Drug Trafficking Has Caused The Coffee Industry Essay

Drug cartels have arisen as a major crisis for the future in the Americas. Individuals indulge themselves on drugs for many reasons such as tradition, attempting to escape poverty, and generating revenue for rebellious activities. Drug trafficking has proven to be ludacris, with the increasing involvement of corrupt government officials in their distribution. The UN has stated the approximate estimation of profits of drug trade is roughly around $150 billion alone in the Americas, which accounts slightly less than 5% GDP. Currently the most common way of drug transport is land through Central American countries like Mexico, and it eventually crosses over the border to the United States.

Most of us are familiar with these global terms “American dream” and “drugs cartels”. These thoughts exemplify one the differences between United States of America and Colombia. Despite United States of America and Colombia are located in the same hemisphere significant differences in food, natural resources and tourist attractions make each country quite distinct from the other.

The growth of the coffee industry is expected to keep growing even become larger in the near future. Without new innovation the industry would never grow. There have been some tiny and some large changes in the coffee world that in toll add up to a new experience that many cannot refuse to be a part of. One of the goals of many coffee shops is to make the customer comfortable and happy. To do this many Starbucks’ around the world have installed new wireless charging stations in there stores so that when costumers are there they can easily charge their phones without worrying about bringing a charger of their own. This new addition to the stores is just one part of getting ready for the future. Phones and technology in general is a huge part of everyday life and this has to be incorporated into many places people shop. By adding technology to stores it makes the entire buying process more streamline. Starbucks has also integrated the use of phones in to the payment system at every store. Customers use their own phone that has a barcode to pay for their goods. With just the touch of a button the entire buying process can be completed. This makes it easy because you do not need to worry about remembering your wallet all you need is your phone and many people already have it with them. Included in the app is also a rewards system that provides user with rewards bases on how often they go and even recommendations for what a customer may enjoy next time. One of the newest changes

IILAND AND RESOURCES The distinguishing topographical feature of Colombia is the Andes mountain chain, situated in the central and western parts of the country, and extending north-south across almost its entire length. The Andes comprise three principal and

As Charles Bergquist observes, "Crises in Colombia tend to generate cycles of violence instead of mutations in the political regime." The reason is simple: regime changes in Colombia tend to produce very little change in anything other than nominal rule. Since Colombia's independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Colombia has seen a series of civil wars and secessions (Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama the last coming rather conveniently at a time when the U.S. was prepared to pay millions for a canal through its nation preparation that later resulted in a multi-million dollar redress to Columbia). Colombia's political history, therefore, has been colored by outside influences pulling on the two dominant liberal and conservative parties, with violent exchanges, and long periods of instability being the consequences. While regime changes have occurred, they have not produced significant improvements. Rather, Colombia in the 20th century has become a nesting ground for paramilitary forces and drug traffickers, with U.S. Central Intelligence operatives contributing heavily to the violent conflict that has risen between regimes. This paper will examine the regime types that preceded the Rojas Pinilla regime in mid-20th century Colombia, analyze their similarities and differences, and discuss the extent to which Rojas Pinilla reached his goals and objectives.

The alternative crop programs the US proposed to replace coca failed for various reasons. The unstable political situation made the area too dangerous to bring in “agronomists, engineers, and project specialists” to survey the land (Kirk 265). Even if farmers had been successful in growing alternative crops, the Colombian market for legal crops such as corn, yucca, coffee and chocolate was already “battered by global shifts in price.”(Kirk 264) Legal crops had to be transported on poor roads and farmers had to wait months to be paid for their goods. These were no competition for coca which was paid for immediately, often times with American cash, and transported without any charge to the farmers (Kirk 243).

Colombia gained its independence in the late 1800s from Spanish forces due to the efforts of Simon Bolivar (Gascoigne, 2001, ongoing). After going through a series of name changes, the Republic of Colombia was deemed the official name of the country and has remains to this day. Colombia’s history of violence has plagued the country since La Violencia in the 1950s, during which time the conservative and liberal parties fought over dominance of the South American nation (Gascoigne, 2001, ongoing). The war lasted for ten years and was only stopped by the implementation of the National Front. The National Front, a plan created by the government of Colombia, was a deal made between the conservatives and the liberals that would ensure that every four years a member of the opposite party would be elected to rule the country (Mother Earth Travel, 2013). The deal was meant to last sixteen years. The National Front, however, had dire consequences for the

From the Cold War to more recent struggles with domestic guerilla groups and drug cartels, Colombia has not had a time of peace since they became independent nearly 200 years ago. None of these conflicts have resolved peacefully. They were usually caused by difference in culture or beliefs. Corruption within their own government has left Colombia without legitimate authority; the citizens have nobody to trust, be helped by, or be defended by. Colombia has the potential to institute a stable and effective government, but it has some major complications holding it back. Colombia has been in constant war and armed conflict, domestic and foreign, since the early 19th century; to make matters worse, corruption within their own government has left Colombia unstable.

Nowadays, when someone thinks of Colombia, they unfortunately almost always think of two things, coffee and cocaine (with its associated guerilla warfare). It is true that during the last 50 years these two products, one legal, and the other not, have been great monetary contributors to the Colombian economy. Coffee is Colombia’s principal agricultural product, and it is also the country’s second largest export. The production of coffee uses 300,000 farms and employs almost one million people (Steiner 6). Conversely, cocaine is a completely illegal product, but it earns almost twice as much money as coffee (Steiner 6). Also, in contrast with the production of coffee, cocaine uses fewer employees but earns

Colombia has been struggling with internal conflict for most of its 204 year history. Since the late 1800s the main reason for conflict would be divisions between bipartisan political forces. Bloody civil wars dot the history of Colombia but perhaps the most significant period in Colombian violence would be the clash between the Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party in the 1940s. This would culminate into one of the bloodiest civil wars in the country’s history, which would simply be called “La Violencia” (The Violence).

Films often depict the trade and use of drugs in Latin America as an extremely violent situation. Countries like Columbia or Mexico are usually where the drugs come from while the United States are the destination. More times than not, Latin America plays the role of an antagonist while the United States plays the protagonist. A film about Latin America, when pertaining to the United States, can fall into one of three categories: fully Latin American, a joint effort between Latin American countries and the United States, or a film by the United States. Gerado Naranjo’s Miss Bala (2011), is a Mexican film that is set in Tijuana, Mexico, and follows a young Mexican pageant girl as she becomes mixed up in the Mexican drug cartels. Maria Full

Over the course of the last decade, there has been an exponential growth in illicit trafficking of drugs affects all aspects of life. Brazil is a direct victim of this trafficking as its homicide rate of 27.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. This figure is one of the worst in the world, most are largely linked to drug trafficking by organized crime groups. Brazil is conscious of crime groups that control the illegal drug trade are: Primeiro Comando da Capital, Comando Vermelho, and Amigos dos Amigos. Due to the geographic location of Brazil, it is a pinnacle transit zone for drugs to be smuggled into Europe and Africa. The predominant drug trafficking in Brazil is cocaine coming from Bolivia, Peru and Columbia who wish to reach the transit zone in Brazil. This has a direct correlation in trends in drug use, trafficking and illicit markets in the country.

"Colombian Civil War." World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO, 2017, worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/521935. Accessed 14 Sept. 2017.

Beginning in the 19th century in the areas surrounding the city, Sao Paulo became a city due to the coffee. Unfortunately, like the sugar and gold, coffee production experienced a crash. It takes four years to plant a coffee tree and then allow it to grow and harvest the coffee beans, so when farmers had their next harvest, they were using the prices from four years ago, which was not helpful to the economy, or the farmers’ profits. (Watkins 1).

The data for the study was obtained from a survey of 119 coffee producers in the state of Oaxaca. The survey related to activities undertaken during the 2013/2014 coffee growing season and was undertaken in August-September, 2014. Field interviews with producers were conducted on a one to one basis using a structured survey questionnaire. In the first stage of the sampling procedure, a municipality - San Agustin Loxicha - was selected (see Figure 1). The municipality itself is located in one of the main coffee growing regions of Oaxaca. Local representatives of the coffee sector in Oaxaca reviewed the questionnaire for clarity and to ensure that questions were relevant to the context of the sampled area. In the second stage, two villages within the municipality were randomly selected as field sites and a pre-test survey was conducted in a third village. Proportionate random sampling was carried out using a database of coffee producers in each village. During field visits, semi structured interviews were also conducted with five producers in order to obtain supplementary information on local issues related to coffee production.