« Des choses merveilleuses pour ce pays ». Narcos ou la difficile quête du perfectionnisme dans l’action politique

Abstract

“Marvelous things for this country”, meaning Columbia, is what ambitions drug trafficker Pablo Escobar as he tries to become a politician in order to express the voice of the poorest he comes from. This ambition will fail as it confronts the hostility of the oligarchy against one who stands as a « Robin Hood », and who will respond with extreme violence. I will mainly confront the action of those for whom a “better Columbia” goes along with the eradication of drug traffic and the restoration of state authority. As such, the article focuses the moral dilemmas that agitate Narcos’ protagonists about the legitimacy of the means they should employ to reach these ends. A temptation is expressed, both by the US DEA agents and by some sectors of the Columbian State, to fight the head of the Medellín cartel with means as illegitimate, and violent, as his. It opposes the absolute respect of legality (even when it serves Escobar’s interests) that is promoted by general attorney de Greiff. This tension is staged in the series by president Gaviria’s hesitations. His conversations with his vice-minister of Justice call for an analysis in terms of perfectionism, as they express his doubts about the means a good government requires (paying peace with concessions to Escobar, or the elimination of drug traffic relying on paramilitary at the cost of the loss of sovereignty), and exposes the limits of political courage.

Keywords

• caudillo
• ethics of conviction
• ethics of responsibility
• perfectionism
• violence