin Hood del Beni (The Robin Hood of Beni)
Don Roberto
Successor Jorge Roca Suarez
Criminal penalty 15 years imprisonment
Spouse(s) Ayda Levy
Children Roberto Suárez
Gary Suárez Levy
Heidy Suárez Levy
Harold Suárez Levy
Parent(s) Nicomedes Suarez and Blanca Gomez Roca
Conviction(s) Drug trafficking and smuggling

Roberto Suárez Goméz (January 8, 1932 – July 20, 2000), sometimes spelled Roberto Suárez Gómez, also known as the King of Cocaine, was a Bolivian drug trafficker who played a major role in the expansion of cocaine trafficking in Bolivia. At his prime, Suárez made $400 million annually, was one of the major suppliers of the Medellin Cartel, the leader of the largest Bolivian drug empire and considered to be the biggest cocaine producer in the world.[1][2][3]

Early life

Suárez was born on January 8, 1932 to a wealthy cattle-ranching family in the tropical Beni Department of Bolivia.[4] His parents were Nicomedes "Cattle King" Suarez and Blanca Gomez Roca. Suárez was the descendent of the Suárez brothers "rubber barons", who had been responsible for the extermination of the Caripuña people on the Madeira River in Bolivia.[5]

Criminal career

In the 1970s, Suárez first entered into the cocaine trade to conducting business with the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and after that he started to recruit Bolivian coca producers into his company "La Corporación" (the Corporation).[6][7] Suárez had a fleet of aircraft, primarily the Cessna 206 and the Douglas DC-3, which flew cocaine shipments from the Bolivian Amazon to Colombia,[8] selling the cocaine at $9,000 per kilogram.[9]

Suárez's wife Ayda Levy recounted in detail that Fidel Castro and Raul Castro contacted Suárez and Escobar in January 1983 and invited them to Cuba.[10] Upon visiting the island nation, Castro had planned to use drugs as a weapon against "Yankee imperialism". Fidel and Raul charged millions of dollars per day in exchange for giving coverage to cocaine trafficking and the use of airports for refueling airplanes. In self defense against the DEA, Suárez established his own private air force, private army of 1,500 soldiers and Libyan-trained bodyguards.[11]

With aid from the Argentine military dictatorship, Suárez financed the military coup and bankrupted the government, which collapsed. The coup installed a dictatorship in 1980, in which Luis García Meza would be President and Suárez's cousin Luis Arce Gómez was Minister of the Interior, and so he received political protection for his enterprise.[12] Arce Gómez ordered the killings of many Bolivians, including union leaders and intellectuals such as Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz. According to some sources, the CIA knew about the coup in advance (Straitfeild). During the 1980s, Suárez' relationship with Escobar slowly deteriorated because of Escobar's murderous activities, which contrasted with Suárez using violence only as a last resort.[13]

In 1981, Suárez's favored son Roberto "Robby" Levy was arrested in Switzerland and extradited to the United States.[14] In a letter to Ronald Reagan in 1983, Suárez offered to pay Bolivia's foreign debt of more than $3 billion if he and his son got amnesty.[7][15] Suárez continued to be under the protection of the DEA and the Bolivian military government through most of the 1980s until his activities were too notorious.

Arrest and release

In 1988, Suárez was arrested by the Bolivian National Police and his hacienda was raided; more than one and a half tons of cocaine was found. He was sentenced to 15 years in the San Pedro prison for drug trafficking but only served 7 years and was released in 1996 due to accounts of good behavior and declining health, having suffered two heart attacks in prison.[16] His cousin and successor, Jorge Roca Suarez (known as "Techo de Paya"), was also serving a 30-year sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.[17] During his time in prison, Suárez was said to have shown regret for his crimes, had found religious faith in jail and preferred to be photographed next to images of Jesus Christ.[18] Suárez had lost most of his fortune, spent on the construction of buildings and other philanthropic activities.[19] He spent the remaining years of his life managing his hacienda.

Personal life

Suárez owned various lavishing homes in Bolivia, including a hacienda known as "El Mosquito" ("The Mosquito"), in northern Bolivia and an armored palace in Santa Ana del Yacuma.[20]His family owned more than 16 million acres of farmland, to which he used the land for cattle ranching, farming and sometimes as airstrips.[21] He gained popularity by building churches, hospitals, streets in rural villages and soccer fields.[18] In his hometown province of Beni, Suárez was most popular around the locals and often called "Robin Hood".[22] His Robin Hood image gained popularity and protection with the Bolivian government and the Roman Catholic Church.[23]

Suárez married Ayda Levy in 1958 and had four children; Roberto, Gary, Heidy and Harold Suárez Levy. The couple split after Levy discovered his involvement in the drug trade but remained on good terms.[8] Suárez was not involved in politics.[24] Suárez's son, Roberto "Robby" Levy, was killed by Bolivian police and DEAagents on March 22, 1990 in Santa Cruz.[25]

Death and legacy

On Thursday evening, July 20, 2000, Suárez died from a heart attack in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.[7][15][26] Weeks before his death, in a TV interview, Suárez repented his crimes and stated "The worst mistake I ever made in my life was to have gotten involved in cocaine trafficking".[4] Suárez was buried in a small niche in Cochabamba.[27]

The character Alejandro Sosa in the 1983 American crime film Scarface and the 2006 video game Scarface: The World Is Yours has been inspired from Suárez.[28] On November 21, 2012, Suárez's ex-wife Ayda Levy published an account of his life, entitled "The King of Cocaine: My Life With Roberto Suárez And The Birth Of The First Narco-State".[29]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1988-08-31/news/mn-1238_1_suarez-gomez>
  2. ↑ http://www.britannica.com/biography/Roberto-Suarez-Gomez
  3. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/22/world/bolivian-drug-lord-is-captured.html
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jul/24/local/me-58236
  5. ↑ Tully, p. 404
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://boliviateamo.blogspot.com/2013/03/el-rey-blanco-roberto-suarez-gomez-el.html
  9. ↑ http://eju.tv/2012/12/una-vida-cinematogrfica-revelaciones-de-la-viuda-del-boliviano-roberto-surez-el-rey-de-la-cocana/
  10. ↑ http://eju.tv/2012/12/una-vida-cinematogrfica-revelaciones-de-la-viuda-del-boliviano-roberto-surez-el-rey-de-la-cocana/
  11. ↑ Naylor, R.T., p. 170
  12. ↑ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/713761/Roberto-Suarez-Gomez
  13. ↑ http://www.infobae.com/2012/12/01/1062435-la-cinematografica-vida-un-jefe-narco
  14. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=t-GWy1bdBtAC&pg=PA245&dq=roberto+suarez+gomez&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjboOmUuvPMAhXGDj4KHctpAhUQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q=roberto%20suarez%20gomez&f=false
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPgawO1c2ic
  17. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/drug-boss-model-for-scarface-dies-in-bolivia-707584.html
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 http://www.economist.com/node/28950
  19. ↑ http://www.clarin.com/mundo/Rey-Cocaina-fundo-primer-narcoestado_0_817118384.html
  20. ↑ Streisland, Dominic, p. 249
  21. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1988-08-31/news/mn-1238_1_suarez-gomez
  22. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-bolivian-drug-lord-who-built-the-general-motors-of-drug-trafficking-2012-11
  23. ↑ http://boliviateamo.blogspot.com/2013/03/el-rey-blanco-roberto-suarez-gomez-el.html
  24. ↑ http://boliviateamo.blogspot.com/2012/11/hoy-bolivia-esta-llena-de-narcos.html
  25. ↑ http://boliviateamo.blogspot.com/2013/03/el-rey-blanco-roberto-suarez-gomez-el.html
  26. ↑ http://lubbockonline.com/stories/072200/wor_0722000027.shtml#.VtstP4-cG1t
  27. ↑ http://www.worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/when-the-king-of-cocaine-built-the-general-motors-of-drug-trafficking/trafficking-drug-kingpin-roberto-suarez/c1s10252/
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2012/11/mexican-narcos-dominate-bolivia.html

Bibliography

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