Terrorism

Marco Vernaschi, for the Pulitzer Center

(Editor's note: This is the final dispatch in a series of eight, recounting events surrounding the double assassinations of Guinea Bissau's president and army chief of staff last March and the country's emergence as a 'narco state.')

Marco Vernaschi, for the Pulitzer Center

(Editor's note: This is the seventh of eight dispatches, recounting events surrounding the double assassinations of Guinea Bissau's president and army chief of staff last March and the country's emergence as a 'narco state.')

Several years ago, two long-friends met in Guinea Conakry to talk about some business opportunities. They were Lasana Conte and Joao Vieira, the presidents of Guinea Conakry and Guinea Bissau. It was 2006 and cocaine trafficking in West Africa was at a development stage.

Story written by Peter Burghardt

Updated Feb.11, 2011

From the introduction on the Süddeutsche Zeitung site (translated from German):

"Originally, the Italian photographer Marco Vernaschi wanted to do a photo story on drug dealers in Guinea-Bissau, Africa. But he ended up in a gruesome war between the military and the government. First, the highest ranking army general was murdered. Then Vernaschi drove to the house of the president who had just been killed by soldiers. A photo essay from the heart of hell."

Crack addiction was an unknown plague until 2007, when traffickers started to target the country. Since then, hundreds of people living in Bissau's slums have become addicts. Prostitution increased substantially, consequently generating a new wave of HIV. This is just another face of cocaine trafficking in Guinea Bissau.

Disclaimer: The following contains graphic imagery and content, and may not be suitable for all ages.

Photographed by: Marco Vernaschi / Pulitzer Center

by Marco Vernaschi, for the Pulitzer Center

(Editor's note: This is the sixth of eight dispatches, recounting events surrounding the double assassinations of Guinea Bissau's president and army chief of staff last March and the country's emergence as a 'narco state.')

In Bissau I met a former journalist who had been a correspondent for a Portuguese magazine, I ask him to show me where the local drug lords live. We meet at night, in front of my hotel and we go for

Aired on Foreign Exchange June 23, 2009.

Al Qaeda and Hezbollah's long arms extend from West Africa to Latin America.

When Marco Vernaschi, an Italian photojournalist, decided to head to the West African nation of Guinea Bissau, he knew that cocaine traffickers had already destabilized the tiny former Portuguese colony. But when he arrived on the scene shortly after the country's president and army chief were brutally assassinated last March, Vernaschi saw a place spiraling into a gangster's paradise. He has documented the chilling impact of the drug trade in places like Bolivia, and spent months in Guinea Bissau getting to know drug gangs from the inside.

A truck is a truck is a truck. Except in Pakistan, where trucks go to the beauty parlor for makeovers. Listen to this report.

Began airing on Foreign Exchange June 19, 2009

A truck depot is about the last place on earth you'd expect to find an art scene. But in Pakistan, the tradition of painting and detailing trucks adds glitter and glamour to the transport business, and offers a colorful distraction in a country tormented by war and political instability.

Video by Alex Stonehill for the Common Language Project

Produced in association with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Marco Vernaschi, for the Pulitzer Center

(Editor's note: This is the third of eight dispatches, recounting events surrounding the double assassinations of Guinea Bissau's president and army chief of staff last March and the country's emergence as a 'narco state.')