Posted on 06/30/2006 12:29:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BOGOTA, Colombia - After a two-year search among more than 300,000 candidates nationwide, Colombia on Thursday unveiled the new Juan Valdez, the country's iconic coffee ambassador to the world.
His real name is Carlos Castaneda. Like his two predecessors, the 39-year-old sports the leather bag, bushy mustache and straw hat typical of rural Colombia where the world-famous arabica coffee is grown.
But unlike those other Valdezes — who were played by a Cuban-born actor and a silk-screen artisan — Castaneda knows a thing or two about growing coffee. The oldest of 10 children born on a coffee farm, he picked his first bean at the age of 6.
Like most of the nation's 566,000 coffee growers, Castaneda has lived a modest life, with his family's 10-acre plot earning $200 a month.
That changed Thursday at a ceremony in the capital of Bogota, when Castaneda literally took over the reins of Conchita the mule from the previous Valdez — Carlos Sanchez, who's retiring after 37 years.
Dressed in the trademark Juan Valdez poncho, Castaneda said he was nervous about his new job, "but I'm going to put all my heart and will into making sure things go well."
The Colombian coffee producers' federation wouldn't say how much Castaneda will earn in the high-profile gig, other than to say it'll be considerably more than his current income.
Before he was invited to the capital in May as a finalist, Castaneda had never boarded a plane. Now, he'll move from his house in the mountains of Antioquia province to live near Bogota's international airport.
"He'll spend half the year traveling, sitting in a plane and far away from his family, in order to stand for hours at events posing for photos and signing autographs," said Gabriel Silva, the general manager of the coffee federation.
He'll also be asked to help jump-start the country's slumping coffee industry, the nation's third-largest legal export.
Colombia exported about $1.4 billion worth of coffee last year, down some $100 million from a decade ago.
Carlos Castaneda, center, 39, chosen as the new Juan Valdez by Colombia's Coffee Federation, is presented by Gabriel Silva, left, general manager of the Colombian coffee growers' federation, and Fernando Castrillon, president of the National Committee of Coffee Workers, during a press conference in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, June 29, 2006. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)
Carlos Castaneda, 39, who was named Colombia's new Juan Valdez, poses with 'Conchita' during a news conference in Bogota, Colombia, June 29, 2006. The owner of a small coffee plantation near Medellin, Castaneda will represent the Andean country's coffee in the international market. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (COLOMBIA)
A woman embraces Carlos Castaneda, 39, the newly selected Juan Valdez, Colombia's ambassador of coffee in the world, in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, June 29, 2006. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)
I wonder if this is the same Castaneda that wrote the psychedelic books in the '70s?
In the 70s? He's only 39. Must be some other author.
I was going to suggest Carlos may have had an earlier incarnation as a Yaqui Indian...
"The Teachings of Don Juan."
If you have ever read this book - The Teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui way of knowledge - you'd know you better start inspecting your coffee beans. Hate for you to drink your morning cup and turn in to a bird or sumpin.
I have, several times when I was younger. (and stupider)
I think he turned into a large black crow.
And a coyote or dog or some such. So he thought. I have never taken peyote and turned into a dog but I have bayed at the moon after too many beers.
For those of you that have not read the book, think of the movie "Altered States"......
¡Que viva el nuevo Juan Valdéz!
It was a long, long time ago.
I think Juan Valdez is the Colombian version of The Dread Pirate Roberts.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.