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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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Town where cocaine is the only currency
#8528465 - 06/15/08 11:08 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Town where cocaine is the only currency June 15, 2008 - telegraph.co.uk
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 – drugs.
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.
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.
But now the troops of the 58th Counter-Guerrilla Battalion patrol the dirt streets.
Their presence has stirred deep resentment, revealing the complexities of Colombia's war against Left-wing rebels and drug lords.
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."
No money has reached Guerima for months and transactions are conducted in coca, with one gram enough to buy a soft drink.
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.
But the major is also aware that his presence in Guerima is hitting the guerrillas' finances. The rebels here once earned £10 million a month from cocaine. Now they will be lucky to get £1 million.
But the local people would prefer a return to the days when their fate was in the hands of the Farc.
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.
"This would not have happened before and if it did the criminals would have been punished, perhaps shot."
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.
"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.
"Healthcare, education and economic investment must follow."
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SuperD
Cacti junky



Registered: 10/05/03
Posts: 6,648
Loc: The bridgesii bridge
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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: veggie]
#8528748 - 06/16/08 01:26 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Seems like it would be easy as hell to 'cut' your own currency.
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   D Manoa said: I need to stop spending all my money on plants and take up a cheaper hobby, like heroin. Looking for Rauhocereus riosaniensis seeds or live specimen(s), me if you have any for trade
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Groomies
Ghost



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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: SuperD]
#8528840 - 06/16/08 02:36 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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this world would be a better place if we could use plants as currency. think about, paying for gas with herbs. it could fix all the problems of being poor.
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rodfarva
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Registered: 07/31/07
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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: Groomies]
#8528941 - 06/16/08 04:18 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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selling soda pop in Guerima FTW
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dill705
Amazed



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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: rodfarva]
#8529013 - 06/16/08 05:41 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I wonder how much cocaine they are sitting on...
Anyone think they have halted production?
-------------------- My advice is to find those things that give pleasure and do them often without too much attachment and relax and wait for the show to end. -Icelander- I like free markets and all. Truly I do, at least in general, but there needs to be some kind of oversight in recognition of sustainability. Life works the same way, on a bunch of sustainable systems. Why not honor what made us what we are and take some lessons? Nature FTW! ~dill705~
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kungpow
SeasonedPsychonaut



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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: dill705]
#8529527 - 06/16/08 11:22 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Damn I need to go to that town. If a gram is enough for a soda pop then that is cheap as hell. Heck you could go down there and have yourself a good time. It would be nice to make a bunch of money here and move there. get a nice house and then you have all of the cocaine for as cheap as you want. Plus it is pure cocaine. Damn
-------------------- Monotub #3 - check out my best grow to date!!!!
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rodfarva
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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: kungpow]
#8529989 - 06/16/08 01:56 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
kungpow said: Damn I need to go to that town. If a gram is enough for a soda pop then that is cheap as hell. Heck you could go down there and have yourself a good time. It would be nice to make a bunch of money here and move there. get a nice house and then you have all of the cocaine for as cheap as you want. Plus it is pure cocaine. Damn
.. and of corse your from michigan. laughs
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Irieforester
Head to toe inH2O




Registered: 03/10/08
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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: rodfarva]
#8531438 - 06/16/08 08:28 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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What a surprise, everything was all fine and dandy before the government came in and started raping and pillaging.
Those filthy drug peddlers deserved it.
-------------------- I am still and forever learning Apollyphelion said: You can learn A LOT from shitting in the right set and setting!
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skateordont
I'm just a rockn roll clown


Registered: 12/06/07
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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: SuperD]
#8532306 - 06/17/08 01:33 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Uh, they sell a pop for 1 gram of COCA, not COCAINE. How much cocaine do you think you can extract from a gram of coca?
I feel the title is not accurate. /whining off
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rodfarva
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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: skateordont]
#8532539 - 06/17/08 03:53 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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My bad...The only extracting i want to do is with an neatly rolled 100$ bill yo.
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QuantumReality
Mycopath 🗡



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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: rodfarva]
#8532543 - 06/17/08 03:56 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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haha too cool Go Colombia
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dill705
Amazed



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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: skateordont]
#8533360 - 06/17/08 11:30 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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True, they did say coca. However, it could be an innocent mistake. All the hispanics I work with call cocaine, COCA, because that's what they call it back home.
You're probably right, (I thought the same thing when I read the article), but I did want to show another angle on it.
-------------------- My advice is to find those things that give pleasure and do them often without too much attachment and relax and wait for the show to end. -Icelander- I like free markets and all. Truly I do, at least in general, but there needs to be some kind of oversight in recognition of sustainability. Life works the same way, on a bunch of sustainable systems. Why not honor what made us what we are and take some lessons? Nature FTW! ~dill705~
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kungpow
SeasonedPsychonaut



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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: dill705]
#8533745 - 06/17/08 01:52 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Yeah cause one gram of coca leaves is not very much of anything. Really it is enough only for a tea bag. I get coca tea imported from Bolivia and 1 gram of coca leaves is hardly enough to give you about a caffeine buzz.
~Peace Out
-------------------- Monotub #3 - check out my best grow to date!!!!
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dill705
Amazed



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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: kungpow]
#8533775 - 06/17/08 02:01 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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After reading the article again, it appears to me that the term coca is used for cocaine at least when it is quoted from a local.
-------------------- My advice is to find those things that give pleasure and do them often without too much attachment and relax and wait for the show to end. -Icelander- I like free markets and all. Truly I do, at least in general, but there needs to be some kind of oversight in recognition of sustainability. Life works the same way, on a bunch of sustainable systems. Why not honor what made us what we are and take some lessons? Nature FTW! ~dill705~
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GetTheFuckOut
Long Gone.

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Re: Town where cocaine is the only currency [Re: dill705]
#8535493 - 06/17/08 10:30 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
dill705 said: I wonder how much cocaine they are sitting on...
Anyone think they have halted production?
alot has dried up in the us
-------------------- < I have logged in this once so that I can set the "last seen" feature up. let the faggots flow forth into OTD and have it. Its funny how they all grew nuts after I left. I'm not here, I'm not reading, but I urge you all to keep melting down over me. I know, I hurt alot of people, and they deserved it. epic win for me, epic fail for you. ythan, you rock dude. i feel that my time at the shroomery was very positive and enjoyable, but this site is no longer for me. im not mad or upset or disappointed, i just want no part in a pg rated faggot festival. <
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