Latin America
Related: About this forumA dangerous red flower is driving record numbers of migrants to flee Guatemala
SAN ANTONIO, Guatemala Surrounded by green fields of potatoes, oats and corn on his small farm, Carlos Lopez recalled the decent money he was earning before last year, cultivating a different crop he referred to simply as the plant."
The plants, ones with the bright red flowers, are worth a lot more than these other crops, Lopez said, wearing a blue baseball hat, sitting on a plastic chair behind his two-room, mud-splattered house.
Amapola, said Lopez, speaking the Spanish word for poppy.
For years, Mexican drug cartels persuaded poor indigenous farmers in the western highlands of Guatemala to replace their crops with poppies. The plants produce a milky fluid used to make heroin, although farmers were often told the plant was used to produce medicine.
The Guatemalan government, under pressure from the United States, then came in and eradicated the poppy fields. With no other high-value crop to replace the poppies, and no program available to help replace farmers' income, the crackdown shoved indigenous farmers such as Lopez and his family back into poverty.
Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/09/23/immigration-issues-migrants-mexico-central-america-caravans-smuggling/2026039001/
Judi Lynn
(160,452 posts)when she was growing up, I think.
So strange:
Lyrics:
A boy found a dream upon a distant shore
A maid with a way of whisp'ring "si senor."
Each night while guitars would softly play,
The tune seemed to dance 'round the words that he'd say:
Amapola, my pretty little poppy
You're like that lovely flow'r so sweet and heavenly,
Since I found you, my heart is wrapped around you
And loving you, it seems to beat a Rhapsody.
Amapola, the pretty little poppy
Must copy it's endearing charm from you.
Amapola, Amapola, how I long to hear you say "I love you."
The boy left his love upon a distant shore
And sailed from the one his arms were longing for.
He vowed he'd return one sunny day,
Once more to repeat what his heart had to say
https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/10329323/Helen+O'Connell/Amapola+(Pretty+Little+Poppy)
Who knew?
TexasTowelie
(111,974 posts)I guess that song will have new context for you any type you think about it in the future.
Judi Lynn
(160,452 posts)BumRushDaShow
(128,527 posts)notably the original book "The Wizard of Oz" (and prominently featured in the 1939 film too) -
Smithsonian - The power of the poppy: Exploring opium through "The Wizard of Oz"
Judi Lynn
(160,452 posts)blm
(113,019 posts)And I thoughtI Id come across just about every song out there. My dad loved Helen OConnell.
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)I can't tell you where I first found it, but it was on my IPod for years.
secondwind
(16,903 posts)This brought back sweet memories. Im almost 73. I used to love hearing this song!!
markbark
(1,557 posts)I must confess my first thought was "Triffids!"