The Peru Chronicles - Living in Interesting Times

La Coca

Since I arrived in Lima I've been drinking Mate de Coca. It is sold in virtually every store in tea bags. People drink it to alieviate the effects of alititude. When I arrived I was only modestly effected by the altitude; it took about a day to adjust. However, when I got sick I stopped drinking it, and I think that contributed to my overall sense of weakness. I've felt as if the air is always stuffy; as if I am always short of breath. So, Mama Maria gave me some Coca leaves to chew and make tea with.

Everyone I've talked to says the same thing about Coca. "It's a great thing!" There is a presidential candidate here, for example, who wants to enhance the production of Coca for non-elicit purposes. (Of course we can be sure that the US won't tollerate that in any way - and probably rightly so. In the Sierra (high mountain plaines) people who do physical work chew it regularlly for energy. They can work hard all day without needing to eat; it improves their productivity. (I began chewing when I started this article, about fifteen minutes ago. I'm feeling a lot better now.)

Sendero Luminoso (aka: Shining Path)

In te 80's and 90's the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso was very active in Peru. They murered or kidnapped at least 70,000. Then Alberto Fujimori came to power and took extremely drastic action to stop them - and to a large extent succeeded. However, Sendero has become active again, especially in the Selva (gungle). Nowadays, however, the press doesn't call them torrorists, they call them "narcoterrorists" because they are deeply involved in drug trafficing. Since Coca is produced in the Selva, that's where they base their activities. Just since I've been here there have been several reports on the news and in the papers about ambushes against police - at least 9 have been killed and 5 more injurred.

Sendero Luminoso leaves it's mark like an American street gang: a red hammer and siccle (the symbol of the Soviet Union). They have ties to Hugo Chavez of Venzuela, Castro of Cuba, the newly elected president of Bolivia is also of the same cloth, as is, apparently, the leader of Chile. On the back of a few taxis here and in Lima, I've seen stickers glorifying Che Guevera. On his barret is a red star.

// posted by Jason y Paty @ 2:42 PM