From Insurgents to Entrepreneurs: Ex-Guerrillas Give Fruit Juice a Try

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | 6-20-02 | MARC LIFSHER

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BOGOTA, Colombia -- Every morning at 7, while roosters are crowing in the barrios, Miguel Abdala Macia comes to work in the rundown headquarters of his juice-making factory, Flor Viva, or Live Flower. He and his partners crank up their machines and begin producing and packaging tropical beverages, from passion fruit to pineapple.

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>With help from Colombia's government, Mr. Macia, 38 years old, and six other former guerrillas now are making the shift from insurgents to entrepreneurs. "We are transforming ourselves just as we transform the fruit," says Mr. Macia, the compact grandson of Lebanese immigrants.

Why does this fact not surprise me? The contributions from that region of the world just go on and on.