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Exchanging guns for coffee beans - 23rd May 2022
Former fighters in Colombia are now working in the coffee business, and they're growing high-quality beans. Their latest coffee blend, 'Tropics – Fruits of Hope', is produced by more than a thousand ex-fighters.
They once belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. They gave up their weapons five years ago, after a peace agreement with the Colombian government. Their new coffee celebrates the fifth anniversary of that peace agreement.
One ex-fighter, Antonio Pardo, has just attended the London Coffee Festival to market 'Fruits of Hope'. They have great hopes for the product. Another of their coffees, 'Spirit of Peace Ex Combatants', received an international award in 2019.
Mr Pardo himself joined the FARC forces as an 18 year old student in the Colombian city of Cali. He's happy to talk about his past life. He says he and most of his fellow fighters were relieved when the civil war came to an end. It had continued for approximately 50 years, and 260,000 lives were lost.
The Colombian government has designed programmes to help almost 13,000 FARC rebels re-enter society and find employment. The ex-fighters now have a range of jobs, which include the production of coffee, beer and clothes. The names of the products, like the anniversary coffee, often refer to the workers' military background.
The programmes for the soldiers have been successful because the process has also involved local communities. Now, after years of fighting in the jungle, the former rebels hope that peace will continue.
