Product Description

"Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom" opens a window on a rarely glimpsed world: the couriers who transport drugs from Colombia into the United States and Europe. Written by one of Colombia's leading writers, the book lets English-speaking readers get a good look - for the first time - at the people behind the drug trade. Colombians from many different backgrounds and parts of the country tell the story of how they got involved in smuggling and how some of them managed to get out alive. This book is about the predicament in which ordinary Colombians find themselves, forced to find a way out of poverty in the middle of an unending civil war.Based on Alfred Molano's visits to Spanish and Latin American jails, "Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom" combines the gut-wrenching honesty of testimonial literature with the passionate storytelling we have come to expect from Latin America. In his native Colombia Molano has been compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and indeed the many layered narratives in this book resemble harrowing fictions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2407199 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review

"Molano's narratives are powerful arguments for a policy that addresses the poverty -- and aspirations -- of Colombia's citizens." -- Paul LaFarge, "Village Voice Literary Supplement"

Customer Reviews

Self-portraits of bad decisions
"Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom; Tales of Drugs, Mules, and Gunmen," by Alfredo Molano is a collection of seven self-portraits of bad decisions. The introduction and translation by James Graham is outstanding. Graham displays a towering knowledge of Colombia and successfully argues that Plan Colombia will never succeed. His logic is simple, "no military campaign will ever extinguish the narcotics trade, because it would first be necessary to eliminate the disenfranchised members of society, individual by individual."

The testimonial literature in this short (158 page) book reports how Colombians want a better life and roll the dice on getting caught trafficking. Unfortunately, the author employs weak transitions which leads to a choppy read and much confusion. The first (the mule driver) and last (puppet) chapters are good. However, much of what is inbetween contains nuggets of interesting information but it is wrapped in a maze of confusing language. The back of the book informs us that Alfredo Molano is a highly regarded sociologist and journalist who (in his native Colombia) is compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. That may be true...but he will hardly be confused with the legendary Gabo by critical readers abroad.

Bert Ruiz