Gustavo de Jesús Gaviria Rivero (25 December 1946 – 11 August 1990) was a Colombian

drug trafficker The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs throug ...

. As Pablo Escobar's cousin and

right-hand man A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a Job, job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a Subspecialty, sub-specialty of ...

, Gaviria controlled the

Medellín cartel The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...

's finances and trade routes. He and Escobar had collaborated in their criminal careers since the early 1970s. Though he was the owner of a fortune comparable to Escobar's and even had a military apparatus at his service, Gaviria was not as well known, as he kept a low profile. The events leading to his death are unclear. It is speculated he was killed by

Search Bloc The Search Bloc ( es, Bloque de Búsqueda) is the name of three different ad hoc special operations units of the National Police of Colombia (Policía Nacional de Colombia). They were originally organized with a focus on capturing or killing h ...

and the incident was covered up to prevent retaliation. Gustavo's death deeply affected Escobar, given their deep personal and professional relationship. Nonetheless, Escobar did not attend his cousin's funeral but instead listened to the

funeral mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

via a radio his assistant had attached to the officiating priest. After Gustavo's death, Escobar decided to turn himself in but to stay at

La Catedral La Catedral was a personal prison overlooking the city of Medellín, in Colombia. The prison was built to specifications ordered by Medellín Cartel leader Pablo Escobar, under a 1991 agreement with the Colombian government in which Escobar w ...

, a jail of his own making, guarded by his own guards. Since Gustavo died four days after

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

César Gaviria César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo ( ; born 31 March 1947) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004 and National Di ...

took office, at the time, the media and the country in general thought the president had begun his term with an offensive against the narcoterrorists. Gustavo's death triggered a counter-offensive by Escobar that initially destabilized the new president's administration.

In popular culture

* Gustavo was played by actor Juan Pablo Raba in the first season of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

television series, '' Narcos''. The series attributes his death to the former members of the Search Bloc as well as relatives of Escobar's victims, but depicts it happening some time into the Gaviria administration. * Actor

Christian Tappan Christian Tappan (born 19 February 1972) is a Mexican-Colombian television actor. He is mainly recognized for his work in Mexican and Colombian soap operas and series. Biography At the age of 5 he had already participated in several television ...

plays "Gonzalo Gaviria", a character inspired on Gustavo Gaviria, in the 2012 television series ''

Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord ''Escobar: El Patrón del Mal'' (international title: ''Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord''; also known as ''Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal'') is a 2012 Colombian telenovela produced and broadcast on Caracol TV, based on a true story about the life ...

''. * In TV Series ''

Tres Caínes ''Los Tres Caínes'' (The 3 Cains) is a 2013 Spanish-language telenovela produced by RTI Producciones for Colombia-based television network RCN TV and United States-based television network MundoFox. Based on the story of the Colombian paramilit ...

'' is portrayed by the Colombian actor Julio Pachón * In TV Series ''

En la boca del lobo ''En la boca del lobo'' (English: ''Into the Wolf's Mouth'') is a Colombian telenovela produced by Sony Pictures Television and Teleset for RCN Televisión and UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura fr ...

'' is potrayed by Simón Rivera as the character of ''Pariente'' Gavirno.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaviria, Gustavo 1949 births 1990 deaths Colombian drug traffickers Medellín Cartel traffickers Murdered criminals People from Pereira, Colombia