BUENOS AIRES – Interviewed by the Argentine Fox Sports channel, the former historic Colombian national goalkeeper René Higuita talks about the arrest he suffered because of his personal relationship with Pablo Escobar , who was killed on 2 December 1993 in a neighborhood of Medellin.
“The authorities in Colombia have told me to hand over Pablo Escobar so as not to arrest me. They knew I was innocent, but in all the persecutions that started against him, they started putting his acquaintances in prison. People considered me his friend after I visited him in La Catedral prison. I replied that I knew nothing and that even if I had known I would not have said anything. It was up to the authorities. I was grateful to Pablo Escobar for illuminating the football fields when no one else had done it. "
Higuita played from 1986 to 1997 with Atletico Nacional (with a single short spell in Spain against Real Valladolid). The Medellin team that in the eighties was owned by Pablo Escobar and, under his presidency, managed to win important trophies such as the 1989 Copa Libertadores.
“I show myself for who I am: everyone's friend – continues the current goalkeeper coach of Atlético Nacional -. That I was friends with Pablo Escobar does not mean that I am a drug dealer. Some will like it, others will consider me an enemy. What fills me with pride is being a footballer. " (FOX SPORTS source)
Source: Blitz Quotidiano