SUMMARY

PEPES (Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar: People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar) emerged in 1993 in order to retaliate against the terror spread by the Medellín Cartel, personified by its leader Pablo Escobar. The first action of the group occurred approximately half a year after Pablo Escobar had escaped from jail. While in jail Escobar had ordered some of the prison guards, who were acting under his command, to assassinate the Moncada and Galeano brothers, who were key figures in his own cartel. After his escape the Moncada and Galeano families declared war on Escobar and cooperated with PEPES.

One key profile in PEPES was Fidel Castaño. Castaño’s father had experience from the paramilitary struggle against the revolutionary guerrillas of Colombia, which he had started following the death of his father in FARC captivity. The second important person seems to have been a brother of the murdered Fernando Galeano. Both of them had serious knowledge about military tactics.

Though there were accusations of links between PEPES and the Calí Cartel, even voiced by Escobar himself, there is no tangible evidence that such a link existed. It is reasonable to believe that there was some type of cooperation but in what way this would have worked, and to what extent, is unknown.

PEPES has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.