Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine

Level 1
1

Elementary

Key words

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.
assassination
cartel

controversial
logging

slum
trafficker

brutal

seize

appointment

remote

corruption

1. A ____________________ is a group of people who all agree to sell something at the same price so that they
can all make a profit without competing against each other. (title)
2. A drugs ____________________ is someone who buys and sells drugs illegally. (para 1)
3. A ____________________ is a very poor area of a city where the houses are in a very bad condition. (para 1)
4. If a place is described as ____________________, it is extremely violent. (para 1)
5. Something or someone that is ____________________ causes a lot of disagreement or disapproval. (para 1)
6. A ____________________ place is one that is far away from other cities, towns or people. (para 2)
7. ____________________ is dishonest or illegal behaviour by officials or people in positions of power, especially
when they accept money in exchange for doing things for someone. (para 2)
8. ____________________ is the murder of a famous or important person, especially for political reasons. (para
2)
9. ____________________ is the practice of cutting down trees for wood. (para 3)
10. An ____________________ is a situation in which someone is given a new job, especially an important one.
(para 4)
11. 11. If you ____________________ something, you take it using official power and force. (para 5)

Find the information

Look in the text and find this information as quickly as possible.

1. How old is Jessica Anne Jordan Burton?
2. What is Beni?
3. Where was Jordan born?
4. How many people have died in Mexicos war on drugs in the last four years?
5. How much cocaine was produced in Peru last year?

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NEWS LESSONS / Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine / Elementary

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6. How much land in Bolivia is being used for illegal coca production?

Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine

Elementary
5

The situation in Bolivia is also bad. UN and

US officials estimate that 30,000 hectares is
now being used for illegal coca. Authorities
have seized more than 18 tonnes of cocaine
this year but think that it is just a small part of
what is being shipped to Brazil and Europe.
Cocaine is now Bolivias third main source of
income after gas and mining. There are a lot
of very experienced foreign drug traffickers and
producers here now, said Bolivias anti-drugs
chief, Felipe Cceres. The Colombians have
brought their methods so producers can produce
much more cocaine from less coca. They have
much more developed methods.

Cceres said that local gangs had joined forces

with Mexican and Brazilian gangs. But we are
not going to let Bolivia become like Colombia
or Mexico. A priest who knows President
Morales, was recently arrested together with two
Colombians with 240kg of liquid cocaine. This
was embarrassing for the president who used
to be a coca farmer himself. Morales forced
US drug agents to leave Bolivia two years ago
because he said he could control the problem by
allowing farmers to grow cocaine for medicinal
and cultural uses. However, he recently agreed
that this experiment was not working well.

Critics say Jordan has no experience, but Miguel

Angel Ruiz, a congressman for Beni, said
her appointment was part of a wider strategy.
The borders in Beni were forgotten. Now Evo
Morales has created an agency at national and
regional levels to try to stop drug trafficking
completely. And Jessicas role at a regional level
is very important in this, he said.

Jordan said she always had a social conscience

and had planned to use modelling to get into
politics. Her current job was created after she
lost an election for governor. People were
saying, Jessica has no experience, and I was
saying Where is the experience of the people
who have been running Beni for so long that we
dont have basic services? People in politics
here are only interested in themselves. I am
now working for my region and for my country,
she said. Her looks, she said, were no longer
important. The physical thing doesnt really
matter. I have already proved I can do the job.

2 No-one knows whether she is winning this

battle, but it is clear that she is a very brave
woman. She was formerly Miss Bolivia and had
not held public office before. However, now
President Morales has appointed her as his
representative in Beni, a remote and dangerous
province. Drugs are a problem. Trafficking is a
problem. Corruption is a problem. Poverty is a
problem. So I think I have a job to do, Jordan
said recently, after a few weeks in the job. I am
taking this job very seriously and I love it. I feel
I am in my place. She accepts that she could
be a target for assassination because of her job.
My life is always at risk. Theres only one life
and I think we have to do the best we can.
3 Jordan was born in England, to a British
engineer and Bolivian mother. She moved to
Bolivia as a young girl after her parents divorced.
She said she would try to stop illegal logging
and gold mining as well as drug trafficking. Id
like to change the image of Beni as a dangerous
trafficking area. It is time for this region to grow
as we always dreamed.
4 Bolivians were very surprised when Jordan
was given the job but her appointment has
highlighted the countrys problems as it tries to
control the drug traffickers. But Bolivia is not the
only Latin American country with drug trafficking
problems. In Mexico, 28,000 people have died in
the last four years in the countrys war on drugs,
and some people have suggested legalizing
marijuana to stop so many people being killed.
Despite the US supporting its military campaign,
Colombia is still the worlds biggest producer
of cocaine. In Peru, production of coca leaves,
cocaines raw ingredient, increased to 119,000
tonnes in 2009.

Guardian News & Media 2010

First published in The Observer, 15/08/10

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2010

NEWS LESSONS / Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine / Elementary

1 The drug war in Latin America has always been

an ugly war, where soldiers fight drug traffickers
in jungles and slums. Jessica Anne Jordan
Burton does not seem to belong in this brutal
world. The 26-year-old model and beauty queen
is now a controversial figure in Bolivias difficult
campaign against its drug cartels.

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Andrs Schipani in Bolivia, and Rory Carroll

15 August, 2010

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Jessica Anne Jordan Burton: beauty

queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias
war on cocaine

CA

Level 1

Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine

Level 1

Elementary

3 Comprehension check
Match the beginnings and endings to make sentences about the text.
1. Jordans appointment is unusual because

a. was a model and beauty queen.

2. The Bolivian government is trying to

b. the third main source of income for Bolivia.

3. After gas and mining, cocaine is

c. are using more developed methods of

growing coca.

4. President Morales wants farmers

d. control drug-trafficking in the country.

5. Before she entered politics, Jordan

e. she has no experience of politics.

6. Drugs producers

f.

to grow coca for medicinal and cultural uses.

4 Chunks
Reorder the words to make phrases from the text.
1. the in years four last
2. in job after few a the weeks
3. than cocaine 18 more of tonnes
4. income third of source main
5. more methods much developed
6. a strategy of part wider

5 Two-word expressions
Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make phrases from the text.
1. drug

a. services

2. military

b. mining

3. gold

c. conscience

4. social

d. trafficking

5. basic

e. queen

6. beauty

f.

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NEWS LESSONS / Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine / Elementary

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campaign

Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine

Level 1

Elementary

6 Word-building
Complete the table with words from the text.

1.

appoint

2.

assassinate

3.

traffic

4.

culture

5.

medicine

6.

region

verb

noun

noun

adjective

7 Discussion

NEWS LESSONS / Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine / Elementary

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2010

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Should drugs be legalized? Why? Why not?

Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine

Level 1

Elementary

KEY
1 Key words

4 Chunks

1. cartel
2. trafficker
3. slum
4. brutal
5. controversial
6. remote
7. corruption
8. assassination
9. logging
10. appointment
11. seize

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

26
a province of Bolivia
England
28,000
119,000 tonnes
30,000 hectares

3 Comprehension check
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

e
d
b
f
a
c

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

d
f
b
c
a
e

6 Word-building
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

appointment
assassination
trafficking
cultural
medicinal
regional

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NEWS LESSONS / Beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivias war on cocaine / Elementary

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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

5 Two-word expressions

2 Find the information

in the last four years

after a few weeks in the job
more than 18 tonnes of cocaine
third main source of income
much more developed methods
part of a wider strategy