“Maria Llena de Gracias Eres” “Maria Full of Grace (you are)”

Flowers and Roses: ~ 70% of all cut flowers sold in the U.S. come from Colombia. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s the U.S. government encouraged Colombia to grow and export flowers in an attempt to curtail the drug industry. The flower industry rapidly grew, providing jobs for many Colombian citizens.

Huge greenhouse factories were set up in and around Bogotá, and many continue to operate today. The factories provide jobs for nearly 800,000 people in and around Bogotá.

The working conditions in the factories are horrible: Workers earn about $12/day. They are exposed to toxic chemicals all day long (they dip the flowers/roses in pesticides and preservatives) They are given very few breaks. Women are treated especially poor.

Colombia and Drugs: Colombia exports around $10 billion dollars worth of drugs annually. This is considerably LESS than it was in the 1980’s, due to government crackdowns. Columbia and Mexico made a $4.6 billion dollar PROFIT from drug exports to the U.S. alone!

Colombia is the world’s leading cocaine producer. Cocaine is derived from the “coca” plant which is native to South America, and therefore is easily grown in Colombia.

~ 90% of cocaine in the U. S. comes from Colombia. Therefore, the U. S ~ 90% of cocaine in the U.S. comes from Colombia! Therefore, the U.S. is heavily involved in combating the problem. In the last 10 years the U.S. has spent about $6 billion dollars to help Colombia crackdown on drugs and fight the drug lords.

In the last 10 years the drug trafficking has moved from Colombia to Mexico and Honduras due to the “crackdown” on Colombia. However, the problem is still prevalent as this is where the cocaine still originates from. It is now merely controlled and moved through other countries.

“Mulas” In the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s = It was common for poor Colombians to accept jobs as “mulas” (human drug smugglers) in order to earn quick money = ($5,000 - $10,000 or more!) Current average Colombian salary = $692/year

The job of being a human mula is VERY dangerous: The drugs capsules can easily explode inside of your body during transportation. Your body fluids can eat through the capsules if they are in your body for more than 2-3 days. You can get caught … and go to jail for a long time! Drug traffickers would often pick young, innocent looking people to work as mulas. Especially young females.

This movie is based on true stories. Human mulas are still used today, but it is much less common due to the U.S. crackdown and enforcement. The problems have shifted from Colombia to Mexico and Honduras. The U.S. is to blame = Due to the high DEMAND, the business of drug trafficking continues.