This week we watched the movie Plan Colombia, a movie created in 2004 that discusses the drug problem that exists in Colombia. The movie we watched was a newer version, and although it did an adequate job of explaining Military, ParaMilitary and Guerilla warforces, we found the information was provided in a somewhat choppy manner.
In a nutshell, Colombia serves as the number one producer of the drug cocaine (and as the #1 kidnapping country in the world). This crop is easy to produce and transport, and drug traffickers will pay a great deal of money for the product. As a result, many families produce the product just to stay afloat. This presents a difficult question that many in the world must face: As a parent, do you choose the immoral path that allows you to feed your family, or do you choose the moral path that leaves your family with no support?
Currently, the United States runs an incentive program to persuade farmers to discontinue producing drugs. This incentive program pays each family $950.00 a year for living. Unfortunately, essentially no family can support themselves on this amount of money, and therefore, in other words, no incentive exists.
A great analogy was presented. A professor from MIT, quoted in the movie, said: “If China were to come into North Carolina and start spraying pesticide, it wouldn’t be tolerated. But the US seems to think it has every right to fly its own planes through Colombian land, grasping control wherever it can.”
Many of the drugs travel to the United States for use, thereby giving US the “responsibility” to provide assistance, but it is not exactly what we are accomplishing. In addition, the drug trade feeds money into US banks and government (which makes me wonder, does the US government really want it to stop?). Although I am no expert, at a time like this, when US economy is struggling, it seems inevitable that the current drug problem will increase.
The movie discusses ways to fix the drug problems and other complications that currently exist as a result. One option, which the United States is currently practicing, involves spraying entire fields and natural lands in Central America with insecticide. The goal is to kill the drug plants. In reality, it doesn’t even touch the drug problem. Instead, it kills legal and viable crops that families require. The chemicals also cause harm to people and widespread environmental damage. Another option to help solve the problem would be to initiate drug rehabilitation programs in the United States and Latin America. But, this solution leaves an unknown end without instant gratification.
On a side discussion, we noted that when the United States is in economic trouble, social organizations are the first to lose income. Money is put towards military forces because this is the easiest way to gain more money. Unfortunately, this seems to just perpetuate the problem. It is possible that the drug problem in Latin America will increase as the United States deals with its current economic difficulties.
I also learned an interesting fact about American prison spots. The United States will use the current 5th grade reading level to predict how many jail cells will be needed in 10 years.
No country or group of people or idea is perfect. When looking at problems from a far, it often seems easy to figure out an answer (and sometimes not so easy). I hope that some day equilibrium will be reached in which safety increases, the dangerous illegal drug trade decreases, and innocent people and landscapes evade further harm.
Wednesday, August 17th, we had a conference with Jorge Mario, a man that has studied mines in Latin America for many years. We discussed the exploitation of natural resources of Latin America, namely gold and silver.
Mining has been occurring for 40+ years in Guatemala and other Latin American countries. In 1997, a law was created, and in 2001 it went into effect. This law essentially makes private company mining legal… in fact the Guatemalan government “invited” countries to come in and exploit resources. Each region was able to negotiate their own deals, and most chose to have private companies enter. The one exception was Sincapa, but the government found a way to change the minds of those in the community.
Jorge provided us with the names of the 5 largest and most influential international private mining companies in Latin America. They are from Canada and the United States:
Canada:
1) INCO, Ltd., Exmibal
2) Jaguar Niquel, Minera Mayamerica
3) Radius Exploration, Exploracionces Mineras de Guatemala, EXMINGUA
United States:
1) Glamis Gold, Entremares, Explorada Montana
2) ITH Chemicals, Minera Quetzal, Quimicos y Geominas
The Glamis Gold company from the United States is most active in Guatemala, especially in San Marcos. The current “rule” is that 1% of profits go to Guatemala, and 99% go to the private companies. Incredible (somehow, before the law was changed in 1997, 7% went to Guatemala)! In 3 years, 4 billion Quetzals have gone to private US companies and 44 million Quetzals have gone to Guatemala.
Another shocking fact is that private companies make “time negotiations.” In other words, an agreement is made in which allows a private company to mine for 25 years. In those 25 years, the company essentially takes all it can get. In addition, if it finds some new mineral or natural resource, it is not required to report it to the Guatemalan government, and can therefore “steal” it from Guatemala.
Jorge explained three major conflicts/problems:
1) The Guatemalan economy is not strong enough to put up a fight
2) Democratic decision and community consultants chose this path
3) Environment
a. Cyanide is used to separate the gold from the rock. Six tons of cyanide are used each day, and the leftover cyanide flows with the leftover rock into the natural landscape. This affects clean water sources and natural land and causes harm to innocent people.
b. In the process of mining, land is first completely cleared out. Then, holes are blown in the ground to loosen the rock and allow digging and mining to occur. The chemical that is mixed with dynamite to cause the explosion (Jorge couldn’t remember the name) also causes horrible destruction to the environment, crops, animals and people.
c. 250,000 liters of water are used per hour in mining. To put that into perspective, this same amount of water could support a family for 22 years.
Jorge explained that in Guatemala, there are two distinctive sides as to what should be done about this major exploitation. One side feels that negotiations should be made to provide more % to Guatemalan income. The other side wants to completely stop mining and the harm that it is causing to the environment. We asked Jorge what his opinion was, but he wouldn’t provide it because he said he was here to teach and not give opinions. I would like to “side” with the idea that all mining should be stopped in order to decrease environmental harm, but I also know that a lot of money and politics are involved with the trade and that would be easier said than done. I do wish that a healthier way to mine could be developed… a method that doesn’t use harmful chemicals that not only pollute the specific area but spread harmful effects across all of Latin America!
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