cocaine country

[welsh]

National Geographic has done an interesting story about a part of Columbia in which Cocaine is regularly traded as currency. If you are interested-

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0407/

 

[Sovz]

Ai karamba :!:

 

[Wooz]

Thought you posted an article about Haiti.

 

[Pipboy2000]

Krazy.

 

[Melchoir]

Whoah, that's sick!

 

[Sol Invictus]

Slick. Things have really gone to hell since the 80s.

 

[welsh]

If you get the chance read the article. It's pretty wild. THe local FARC leader, the revolutionaries in Columbia who have pretty much lost track of their ideology, are basically running the country.

What they do is charge a 30% tax on all cocaine trades, but don't personally get involved in the business. However, the FARC requires that no one use drugs during the weekdays and even no one drinks, and if you violate those rules you are punished (sent to fight for the FARC). That said, crime is virtually nonexistent because the FARC makes all the rules and if you break the rules, you are in deep shit. Because money is not used, many transactions are done by trading in a bag of cocaine to pay your debts.

Of course the cocaine remains valuable, as it's all export to the US and Europe for money.

What is fascinating is how the FARC, a rebel organization, uses the drugs to support an economy through a barter system using durgs as currency. At the same time the FARC is able to maintain public goods such as public safety, judiciary, economic control and trade, much like a state through drug sales.

If you are interested in the drug economy at the source, or even for how drugs play a role in other parts of the world, this is an fascinating piece of journalism.

 

[Wooz]

"Sick"?!

I think not. Direct consequence of being a banana republic.
Read a coupla Marquez books. Cien anos de soledad, in particular. One of my fav books.

Oh, and welsh: I think I read that the FARC's real influence mostly applies to the southeast regions of Colombia, if I recall correctly.

 

[SkynetV4]

"Sick"?!

I think not. Direct consequence of being a banana republic.
Read a coupla Marquez books. Cien anos de soledad, in particular. One of my fav books.

Oh, and welsh: I think I read that the FARC's real influence mostly applies to the southeast regions of Colombia, if I recall correctly.

Wooz is right, mostly. Garcia Marquez has it right but I would reccomend "Vivir para Contarla" (which is his autobiography, and you will gain a good appreciation about the people that fucked up the country the most).

To those who don't want or can't read the book, basically the point is this: The liberal and conservative parties caused the civil wars (including a 1000 day war) with a callous disregard for the civilian population. For money? No. Politics. Their stubborness (sp?) kept the population in a state of ennui for so long that it was a matter of time before people exploded in anger. The day was April 9th, when Eliecer Gaitan (a radical liberal (hated by both parties but loved by the people)) was shot in front of the Gato Negro Cafe. People went berserk and rioted. Eventually, order was restored by the Army.

A few years after that, Manuel Marulanda Velez "Tirofijo" (one of the most important FARC leaders) organized the FARC and started war with the government. Afterwards there have been several other guerrilla movements (i.e. Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional - ELN, M-19 (my gramps had friends amongst them)) and even right-winded peasant movements like AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) that were supposedly funded and encouraged by the government but that grew out of their control.

Whats worse is that Colombian refugees are coming into the country illegally and staying. With those poor peasants, Drug Traffickers and Guerrillamen enter the country.

 

[Ratty Sr.]

State-managed drug business isn't unheard of. For example, the military regime in Myanmar gets most of its funding from heroine production and export. I even heard of opium farms controlled by SLORC (State of Law and Order Restoration Council, main governing body of the illegal military regime) which employ slave labor (yes, SLORC randomly enslaves Burman people). And everyone knows that Taliban regime in Afghanistan didn't much care if Afghani peasants grew opium and traded it to heroine manufacturers for later sale in developed countries.

 

[welsh]

i didn't know about that Ratty but I did study Burma's drug problem from a long time, but mostly that coming from the Shan Plateau.

Some years ago the government got serious against the minorities and reclaimed some territory, a difficult business considering the rainy season.

From what I know of the FARC it seems most of their ideology has disappeared. However, when there was an opening for political competition the government and the right wing took advantage of the political opening to wipe out much of the FARC's political wing. What worries me more in Columbia are the right-wing death squads which are really cocaine exporters who refuse to pay FARC taxes.