Virginia Vallejo | |
|---|---|
 Virginia Vallejo in 2009 | |
| Born | Virginia Vallejo García (1949-08-26)26 August 1949 (age 76) Cartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1972–present |
| Spouses | |
| Relatives | Jaime Jaramillo (granduncle) |
| Website | virginiavallejo |
Virginia Vallejo García (born 26 August 1949) is a Colombian author, journalist, television and radio director, anchorwoman,[1] model,columnist,socialite, andpolitical asylee in the United States of America.
She is one of the most relevant media personalities of her native country, known for her interviews of presidents, politicians, international celebrities, musicians, authors and scientists.[2] She has been international editor of television newscasts and also anchorwoman, when she won twice the prize as the best anchorperson of Colombia.[3] Her programs forTV Impacto, her own company, obtained the highest ratings compared to her competition.[4] She was image and model ofDi Lido pantyhose, with commercials made inVenice,Rio de Janeiro,San Juan,Bogotá andCartagena de Indias.[5] She has been invited by foreign governments, likeIsrael andTaiwan, to cover historical events.[3] Virginia was the only Colombian journalist in charge of the radio transmission of the “Wedding of the century” betweenCharles andDiana, in London, on July 29, 1981,[6] and the first journalist to interviewPablo Escobar in 1983, when he was just an aspiring politician.[7] She also presented other type of programs, like musical shows with the most famous singers and orchestras of her time.[8] Due to her voice, education, beauty and elegance, Vallejo has become an icon of the Colombian media, and thanks to her unique story, a contemporary legend.[9] She is now a bestseller author, translated to many languages.[10]
On 18 July 2006, theDEA took her out of Colombia in a special flight to save her life and cooperate with theDepartment of Justice in high-profile cases, after she had signaled several Colombian presidents and politicians as beneficiaries or accomplices of the leading cocaine cartels.[11][12]
In 2007, she published her first book,Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar, which led theColombian Supreme Court to reopen the cases of thePalace of Justice siege in 1985, and the assassination of the presidential candidateLuis Carlos Galán in 1989.[13] The book was translated to fifteen languages and made into a movie in 2018, with the Spanish actressPenélope Cruz in the role of the journalist.[10][14]
Since 2006, Virginia Vallejo lives inMiami,Florida.[15] In 2009, she became a columnist of a Venezuelan opposition newspaper, and, in 2019, television journalist for the international channelActualidad RT.[16] On May 1, 2025, she launchedher new book,El alucinante País Dorado, the first of a trilogy ofnovels inspired in the recent history of Colombia and her personal life.[17]
Virginia Vallejo was born on 26 August 1949 inCartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, near her family's ranch. Her parents were Juan Vallejo Jaramillo, an entrepreneur, and Mary García Rivera.[18] Her paternal grandmother, Sofía Jaramillo Arango, was a descendant of Alonso Jaramillo de Andrade Céspedes y Guzmán, a nobleman fromExtremadura, Spain.[19][20] Several members of her family were ministers, writers and ambassadors, such as her paternal grandfather Eduardo Vallejo Varela,minister of finance (1930);[21][22] her granduncle Alejandro Vallejo Varela, writer and close friend ofJorge Eliécer Gaitán;[23][24] and his granduncleJaime Jaramillo Arango,minister of education (1934), ambassador to several countries in Europe, and co-founder of theAnglo Colombian School.[3][25]
In 1950, the young family returned to Bogotá, where her siblings, Felipe (1951), Antonio (1955–2012), and Sofía (1957) were born.[26] She attended theAnglo Colombian School.
In 1967 and 1968, she worked as an English teacher in the Centro Colombo Americano inBogotá and, in 1969, in the presidency of Banco del Comercio. In 1972, while she was working as director of public relations of Cervecería Andina, she received an invitation to join an upcoming television program directed byCarlos Lemos Simmonds and Aníbal Fernández de Soto.[9]
Until 1998, there were only three television channels inColombia that belonged to the Government: two commercial and one official.Inravisión, the official broadcasting entity, leased spaces to independent television producers known asprogramadoras, many owned by prominent journalists or presidential families.[27][28] This was the reason why Vallejo could work simultaneously as a news anchor and presenter of other programs.
From 1972 to 1975, she was as the presenter of"¡Oiga Colombia, Revista del Sábado!", a program directed byCarlos Lemos Simmonds and Fernández de Soto.[9] From 1973 to 1975, she was the host of the television musical shows"Éxitos 73","Éxitos 74" and"Éxitos 75", produced byTHOY, theprogramadora of the family of PresidentJulio César Turbay.[29]
In 1973, she began working as a reporter onTV Sucesos-A3, the newscast directed by Alberto Acosta; and, from 1975 to 1977, she became the international editor.[30] In the early and mid seventies, she hosted other television programs, like the quiz showTV Crucigrama, a cooking show with chef Segundo Cabezas, and a program for children.[31]
In January 1978, she became the anchorwoman ofNoticiero 24 Horas, which aired at 7:00 PM, and was directed by Mauricio Gómez, Ernesto Rodríguez Medina[32] and Sergio Arboleda.[33] In March, the Government ofTaiwan invited her to the inauguration of PresidentChiang Ching-kuo. The same year, she was elected as the vice-president of the board of directors of the ACL,Asociación Colombiana de Locutores (Association of Colombian Speakers). In 1978, 1979 and 1980, she won the award as the Best Television Anchor of the APE,Asociación de Periodistas del Espectáculo (Association of Entertainment Journalists).
In 1979, she co-starred in the movieColombia Connection by Gustavo Nieto Roa.[34] In November, she appeared inTown & Country, opening the sectionThe Beautiful Women of El Dorado. In 1979 and 1980, she presented¡Cuidado con las Mujeres!, a program byRTI Producciones, directed by David Stivel.[35]
In 1981, she founded her ownprogramadora,TV Impacto, with the journalist Margot Ricci.[4] That same year, the Government ofIsrael invited them to do a special program aboutThe Holy Land.
In 1980 and 1982, she worked atCaracol Radio. She was the only journalist sent by a Colombian media outlet toLondon, to transmit the wedding of thePrince of Wales andLady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981. Vallejo's broadcast forCaracol lasted three hours.[6] She covered theMiss Colombia pageant for the same station until 1985.
Between 1981 and 1983, she directed her program¡Al Ataque! She was the first television journalist to interviewPablo Escobar in January 1983. The interview was filmed at the garbage dump ofMedellín. During the interview Pablo Escobar described the charity projectMedellín Sin Tugurios (Medellín without Slums), launched by himand his partners. Vallejo’s interview propelled Escobar to the national stage.[7]
In 1983 and 1984, she presentedHoy por Hoy, Magazín del Lunes (Magazine Today, Monday) at 7 pm. In 1984, she made a television commercial forMedias Di Lido (pantyhose), inVenice,Italy, followed by another three inRio de Janeiro,San Juan andCartagena.[36] In 1983 and 1984, she presented the musicalEl Show de las Estrellas, directed byJorge Barón.[8] In 1984, she became the international editor of theGrupo Radial Colombiano (a network founded by the Cali Cartel), directed byCarlos Lemos Simmonds. In 1985, she became the anchorwoman of the newscastTelediario, directed by Arturo Abella.[37]
In 1985, she appeared on the covers ofHarper's Bazaar andCosmopolitan. Also, inElenco, a magazine ofEl Tiempo that presented her as "the symbol of an era".[38] In 1988, she won a scholarship from theGerman Government, and she studiedeconomic journalism inBerlin at theInternationales Institut für Journalismus.
In 1991, she returned toColombia to co-star in the soap operaSombra de tu Sombra ofCaracol Televisión.[39] In 1992, she presented¡Indiscretísimo!, directed by Manuel Prado.[40] From 1992 to 1994, she worked atTodelar radio. In October 1994, she ended her career in the Colombian media to open theSouth American operation of a multilevel company based in theUnited States.
Between 2009 and 2010, she worked as a columnist for the Venezuelan newspaper6to Poder, directed by the opposition journalist Leocenis García; but, PresidentHugo Chávez closed the newspaper and jailed the director.[41][42]
In 2019, Vallejo returned to her work as a television journalist for the international channelRT en Español orActualidad RT. The twelve episodes, titled as "Sueños y Pesadillas" – "Dreams and Nightmares" in English – were inspired by the "American dream", and describe problems like the huge gap between wealth and poverty, violence and guns, LGBTQ and discrimination of gender, and the high cost of healthcare, among others.[43][44]
In early July 2006, Vallejo offered her testimony in the case againstAlberto Santofimio,[45] a former Justice Minister and associate ofPablo Escobar, head of theMedellín cartel and lover of the journalist from 1983 to 1987. The politician was on trial for conspiracy in the assassination ofLuis Carlos Galán, a presidential candidate killed by Pablo Escobar on August 18, 1989. The following week, the ProsecutorEdgardo José Maya Villazón closed the case "for lack of evidence". All of Escobar's hitmen in the crime and several key witnesses against Santofimio had been killed, so Vallejo contacted the American Embassy in Bogotá and asked the US Government to help save her life in exchange for information on the associates of Pablo Escobar andGilberto andMiguel Rodriguez Orejuela of theCali cartel, Pablo Escobar's nemesis. The brothers had been extradited by PresidentÁlvaro Uribe,[46] and the trial was due to begin inMiami in a few weeks.
Vallejo's flight made news worldwide, and a home video that Vallejo had taped before her departure to protect her life was aired byCanal RCN of Colombia; according to the channel, it was watched by 14 million people, with higher rates of audience than the Football World Cup final of 2006 on 9 July. Six weeks later, Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela pleaded guilty; they were sentenced to 30 years in prison, and theUnited States Department of Justice collected $2.1 billion ($3.3 billion today) in assets without going to trial.[47]
In 2007, Vallejo publishedAmando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar (In English:Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar), in which she describes, among other topics, her romantic relationship with Pablo Escobar, head of theMedellín Cartel, from 1982 to 1987; the origins of the rebel organizations inColombia; the reasons for the explosive growth of the cocaine industry; the birth of MAS (Muerte a Secuestradores) (Death to Kidnappers),The Extraditables, and theUnited Self-Defense Forces of Colombia; the links of theMedellin andCali cartels with Caribbean dictators and the Colombian presidentsAlfonso López Michelsen,[48]Ernesto Samper,[49] andÁlvaro Uribe;[13][50]the siege of the Palace of Justice in 1985;[51][52] Escobar's relationship with the extreme left and extreme right rebel groups; the horrors during the era of narcoterrorism from 1988 to 1993; and the hunt and death of her former lover on December 2, 1993.[53] Vallejo's memoir became the number one bestselling Spanish-language book in bothColombia and theUnited States.[54]
The memoir was translated to English and fifteen languages, in 2018.[10] It inspired the movieLoving Pablo (2017),[55] where the Spanish actressPenélope Cruz played the role of Vallejo, whileJavier Bardem played Escobar. Many of the elements and characters were fictional, like the DEA agent. The film was launched during the74th Venice International Film Festival,[56] and the two leading actors were nominated for theGoya Awards of 2018.[57][58]
Upon her arrival to the United States, on July 18, 2006, Vallejo requested political asylum. She knew that ifreturned to Colombia, she would be killed, like several witnesses in the cases vs. AlbertoSantofimio[59] and the bosses of the Cali cartel.[60] To grant her political asylum, the State of Departmentand the Immigration Court of Miami examined Vallejo's life and could not find any investigationagainst her; only hundreds of threats from members of the Colombian government,[61] media outlets owned or directed by the family of vice presidentFrancisco Santos Calderón[62] and defense ministerJuan Manuel Santos,[63][64] and the paramilitary squads Águilas Negras (Black Eagles).[65][66]
On 3 May 2010, the United States of America granted Virginia Vallejo political asylum under theUnited Nations Convention against Torture. She received it due to her political opinion about powerful politicians,[67] her testimony in high-profile criminal cases, a brutal car crash she had suffered on her way to testify in the Colombian Miami consulate, and thousands of threats against her life and integrity posted under her name in the Internet.[68] Though most of them were withdrawn from the search engines in the following two weeks, they remain in Vallejo's case in the Miami immigration court.[69]
In July 2008, the Colombian Government ordered Vallejo to testify in the reopened case of thePalace of Justice siege ( 6 and 7 November 1985),[70] a massacre that killed more than 100 people, including 11 Supreme Court Justices, rebels of theM-19, government agents, and dozens of unarmed civilians.[71] In the Colombian Consulate in Miami, a prosecutor sent by the Colombian Attorney General asked Vallejo to confirm the events described in her memoir, in the chapter "That Palace in Flames" (Aquel Palacio en Llamas).[72] So, during the next five hours, she explained the roles of all the actors involved in the attack: "Though the M-19 and theMedellín cartel were responsible for the siege, the military were responsible for the massacre".[73][74][75] The journalist signaled also the lack of action of PresidentBelisario Betancur: "The rebel commanders of the M-19 took the Justices as hostages, to force the government to listen to their claims, including the elimination of the extradition treaty with theUnited States. But, President Betancur refused to take the calls of the President of the Supreme Court, MagistrateAlfonso Reyes Echandia, pleading to save their lives, and instead he allowed the army and the police to bomb a building with 400 people inside".[76][77] In her testimony under oath, she described what Pablo Escobar had told her the following year, after 10 months of separation: "The people detained after the fire, many with third degree burns, were sent to military garrisons where they were tortured – and the women gang-raped[78][79] – to find the hiding places of other rebel commanders, and the money that I had paid them to steal my files before the Court ruled on our extradition;[70] later, they were killed and disappeared in cans of quicklime andsulfuric acid."[80][81] At the end of that chapter, Vallejo summarized the tragic events: "That conflagration was the holocaust of the Colombian justice system, with the triumph of the establishment, the traditional parties, and "Los Extraditables" with Escobar at the head".[82][83]
In July 2009, Vallejo testified in the reopened case of the assassination of presidential candidateLuis Carlos Galán[84] which occurred on 18 August 1989,[85] and signaled Alberto Santofimio as the main instigator of the candidate's assassination.[86]She described how, in 1984 and 1985 and in her presence, Alberto Santofimio had repeatedly asked Pablo Escobar to "...eliminate Senator Galan before he could become the next president and extradite him".[87][88]
Twenty-five years after the Palace of Justice massacre, on 9 June 2010 judge Maria Stella Jara sentenced Colonel Alfonso Plazas of the army to 30 years in prison forforced disappearance of the detained.[89][90] President Uribe attacked the verdict on television and offered his protection to the military.[91][92] The following week, with the help of a European human rights organization, Judge Jara fled Colombia and went into exile.[93][94][95]
After 18 years of delays and appeals, in 2007 Alberto Santofimio was sentenced to 24 years in prison for conspiracy with Pablo Escobar in the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán.[96][97][98]
Virginia Vallejo has been married twice to prominent and older men, the architect Fernando Borrero, a widower,[99][100] and David Stivel, head of theClan Stivel that grouped the leading Argentinean actors of his time.[101] Virginia has often said that she would never have children.[102]
After her divorce from Borrero in 1971, she dated the future Colombian billionaires, Carlos Haime,[103]Julio Mario Santo Domingo,Carlos Ardila Lülle, andLuis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, heads of the four Colombian conglomerates.
Vallejo divorced Stivel in 1981. The following year, she became engaged to Aníbal Turbay, the nephew of PresidentJulio César Turbay Ayala. In mid 1982, she, her fiancé and his children - nowCarlos Ardila Lülle’s stepchildren - were invited to see the zoo ofHacienda Nápoles, owned by the young congressmanPablo Escobar. Six months later, Virginia ended her relationship with Aníbal and began a romance with the head of theMedellín Cartel. It lasted almost five years, but was marked by long separations in 1984, 1985 and 1986. She spent most of year 1986 inCartagena with Rafael Vieira, director of the Oceanarium of theRosario Islands.[104][105] Upon her return to Bogotá in 1987, she ended forever her relationship with Escobar. She did it after he told her that, “very soon, would begin a war against both the Colombian State and theCali Cartel. To crush the Government, he would use dynamite; and to finance his wars, he would use Cuba as a trampoline to send cocaine to theFlorida Keys”.[48]
Since mid 1984, Virginia Vallejo has had an affair of many years with a British aristocrat, the Hon. David Patrick Metcalfe,[106] grandson ofLord Curzon,Viceroy of India, and godson ofEdward VIII, the Duke of Windsor.[107][108] Her last romantic relationship was with a German count that she has described many times as “the great love of her life”.[109]
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