Colombia Transfers Escobar Estate Land to Women

President Gustavo Petro announced the transfer of 120 hectares (about 297 acres) of Pablo Escobar’s 4,000-hectare Hacienda Nápoles to local women who had received a municipal land loan in 2017 and were later evicted by police. The move is part of Petro’s agrarian reform to reassign properties once held by traffickers and to address land inequality, and beneficiaries say it gives them “land for life.” The transfer is controversial because much of the estate is leased to a private operator that runs a theme park, zoo and hotel under a reportedly long-term lease through 2087, and tourism groups warn of lost revenue and possible legal battles. Petro also cited the estate’s invasive “cocaine hippos,” which officials say pose public-health and environmental risks, as a reason to return the land to local communities.