First they grew coffee. When prices for the bean collapsed, many turned to growing illegal drug crops.
And now, hundreds of rural Colombians, hoping for a better living, are trying their hand at making racy lingerie for a French retail chain under a new UN-backed program.
The wispy G-strings, revealing bras and lacy garter-belts went on sale Saturday at Carrefour's 11 outlets around Colombia. The undergarments will be sold at its overseas stores in coming months.
"We are opening up a universe of new possibilities for Colombia's rural communities," said Gabriel Silva, head of the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers, which along with the French Embassy, the UN drug office and Carrefour is promoting the alternative development project.
The project was conceived when farmers in the coffee-growing region began cultivating illicit drug crops, which swelled the ranks of Colombia's leftist rebel and right-wing paramilitary groups that control the trade.
Colombia produces 70 percent of the world's cocaine and most of the heroine sold in the US.
Alarmed by a sharp rise in poverty and crime in Colombia's coffee-rich Valle del Cauca region in the past few years, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime tried to find jobs and markets for the poor farmers.
"We searched for projects that we believed could reduce illicit activities," said Thierry Rostan, the UNODC representative in Colombia who led the effort. "What people needed were jobs and places to sell their products."
After touring Valle del Cauca, Rostan identified a local cooperative, Integrated Industries, that trained poor families in new skills. But with little access to markets, the cooperative was struggling to find enough work for its employees, and needed a major company like Carrefour to broaden its reach.
Carrefour's underwear label, Symphony, hooked up with the cooperative, which has 12 production centers scattered across the province. The centers have good access to roads, overcoming a problem that has bedeviled other development projects.
In the past, efforts to promote coca alternatives, notably fruits and vegetables, in remote areas of the country have often foundered due to a lack of infrastructure.
About 800 women, many of them heads of families, are making the lingerie. They take home about 800,000 Colombian pesos (about US$280) a month, about double the minimum wage and far more than what they could make growing coffee. They also enjoy health benefits and paid vacation.
Coca growers, in comparison, make about 200,000 Colombian pesos (about US$70), but they need to pay taxes to illegal armed groups.
This year alone, Carrefour has spent about 180 million pesos (about US$63,500) in the lingerie project. It is projected to spend another 300 million pesos (US$106,000) next year.
On Wednesday, top models paraded the products to disco beats and flashing lights along a catwalk in Bogota's French Lycee in front of business executives, politicians, lawmakers and French Ambassador Daniel Parfait.
"Violence and unemployment have brought misery to rural Colombia," Edilma Arango, of Integrated Industries, told the gathered dignitaries Wednesday. "You are bringing hope."
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
RSS