Drug boss Griselda Blanco had many nicknames -- the "Black Widow," the "Godmother," and the "Cocaine Queen" -- but it was her role in the documentary Cocaine Cowboys and its sequel Hustlin With the Godmother that made her a star. Last night she was gunned down in a motorcycle killing in Colombia at the age of 69.
Blanco is an odd sort of folk "hero" for some. She was every bit as ruthless as men -- sometimes far more. She boasted of killing a 2-year-old instead of his dad (her intended target) because "it would upset the father." She was responsible for the death of three husbands, a fact that earned her the "Black Widow" nickname. She was also a mother of four sons who named her youngest Michael Corleone after her favorite film The Godfather.
Despite rising to the top of an underworld dominated by ruthless men, Blanco is no feminist hero. She was a criminal who made it to 69 by killing all those who might have killed her first. See below from Cocaine Cowboys 2:
It's a strange thing in our culture, the way we glorify those who commit such acts of violence. Tony Montana, the fictional main character in Scarface, is a cult hero and yet he was a thug and a murderer. Blanco was REAL and she was just as ruthless (if not more) and yet some hero worship her, too, even going so far as to call her a feminist hero.
I don't think so.
She may have been a woman, but the qualities one should admire in ALL humans (not just women) of compassion, empathy, and respect for human life seemed missing in Blanco.
She is considered responsible for 40 murders. Her trail of death and destruction led from Miami to New York and back again. I am not sure anyone "deserves" to die, but there's no doubt she had lived far longer than most in her line of work do.
There's nothing sexy or exciting about organized crime and violence. It isn't glamorous and we shouldn't look up to people who incite it and live that way. Any death should be mourned, and I am sure her surviving two sons, including Michael who is in trouble himself for drug trafficking, are grieving. But it's amazing she lived as long as she did.
Blanco's crimes weren't in a movie. They weren't fictional. They were very, very real and shouldn't be elevated.
Did you know anything about "The Godmother"?
Image via DBeeNine/YouTube
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Comments 32
I can't believe she murdered a two year old boy...I have a two year old boy :( Bitch
I watched Cocaine Cowboys I and II ... pretty good and interesting that there are people actually out there like this. The dude that she was with at the end, eseemed like a weenie, but he was young and she loved that he would do anything for her. If you get a chance to watch it, it's quite entertaining.
This article has a really stupid title. I don't know how you could ever tie killing a two year old to being a hero.
I heard about her story and they had her story on deadly women. Not sad she died because after what she did to many epscially that little boy she deserved to be off this earth.
I have never heard of her before :/ Can't say I am sorry she is no longer here, but sorry she didn't get to rot in prison for her crimes or die by death plenalty so the victums familes could get better closure from the whole ordeal
I have heard of her and yes I agree ,she was a ruthless person and to brag about the murder of a child,especially coming from her mouth when she had children of her own,just makes you sick,she had no empathy for others and in the end her bad karma finally bit her in the butt,if there is a place such as hell,I'm sure she is there and is roasting.