Cocaine war

After years of declining popularity, cocaine is once again the drug of choice. But what's the real cost of "Colombia's finest"? Every gram of cocaine produced has been watered with the blood of forty years of civil war. It's a war that kills hundreds of thousands every year, displaces countless more and causes untold misery. Offering exceptional access to the major players, this is a fresh and moving look at one of the world's forgotten conflicts.

"The first time I killed a man it was very hard," confesses 23 year old Diana. At first sight, there's nothing intimidating about this petite young woman. But she is one of the right wing paramilitaries' feared executioners. Even friends or family can end up on her "hit list." She's already killed one childhood friend. Powerful access to the paramilitaries brings rare insight to a usually hidden aspect of this ugly war,The door of the morgue in Saravena is always open. People drop in on their way to work to check if the latest murder victim was one of their relatives or friends.
Colombia is a country under siege. Every year, thousands and thousands of people die in one of South America's bloodiest civil war. FARC guerrillas kill paramilitaries and public officials, drug cartels and government forces attack guerrillas. And everyone targets civilians.
Colombia is one of the world's most dangerous places. For the last forty years, guerrilla forces like FARC have battled to overthrow their government. They claim to be struggling for social justice and workers' rights. But over time, their emphasis has shifted towards drugs smuggling and other criminal acts. "These people are trafficking millions of dollars. They are not guerrillas any more but bandits, kidnappers and drugs dealers. The guerrilla ideology has vanished," states Gido Santez, police chief at Saravena.
At the centre of Colombia's civil war is the drugs trade. Over 80% of the world's cocaine originates from Colombia. It's a trade worth billions every year. But whereas previously, guerrillas used to only tax the growers and leave the trade in the hands of the cartels, recently they've moved into production. It's a move which has generated a war within a war.In retaliation, the cartels established paramilitary groups to kill the guerrillas and reclaim control of the trade. The government allied with the paramilitaries to destroy their shared enemies. "They use the paramilitaries for the dirty jobs - murdering, slaughtering, all those things that the government can't do," explains human rights activist Hernando Mupoz. But the money from the drugs trade has enabled guerrillas to stockpile lethal weapons, taking the war to a new level.
And caught in the middle are peasants and coca growers like Vicente. He is left in an impossible position. "If you sell to the guerrillas, the paramilitaries kill you. But if you sell to the paramilitaries, the guerrillas also kill you," he explains. Many of his friends have already been killed or forced off their land. He knows the paramilitaries or guerrillas could come for him at any time.As Vicente's story shows, it's a never ending cycle of despair. Poverty fuels the civil war, encouraging people to join the guerrillas or paramilitaries to survive. But with war ongoing, there's no prospect of the country's situation improving.