Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar of the journalist is played by Penélope Cruz, while the drug kingpin by Javier Bardem, both winners of the Oscar of the Academy of Hollywood as best supporting actors. Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar is the translation of the title ""Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar"", a memoir of the Colombian author and journalist Virginia Vallejo. It was originally written in Spanish and was published by Random House Mondadori on 22 September 2007, and Random House Inc. of New York on 4 October 2007. The book describes the five years-long (1982-1987) romantic relationship of the author with
Pablo Escobar joined the manhunt for Escobar. They trained and advised a special Colombian police task force known as the Search Bloc, which had been created to locate Escobar. Later, as the conflict between Escobar and the governments of the United States and Colombia dragged on, and as the numbers of Escobar's enemies grew, a vigilante group known as "Los Pepes" (Los Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar, "People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar") was formed. The group was financed by his rivals and former associates, including the Cali Cartel and right-wing paramilitaries led by Carlos Castaño, who would later fund the Peasant Self-Defense Forces