The violence ingrained in Colombian society, starkly illustrated by News of a Kidnapping, has long been a defining feature of the nation. The political assassination in 1948 triggered a wave of killings between rival parties, a period that came to be known simply as "La Violencia." Just as Colombia was beginning to see some semblance of peace, guerrilla groups started launching their own attacks.

By the 1980s, drug traffickers had introduced their own brand of terrorism and violence into the country. Under their influence, Medellín transformed into one of the world's most dangerous cities. In the first two months of 1991, a massacre occurred every four days, resulting in approximately 1,200 murders. Nearly 500 of these victims were police officers, targeted due to a bounty placed by Escobar. However, the police also contributed to the surge and indiscriminate nature of the violence. Believing that most young men and boys in the Medellín slums were involved in the drug trade, largely because of a lack of other economic opportunities, police engaged in arbitrary killings. In his negotiations with the government, Escobar insisted that these actions be stopped. Human rights organizations, both national and international, also condemned these abuses.

Violence is so prevalent in Colombian society that it often fails to elicit much attention or reaction. For instance, when Marina's son travels to Medellín in a failed attempt to negotiate with Escobar, he observes a girl lying dead on the roadside. When he mentions this to his driver, the man responds without even glancing over, "One of the dolls who parties with don Pablo's friends."

In recent decades, Colombia has been plagued by terrorism. Guerrilla groups, such as M-19, initiated actions like the assault on the Supreme Court, which drug cartels quickly adopted as an effective strategy to achieve their objectives. By 1991, Medellín had become the epicenter of urban terrorism. Journalists, law enforcement, politicians—anyone who tried to oppose or even criticize the drug traffickers—risked becoming a target. Often, these acts of terrorism against specific targets also harmed many ordinary Colombians. García Márquez highlights an incident where a car bomb in February killed three low-ranking officers and eight police agents, along with nine bystanders, injuring an additional 143 people.

The primary aim of the narcotraffickers in carrying out kidnappings was to gain leverage in negotiations with the government to avoid extradition. This strategy placed immense pressure on the government. García Márquez explains that "after the first bombs, public opinion demanded prison for the terrorists, after the next few bombings the demand was for extradition, but as the bombs continued to explode, public opinion began to demand amnesty."

As President Gaviria resisted the pressure to negotiate with Escobar and his cartel leaders, terrorism intensified. Marina was executed, and more hostages were threatened. When Gaviria eventually agreed to remove extradition from the table, García Márquez noted that the president "did not propose negotiations with terrorism in order to conjure away a human tragedy," but rather sought "to make extradition a more useful judicial weapon in the fight against narcotraffic by making non-extradition the grand prize in a package of incentives and guarantees for those who surrendered to the law."

It is significant that in their pursuit of this goal, as well as in their efforts to protect their families and associates, the narcotraffickers spared nothing. In March, Escobar threatened to detonate fifty tons of dynamite in one of the country's most historic cities. Although dissuaded from this action, he still warned, "If police operations in Medellín continued past April, no stone would be left standing in the very ancient and noble city of Cartagena de...