Beyond Bogota: Diary of a Drug War Journalist in Colombia

by Garry Leech

Independent journalist Garry Leech has spent the last eight years working in the most remote and dangerous regions of Colombia. Unlike other Western reporters, most of whom rarely leave Bogotá, Leech learns the truth about conflicts and the U.S. war on drugs directly from the farmers, male and female guerrillas, union organizers, indigenous communities, and many others.

Beyond Bogotá is framed around the eleven hours that Leech was held captive by the FARC, Colombia's largest leftist guerrilla group, in August 2006. Drawing on unprecedented access to soldiers, guerrillas, paramilitaries, and peasants in conflict zones and cocaine-producing areas, Leech's documentary memoir is an epic tale of a journalist's search for meaning in the midst of violence and poverty. This compelling account provides fresh insights into U.S. foreign policy, the role of the media, and the plight of everyday Colombians caught in the middle of a brutal war.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel, Journalism, Political Science, Memoir, The Americas

280 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2008

About the author

Garry Leech is an independent journalist and author whose work is rooted in the global struggle for social justice. He also teaches international politics at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Reviews

[Dlmrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[Ian Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garry Leech has gone beyond the traditional security of Bogota, Colombia to search for the truth regarding the impact of spraying coca crops on poor farmers. He uncovers the horrific truths about the US policy: Plan Colombia. It is causing massive civilian displacement and is being used to fund Colombian military and paramilitary efforts to quash the rights of the people. This is a must read for anyone who cares about how the US is spending your taxpayer money to fund death squads.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through his tales from numerous journalistic forays into Colombia, Garry Leech provides a very good overview of Colombian political history over the past three decades or so (plus background from earlier decades). It's very readable & mostly narrative. We'll be recommending this book a lot to folks who want to understand what's going on in Colombia.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garry Leech is one of a relatively small number of US-based journalists who have bravely exposed the truth of US intervention in Latin America since the 1970s. His specialism is Colombia, and the book is partly reportage from visits to dangerous places well 'beyond' the capital of Bogota, usually remote villages where the army, paramilitary groups or guerilla armies like the FARC (or all of these) are actively operating.

To those familiar with the 'drug wars' that have affected Colombia more than any other country, except perhaps Mexico, the stories will be familiar although the depths to which Leech goes to get them may not. The book focuses around an incident in which he was held by the FARC for 11 hous in 2006. Of course, many of those kidnapped by the FARC and other groups had to endure months or even years without freedom (strangely, Leech only mentions some of these in passing). In fact, this was far from the only occasion on which Leech was detained while investigating the war against drugs and its effects on rural Colombia. As well as reporting, he gives us clear indications of where his sympathies lie.

To some extent the book is now history. A decade after Leech's story, the FARC successfully concluded peace negotiations with the Colombian government, and began to disband. This doesn't make the book less relevant, however: the drug wars continue and, no doubt, many rural Colombians are still suffering the consequences.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazon review on Sepetmber 13, 2014: War on Drugs..Drugs won.

Excellent view from the ground on the realities of the 'War on Drugs' in Colombia. Makes me utterly sick to think we were dropping poison on poor farmers to stop rich college kids and hollywood stars inthe U.S. from snorting powder up their noses. Throw some of the users in jail for 30 years and see how fast the 'war' ends. Which will never happen of course so why bother with the other end? The War is over, declare defeat and go home. People will do drugs, let them face the consequences themselves. I do think he goes out of his way to minimize and exculpate the actions of the FARC which is the main reason I dropped one star, which I doubt will bother Mr. Leech one bit. But for man to risk life itself to tell the story as he sees it from the actual ground is something to admire. Well done.

[Jamie Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opening but not surprising. Favourite chapters for me are 10 and 11. Highlighting the discrepancy between neoliberalisms lofty ideals and it's reality. I bought this for some background on the drug war and was surprised at the connection to the war on terror and it's one side implementation to fight the FARC.

[Sophia White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I head to read this book relativity fast for one of my 5-week summer college courses. Since this is a diary, it can be a little hard to follow as he discusses the many camps and prisons he has been to. Nevertheless, I found the book to be a great resource if you want to learn about the adversity and corruption that many Latin American counties have faced, as still face to this day.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good nonfiction read about a drug war journalist's experience.

[Jas · Rating 4 out of 5]

i didn't know much at all about the war on drugs or the history of us programs and their impact on colombia/latin america before reading this. leech gave very detailed accounts of his experiences during multiple visits to the country, the people he met with and what he learned from them, and the us's involement in displacing citizens and attacking coca farmers.

[Professor Weasel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. A lot of good detailed discussion about paramilitaries, their links with oil companies and the effects of coca spraying. I was most disturbed by the description of the Soldier For A Day program, in which soldiers in a rural town traumatized by war invite kids to come be "soliders for a day" and get their faces painted, camouflage style. The author comments that it is strange for the military to be providing trauma counseling for war-affected children, but also points out that from the military's perspective, often the way to the parents is through the children. Soldiers dress up as clowns and go door to door delivering candy and leaflets encouraging their parents to inform on any rebel sympathizers for exactly the same reason. God, Colombia, tierra de mi alma. You kill me.

I didn't think much of the book's structure--every chapter is named after an hour (The First Hour, Second, Third, all the way up to Eleventh), in reference to the amount of time the author spends waiting for an interview with a guerrilla commander in the opening scene. Or maybe he was waiting for permission to travel through rebel-occupied lands. I can't really remember and I'm too lazy to reach across the table to pick up the book and check. But anyway, I didn't get why the fact that he was still waiting had to be referenced in the opening of every chapter. I guess it provided a better structure for the book than if every chapter had been a stand-alone examination of an aspect of Colombian society. But then again, that's what it is anyway--so why enforce these artificial links? IDK, I bet if those constant references to the opening scene hadn't been there in every chapter, I would have complained about the book feeling disjointed. YOU JUST CAN'T PLEASE PEOPLE!!!

As a bonus: my my sister's boss gets a mention on page 181! Whee!

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

B Interesting book from the perspective of a U.S./English journalist who investigates the drug war in Colombia. I've never done coke but reading this really makes me not want to do it (Did you know they use gasoline in the process of making coke? Yuck.). Leech is kidnapped early on in the book, or rather, not permitted to leave, as he seeks to investigate the spraying of Colombian coca farms - which is seek bc despite wanting to destroy the coke trade, the farmers whose crops are destroyed are poor peasant farmers and it is the big drug cartels in Colombia and yes, the U.S. that are the ones making the money.

[Kathleen Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every paragraph is biased with left-leaning communist sympathizing language. Conclusions are drawn with no evidence. acertations are made based on personal opinions. Would recommend this book to demonstrate how liberal bias helps to persuade people Who don't know any better. 25 years living in traveling in Latin America I do know about propaganda and good in evil in governments and in community organizing. Gary should take a lesson in economics oh that's right , his economics is communism.

[Josiah Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detain and release. Detain and release. There is no safe road that's not covered in war between multiple parties of interest. It always seems to be the wrong people that fall victim to the struggle of just trying to live and maintain life.

[NEWMARKJRESEARCH]

Please check display shelves and cabinets.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, but gets a little lost in the last few chapters

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a good and fair look into both sides of the conflict in Colombia. Definitely a solid read for anyone interested in the drug war/issues in Colombia.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and disheartening

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good journalism and a unique account.