January 31, 2025

As gold from the Dominican Republic significantly helped replenish the coffers of Spain in the 15th Century, the Spanish conquistadors now set their sights on the northern part of South America, now known as Colombia. This gold exploration, or rather, exploitation was one of the three contributing factors that shaped the history of Colombia.

Gold. The Spanish conquistadors were utterly amazed at the amount of gold in Colombia. The Muisca, Quimbaya and Tairona, the original inhabitants of Colombia saw gold as the physical embodiment of the sun. They didn’t save gold-they wore it! There was no woman who did not adorn herself with earrings, necklaces, crowns, lower lip ornaments or strings of beads, all made from gold. Also, the native chiefdoms ceremonially used gold to depict their divine ancestry as shown in the symbolism of flying into the cosmos as we saw in our visit to Santa Marta’s Museo del Oro. (The gold museum)

The Muisca people also believed that the many lakes in Colombia were portals to other lands. The most famous of their rituals was the ritual that took place at Lake Guatavita, near modern Bogotá. The newly elected leader, covered in powdered gold, dived into the lake and emerged as the new chief of the Muisca people who lived in the central highlands of present-day Colombia’s Eastern Range. More importantly to the Spanish conquistadors was the fact that the natives threw mass amounts of gold into the lake as part of the celebration. This fueled the myth of El Dorado–literally “the golden one”, a golden city which many explorers tried to find. All in all, over 20 tons of gold was brought back to Spain stolen from Colombia.

Cocaine. It is a sad circumstance that because of Colombia’s fertile ground that the coca plant flourishes, and its people have been exploited because of it. Long before Pablo Escobar, the coca plant was used in sacred rituals and as a stimulus to combat altitude sickness. Coca Cola, invented in 1885 by John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia, made the original formula in his backyard. Pemberton’s recipe contained cocaine in the form of an extract of the coca leaf, which inspired the “Coca” part of the beverage’s name. Until 1903, the world-famous soft drink contained a significant dose of cocaine.

During the years 1970-1993, Pablo Escobar, the Colombian Drug King, made the cultivation and distribution of cocaine more profitable than all the combined exports of Colombia. His cartel controlled 80% of drug traffic in the world and netted him billions of Colombian pesos yearly. He was ruthless. His moto was “plata o plomo” which translates to “silver or lead” take a bribe or die. He tormented the citizens of Colombia for over two decades. Pablo Escobar died in 1993.

As I shared in my blog of March 14, 2024, sometimes a country with a dark past can have a bright future: “The cultural dynamics of Shanghai are similar to Medellin, Colombia, a city I am very familiar with. For two decades “the king of cocaine” Pablo Escobar, terrorized the citizens of Medellin with hideous crimes with immunity. His net worth in 1991 was 30 billion dollars (77 billion dollars today) Yet, Medellin was recently named one of the most innovative cities in the world and does not remotely resemble Medellin of 30 years ago”.

Coffee. Unfortunately, when the drug cartels begin to break up those same opportunists set their sights on the coffee industry. For years, Colombian coffee growers worked in inhumane conditions, overworked and underpaid they were subject to an all-familiar type of exploitation. Four million Colombians rely on the coffee bean for income. The country has been taking measures to focus on growing profits from the industry and works to address the poverty issue at hand. The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation has been working to spread fair trade coffee in Colombia, transparent and fair prices and humane working conditions for farm workers.

Of course, everyone knows that the grandfather of Colombian coffee is Juan Valdez. I’ve heard some Colombians profess to have known him personally. Unlike Colonel Sanders, Juan was actually a fictional character created by the Colombian Coffee Foundation.

As a health care provider, I understand the science as to why some people may be drawn to gold, cocaine and coffee. When the conquistadors saw all that massive gold it triggered their hypothalamus which maintains the body’s homeostasis and this new experience gave them a new level of pleasure. Cocaine impacts the amygdala which creates a positive emotion evoked by stimuli. Coffee effects the frontal lobe, where Dopamine, a neurotransmitter that performs a role in reward and motivation, is profoundly active because most of the brain’s dopamine-sensitive neurons are found there. Coffee activates the frontal lobe.

There is another activity that impacts all three brain functions. When you encounter new experiences and learn new facts, are exposed to different types of stimuli and activities and you increase your socialization by meeting new people you keep your frontal lobe nice and busy.

What is this new wonder drug?

TRAVEL.

Thanks for traveling with us.

thirdmill update. Iglesia Cristiana Gracia Abundante is a church in Cartagena., Colombia. It is pastored by José Ricardo Escobar. He has been using the Thirdmill curriculum to train leaders not only in his church but also throughout the region.