The Devil's Kitchen
VRAEM – The five letters are a household name in Peru. They refer to the delta of the rivers Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro.
But actually they are a curse. The remote region on the eastern slopes of the Andes was once the stronghold of the Maoist guerrilla organization Shining Path. The state was absent, the population had to help itself. They did: They founded self-defence groups, financed by the drug mafia and tolerated by the military. Thus a state was created within the state that has survived until today. The area is still the heart of Peru's coca production. Our authors have visited it. Follow in their tracks and interview drug smugglers and their fighters, learn more about the business of politicians and visit coca farmers at work.
The report was nominated by the German Kurt Schork Award for courageous, independent foreign reporting: http://news.trust.org//item/20150703114211-e2hwy
Sandra Weiss and Charlotte Eichhorn have been living and researching in Latin America for many years. In their reportages, they allow themselves to be immersed in completely different worlds. They get into the thick of it - and accompany their protagonists, sometimes for decades. This results in long-term, multidimensional observations.
Their reportages bear witness to the modernisation and globalisation of South America from the perspective of the people affected. The stories describe the resulting upheavals and problems as well as successful resistance and original alternatives. They are therefore an impressive and thought-provoking appeal to our Western civilisation
