‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational – podcast

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/sep/12/people-pay-to-be-told-lies-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-worlds-first-ayahuasca-multinational-podcast

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Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker reality.

By Sam Edwards. Read by Sid Sagar

Read the text version here

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