{"id":20,"date":"2008-06-17T21:48:08","date_gmt":"2008-06-17T19:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.psyched.be\/site\/?p=20"},"modified":"2013-12-15T00:22:48","modified_gmt":"2013-12-14T22:22:48","slug":"town-where-cocaine-is-the-only-currency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.psyched.be\/site\/journalism\/town-where-cocaine-is-the-only-currency\/","title":{"rendered":"Town where cocaine is the only currency"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Town where cocaine is the only currency<\/h3>\n
By Jeremy McDermott in Guerima
\nLast Updated: 11:04PM BST 15\/06\/2008<\/div>\n

Guerima, a remote Colombian settlement, wants its Marxist rebels back. With the national army deployed in a stranglehold around the town, there is nobody to traffic the town’s only commodity \u2013 drugs.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
\"<\/div>\n
JERRY MCDERMOTT<\/div>\n
A shoe shop owner weighs out coca base handed over by a customer in exchange for goods<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

More than 1,000 people live in Guerima, carved out of the Amazonian rainforest. Its clearings are filled with coca bushes, the basis for cocaine.<\/p>\n

This was once the heartland of the 16th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the Marxist guerrilla movement that has fought in Colombia’s jungles for the past 44 years.<\/p>\n

But now the troops of the 58th Counter-Guerrilla Battalion patrol the dirt streets.
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\nTheir presence has stirred deep resentment, revealing the complexities of Colombia’s war against Left-wing rebels and drug lords.<\/p>\n

Countless ordinary people depend on the coca trade. “We are sitting on a mountain of coca and a series of Farc ‘IOUs’ “, said one local. “We need the rebels back to pay the debts and buy the coca, otherwise the town will die.”<\/p>\n

No money has reached Guerima for months and transactions are conducted in coca, with one gram enough to buy a soft drink.<\/p>\n

Major Edgar Gomez, who commands the troops, knows the community feels under siege. He also knows that most locals have friends or family among the rebels.<\/p>\n

But the major is also aware that his presence in Guerima is hitting the guerrillas’ finances. The rebels here once earned \u00a310 million a month from cocaine. Now they will be lucky to get \u00a31 million.<\/p>\n

But the local people would prefer a return to the days when their fate was in the hands of the Farc.<\/p>\n

Tomas Medina, the local guerrilla commander, was seen as a Robin Hood-style hero, maintaining the drug economy and imposing law and order. “Before the army came there was no crime,” said one man. “Now the soldiers steal from us. Two girls have been raped.<\/p>\n

“This would not have happened before and if it did the criminals would have been punished, perhaps shot.”<\/p>\n

There was no confirmation of the man’s claims and Major Gomez said that winning over the locals was more important than driving out the rebels.<\/p>\n

“I know these people live on coca,” he said. “The government has to offer them a viable alternative and we are just the first presence of the state.<\/p>\n

“Healthcare, education and economic investment must follow.”<\/p>\n

\nSource: http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Town where cocaine is the only currency By Jeremy McDermott in Guerima Last Updated: 11:04PM BST 15\/06\/2008 Guerima, a remote Colombian settlement, wants its Marxist rebels back. With the national army deployed in a stranglehold around the town, there is nobody to traffic the town’s only commodity \u2013 drugs. JERRY MCDERMOTT A shoe shop owner weighs out coca base handed over by a customer in exchange for goods More than 1,000 people live in Guerima, carved out of the Amazonian rainforest. Its clearings are filled…<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[71,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drugs-medicine","category-journalism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t