Off the beaten path, Gaviotas , about 100km southeast of Villavicencio, is a ‘green’ success story. The United Nations called the village a model of sustainable development, and Gabriel García Márquez called founder Paolo Lugari the ‘inventor of the world.’ The village of 200 people is operated on wind and solar power. Residents farm organically and have planted millions of trees. The town has become a world-class research and development center for green technologies and the commune-like society has no police, no mayor and no weapons. The village was profiled in journalist Alan Weisman’s book, Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World .
