Rafael Garcia Herreros; Activist Colombian Priest

Rafael Garcia Herreros, 83, the Catholic priest who helped negotiate drug lord Pablo Escobar’s surrender to authorities in June, 1991. Garcia Herreros, who called Escobar a friend and a good Christian, served as an intermediary between the drug boss and the Colombian government in the weeks leading up to Escobar’s surrender to authorities. Escobar and nine men fled their luxury jail near Medellin in July during a bungled government attempt to transfer them to a more secure facility. In September, Garcia Herreros announced that he was again in contact with the cartel leader and that Escobar was planning to turn himself in soon. Escobar has not lived up to the priest’s promise. Garcia Herreros was famous in Colombia for his nightly TV program, “God’s Minute,” in which he addressed spiritual issues. In western Bogota, he built the “God’s Minute” community with hundreds of affordable housing units for the poor. He also held an annual banquet in which Bogota’s elite paid huge sums to feast on nothing but bread and wine. The proceeds from the event went to fund his social projects. The priest’s death came less than 10 minutes after this year’s banquet ended. It was the first time in 30 years that he had not been able to attend the function. In Bogota on Tuesday of heart and kidney failure.