Cocaleros vs Government

1263 Words3 Pages

Once there was a father named Columbia. Columbia had 5 children whom he loved very much, except for two, Guerilla and Campesino. Columbia loved his other kids very much that he gave them everything they needed from clothing to money. He even bragged about them in front of other people and called them “my children”. However, he didn’t felt the same compassion for his last two sons. Whenever they needed something, important or not important, he either say no, or nothing at all as if they don’t exist. He even denied them in front of other people saying “I don’t know them”. Guerilla and Campesino did everything they can for their father to notice them, but to no avail. They were poor, hungry, and uneducated, compared to their other siblings.
At last they met a friend named Coca, who helped them better their lives. The only problem was, Coca will only help them if they do something for him, and in this case, illegal. Guerilla and Campesino both knew that if they agreed to help Coca, their father Colombia and their uncle America will be very mad at them. But because they were very hungry, and their father still did not listen to them, they finally agreed. Alas, the mighty war began between Columbia and his two sons.
The book “Between the Guerillas and the State” explores the history and reasons behind the uprising of the Cocaleros in 1996 in the eyes of a campesino. Ramirez analyzes the events that brought Columbia to the top of the chart in coca production, contributing mainly to the production of the prohibited drug cocaine. She discusses the abandonment of the state to its people, their violent measure in controlling them, as well as their negative definition of the “cocaleros” in public as the main factors why campesinos are margin...

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...ating them like a regular citizen, they see the cocaleros as mere “puppets” of the guerillas and drug traffickers and that they only live to serve them. Unless the central government starts to listen to the cocaleros’ and treat them with respect, the issue between these two agencies will never be solved.

Works Cited

Ramirez, Maria Clemencia. (2011). Between The Guerillas And The State: The Cocalero Movement, Citizenship and Identity in the Colombian Amazon. Durham, NC : Duke University Press.

Prospect, Neil. (2012). Gun Control: It’s About Time We Discussed It [Image]. Retrieved March 18, 2014. From http://www.heavy.com/news/2012/08/gun-control-its-about-damn-time-we-discussed-it/

McDermott, Jeremy. (2004). New Super strain Coca Plant Stuns Anti-Drug Officials [Image]. Retrieved March 18, 2013. From http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2004/RoundupReady-Coca27aug04.htm

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