VIRGINIA VALLEJO was the most important Colombian radio anchorwoman and television presenter in the late 1970s and '80s. In 1982, she met Pablo Escobar, head of the Medellín Cartel. In 1983, they began a romantic relationship that ended in 1987, six years before his death.

In July 2006, she offered her testimony against a former justice minister on trial for conspiring with Escobar in the assassination of a presidential candidate. That same month, the DEA took her out of Colombia, on a special flight to save her life, so she could testify in other leading criminal cases.

Originally published in 2007 by Random House Mondadori, Amando a Pablo, Odiando a Escobar (Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar) became a number one international bestseller in Spanish. Due to brutal attacks and threats from the Colombian government, paramilitary, and media, she received political asylum from the United States in 2010. She continues to live in Miami, where she is writing two more books.