Invincible

The other day I went to a bar with a few of the other volunteers and, while there, we met some people who live here in Ayacucho. One of the guys, Román, sat down next to me and began talking about different things about Ayacucho. He talked a little bit about Sendero Luminoso or "the Shining Path" which was a terrorist organization that ran rampant in Ayacucho during the 80´s and early 90´s. His discussion then transferred to the more pertinent problem in Ayacucho which is drugs, only for him, he didn´t view it as a problem but was rather why he loved Ayacucho so much.

Coca leaves, which are the main ingredient needed for cocaine, are not illegal in Peru and I am told that if you fly over Ayacucho in a helicopter you will see fields and fields of coca plants. The leaf is often used to make a tea or to simply chew on which is good for energy and to counteract altitude sickness since Ayacucho is over 9,000 ft above sea level.

The downside, however, is that it makes the production of cocaine that much easier and Ayacucho has become one of the worst cities in Peru for production and sale of cocaine. Many people think of the country of Colombia when it comes to cocaine but I recently read an article where production of cocaine has greatly decreased in Colombia but is slowly increasing in Peru. According to the article, in the not too far future Peru will surpass Columbia in cocaine production and sale.

Now getting back to "my friend" in the bar. His name is Román Trisolini and he said his grandfather fled Italy in order to avoid the police and so he came to Peru and eventually found himself in Ayacucho. He then acquired much land including the land where the orphanage sits and began drug production as well as partaking in other illegal activity. One thing lead to another and now Román tells me that he is basically invincible and when he walks into a place all he needs to do is simply say his name and people will let him in with no problem and, if he asks, give him food and drink for free. He also says that if there is anyone that seems to be a threat to him he can "have them taken care of". The Trisolini family has built an empire here in Ayacucho and so they thrive off the weak and poor. They use them to harvest and make there drugs and then they turn around and sell it to them feeding there addiction and taking away from the little income they have to start with.

Now whether all of what he told me about himself is true or not, I don´t know. But what I do know if that the things he talked about are happening here in Ayacucho and in Peru whether it´s actually his family or not.

I´ve been thinking about all of this and I realized that as horrible as it is, a similar thing is happening in the US LEGALLY!!!! There are countless companies that build big empires based on addictive substances and then they use cheap labor to harvest it and produce it. There are also big banks who thrive on those who don´t have much money yet they take what little money they have and then become so large that they are seemingly invincible or "too big to fail". This is before even going in to detail about the countless companies who choose to outsource and pay wages as low as $0.10 an hour and then pay their US employees minimum wage, which by the way is still a long way from a living wage. Meanwhile, we continue to feed their greed without even knowing it.

So what can we do? For starters, we have to educate ourselves.We have to find what companies are unethical and stop buying from them. We then find companies who are ethical and give our business to them instead. And what about the problems of no paying minimum wages? Ask your representatives in the government what they´re doing to fix it and when it comes time to vote, vote for the people who will fight for the oppressed. I used to think that government and religion shouldn´t mix but when it comes to problems such as minimum wage there is no better outlet to fix it than to get involved with the government.

This has been a long post and I could continue on but I´ve probably already said enough for now. I just ask and pray that you continue to educate yourself on the matters, as I have been. And I would be more than happy to talk more about problems in Ayacucho and Peru as well as things I have noticed in the US. You can simply post a comment here, facebook me, or email me at brandonclazarus@gmail.com.


Peace,

Brandon