It’s Still Summer Somewhere:
A Guide to Achieving a More Successful anti-drug policy in Colombia.
By Paul Thain
Dissertation submitted to the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Aberdeen, as partial requirement for an Honours degree in Politics and International Relations.
A Guide to Achieving a More Successful anti-drug policy in Colombia.
By Paul Thain
Dissertation submitted to the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Aberdeen, as partial requirement for an Honours degree in Politics and International Relations.
Abstract
After a twenty-year ‘War on Drugs’ pursued by the United States, which has failed to produce any real success, it is reasonable to believe that there are some fundamental flaws in America’s anti-drug efforts. In brief, there are three main aims of this paper, the first of which is to understand the roots and nature of the drugs business, and why it surfaced in Colombia. The second part concentrates on highlighting the failings of American anti-drug policy in its ‘War on Drugs’, and finally, this paper suggests a means of rectifying these shortcomings through various changes in strategies and policy that could be integrated to form a modern anti-drug strategy.
Contents
After a twenty-year ‘War on Drugs’ pursued by the United States, which has failed to produce any real success, it is reasonable to believe that there are some fundamental flaws in America’s anti-drug efforts. In brief, there are three main aims of this paper, the first of which is to understand the roots and nature of the drugs business, and why it surfaced in Colombia. The second part concentrates on highlighting the failings of American anti-drug policy in its ‘War on Drugs’, and finally, this paper suggests a means of rectifying these shortcomings through various changes in strategies and policy that could be integrated to form a modern anti-drug strategy.
Contents
Notes on terminology
……………………………………………………. IV
Introduction
......……………………………………………….. 1
Chapter One:
Welcome to Sunny Colombia
...………………………………………………….. 4
Chapter Two:
Where Old Wars Rage On
..........……………………………………………. 17
Chapter Three:
The Balancing Act
.....………………………………………………… 34
Conclusion
……………………………………………………. 50
Bibliography
.......……………………………………………… 53
Notes on Terminology
Throughout the course of this essay, several metaphors and modernisations re-occur. These include the use of:
‘Links’ / ‘Segments’ of the ‘Drugs Chain.’ These are used because, due to the nature of the modern drugs business, the production of cocaine has been stretched out in an effort the avoid detection. This process means that a separate groups take care of growing the coca, another for refining the drug, another for shipping the drug and so on. Due to this nature the metaphor of a chain is used to highlight the notion of many flexible units joined together.
This essay also modernises the term ‘drugs trade’, by giving it the new title of ‘drug business’, or simply ‘the business’. The original term conjures up images of old-fashioned trading with out-dated methods and techniques, which – as mentioned above – is no longer the case when talking about the contemporary drugs enterprise of Colombia.
The specific name used for a Colombian drugs group is a ‘cartel,’ whilst coca growers are referred to as both ‘cocaleros,’ (specifically growers of the coca leaf) and ‘campensinos’ (the Andean name for a rural farmer).
All currency is in United States Dollars ($) and English Pounds, Sterling (£).
Throughout the course of this essay, several metaphors and modernisations re-occur. These include the use of:
‘Links’ / ‘Segments’ of the ‘Drugs Chain.’ These are used because, due to the nature of the modern drugs business, the production of cocaine has been stretched out in an effort the avoid detection. This process means that a separate groups take care of growing the coca, another for refining the drug, another for shipping the drug and so on. Due to this nature the metaphor of a chain is used to highlight the notion of many flexible units joined together.
This essay also modernises the term ‘drugs trade’, by giving it the new title of ‘drug business’, or simply ‘the business’. The original term conjures up images of old-fashioned trading with out-dated methods and techniques, which – as mentioned above – is no longer the case when talking about the contemporary drugs enterprise of Colombia.
The specific name used for a Colombian drugs group is a ‘cartel,’ whilst coca growers are referred to as both ‘cocaleros,’ (specifically growers of the coca leaf) and ‘campensinos’ (the Andean name for a rural farmer).
All currency is in United States Dollars ($) and English Pounds, Sterling (£).
To James Forbes Mitchell
(14th April 1928 – 28th November 2001)
My Grandfather and Mentor.
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to explore, and answer, three main questions:
“Why did the drugs business materialise in Colombia, and what were the consequences?”
“Why are the current tactics failing to deliver significant results?” and
“What can be altered to create a more successful anti-drug policy?”
These questions arise due to the distinct lack of results that have become synonymous with American efforts to reduce the size of its internal drugs market. For the reason of being impartial, a comprehensive selection of journals, books, news stories, government sources, websites, as well as economic and health papers, have been brought together to create the main theories and proposals in this paper.
It must be noted that the academic material on the subject of American drug policy can be separated into four main ‘camps’: the ‘pro-Americans’ that wish to see a furtherance of the current tactics; the ‘anti-Americans’, who wish for the U.S. to stop prying in Latin America; the ‘Latin Americans’ themselves, most of whom wish to see a change in the nature of Washington’s policy; and the ‘pro-legalisation’ camp, who have a tendency to propose radical arguments. To keep this paper consistent, all of the non-empirical literature from the ‘pro-legalisation camp’ had to be overlooked, because it was too erratic and based heavily on assumption.
Also, in keeping this paper relevant to Colombia, Washington, and the ‘War on Drugs’ at present, a ten-year cap has been placed on the majority of sources used, with the only discrepancies being historical events and old arguments that are still applicable to the current situation.
In order to answer the three main questions, each one is given its own section in this paper. Chapter one is mainly descriptive, and aims to define the cartels and illustrate their power, before explaining why Colombia became the home of cocaine. It then goes on to describe the positive and negative consequences of the drug business, and how these features are not only limited to Colombia. Finally, the chapter concludes by finding a theory to explain the rise of the Cartels.
Chapter two provides an analysis into the failure of current policy in Colombia by highlighting the critical errors in the tactics, and then describing the unintended consequences of implementing such efforts. After a brief history of FARC, this paper will show why the results of Plan Colombia have been so poor, then upon discussing the benefits of negotiations, one aims to draw some conclusions on the nature of American aid.
Proposed solutions are put forth in the final chapter, with the additional emphasis for two main balances to be addressed in the funding of anti-drug strategies. The first being between the military and social spending of aid within Colombia, and the second balance between demand and supply strategies. The chapter ends with a call for countries to recognise that global co-operation is a necessity. The concluding chapter re-visits the three main questions, and then provides two models of what the future holds for Colombia.
The purpose of this paper is to explore, and answer, three main questions:
“Why did the drugs business materialise in Colombia, and what were the consequences?”
“Why are the current tactics failing to deliver significant results?” and
“What can be altered to create a more successful anti-drug policy?”
These questions arise due to the distinct lack of results that have become synonymous with American efforts to reduce the size of its internal drugs market. For the reason of being impartial, a comprehensive selection of journals, books, news stories, government sources, websites, as well as economic and health papers, have been brought together to create the main theories and proposals in this paper.
It must be noted that the academic material on the subject of American drug policy can be separated into four main ‘camps’: the ‘pro-Americans’ that wish to see a furtherance of the current tactics; the ‘anti-Americans’, who wish for the U.S. to stop prying in Latin America; the ‘Latin Americans’ themselves, most of whom wish to see a change in the nature of Washington’s policy; and the ‘pro-legalisation’ camp, who have a tendency to propose radical arguments. To keep this paper consistent, all of the non-empirical literature from the ‘pro-legalisation camp’ had to be overlooked, because it was too erratic and based heavily on assumption.
Also, in keeping this paper relevant to Colombia, Washington, and the ‘War on Drugs’ at present, a ten-year cap has been placed on the majority of sources used, with the only discrepancies being historical events and old arguments that are still applicable to the current situation.
In order to answer the three main questions, each one is given its own section in this paper. Chapter one is mainly descriptive, and aims to define the cartels and illustrate their power, before explaining why Colombia became the home of cocaine. It then goes on to describe the positive and negative consequences of the drug business, and how these features are not only limited to Colombia. Finally, the chapter concludes by finding a theory to explain the rise of the Cartels.
Chapter two provides an analysis into the failure of current policy in Colombia by highlighting the critical errors in the tactics, and then describing the unintended consequences of implementing such efforts. After a brief history of FARC, this paper will show why the results of Plan Colombia have been so poor, then upon discussing the benefits of negotiations, one aims to draw some conclusions on the nature of American aid.
Proposed solutions are put forth in the final chapter, with the additional emphasis for two main balances to be addressed in the funding of anti-drug strategies. The first being between the military and social spending of aid within Colombia, and the second balance between demand and supply strategies. The chapter ends with a call for countries to recognise that global co-operation is a necessity. The concluding chapter re-visits the three main questions, and then provides two models of what the future holds for Colombia.
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