Anti-Drug Policies in Colombia
Anti-Drug Policies in Colombia

Author: Alejandro Gaviria

Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press

Published: 2021-04-30

Total Pages: 520

ISBN-13: 0826503756

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Forty years after the declaration of the "war on drugs" by President Nixon, the debate on the effectiveness and costs of the ban is red-hot. Several former Latin American presidents and leading intellectuals from around the world have drawn attention to the ineffectiveness and adverse consequences of prohibitionism. This book thoroughly analyzes the drug policies of one of the main protagonists in this war. The book covers many topics: the economics of drug production, the policies to reduce consumption and decrease supply during the Plan Colombia, the effects of the drug problem on Colombia's international relations, the prevention of money laundering, the connection between drug trafficking and paramilitary politics, and strategies against organized crime. Beyond the diversity in topics, there is a common thread running through all the chapters: the need to analyze objectively what works and what does not, based on empirical evidence. Presented here for the first time to an English-speaking audience, this book is a contribution to a debate that urgently needs to transcend ideology and preconceived opinions.

Drug Control
Drug Control

Author: United States. General Accounting Office

Publisher:

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13:

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Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO evaluated the scope, purpose, and effectiveness of U.S. narcotics control efforts in Colombia and Bolivia. GAO found that U.S.-supported crop control, enforcement, and interdiction efforts in Colombia and Bolivia have not produced major reductions in coca and marijuana production and trafficking, and it is questionable whether the efforts will achieve major reductions in the near future. GAO found that Colombia's large-scale efforts have had little effect due to the: (1) unprecedented level of violence associated with narcotics control; (2) lack of an enforceable extradition treaty with the United States for narcotics offenses; (3) general reluctance of the Colombian military forces to become involved in narcotics enforcement; and (4) lack of safe and effective means of chemically eradicating coca. GAO also found that Bolivia's efforts have had little effect due to: (1) the lack of clear legislation in Bolivia outlawing coca cultivation and supporting government control and eradication programs; (2) an inexperienced and ineffective special narcotics police force; (3) limited Bolivian government funding for program objectives; and (4) generalized corruption. In addition, GAO found that the Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics Matters (INM): (1) did not systematically evaluate program and project performance to assess progress against established goals and objectives or to redirect activities; and (2) does not have guidelines which clearly establish the responsibility for ensuring that INM units perform evaluations. GAO also found that the Agency for International Development's development and narcotics awareness programs in Bolivia have not been effective due to the unwillingness or inability of the Bolivian government to introduce and implement effective coca control and enforcement measures.

Drugs and Democracy in Latin America
Drugs and Democracy in Latin America

Author: Coletta Youngers

Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 9781588262547

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While the U.S. has failed to reduce the supply of cocaine and heroin entering its borders, it has, however, succeeded in generating widespread, often profoundly damaging, consequences on democracy and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean.

America's Other War
America's Other War

Author: Doug Stokes

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2013-07-04

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1848136129

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This controversial book maintains that in Colombia the US has long supported a pervasive campaign of state violence directed against both armed insurgents and a wide range of unarmed progressive social forces. While the context may change from one decade to the next, the basic policies remain the same: maintain the pro-US Colombian state, protect US economic interests and preserve strategic access to oil. Colombia is now the third largest recipient of US military aid in the world, and the largest by far in Latin America. Using extensive declassified documents, this book shows that the so-called "war on drugs", and now the new war on terror in Colombia are actually part of a long-term Colombian "war of state terror" that predates the end of the Cold War with US policy contributing directly to the human rights situation in Colombia today.

Drug War Capitalism
Drug War Capitalism

Author: Dawn Paley

Publisher: AK Press

Published: 2014-11-10

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1849351880

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Though pillage, profit, and plunder have been a mainstay of war since pre-colonial times, there is little contemporary focus on the role of finance and economics in today's "Drug Wars"—despite the fact that they boost US banks and fill our prisons with poor people. They feed political campaigns, increase the arms trade, and function as long-term fixes to capitalism's woes, cracking open new territories to privatization and foreign direct investment. Combining on-the-ground reporting with extensive research, Dawn Paley moves beyond the usual horror stories, beyond journalistic rubbernecking and hand-wringing, to follow the thread of the Drug War story throughout the entire region of Latin America and all the way back to US boardrooms and political offices. This unprecedented book chronicles how terror is used against the population at large in cities and rural areas, generating panic and facilitating policy changes that benefit the international private sector, particularly extractive industries like petroleum and mining. This is what is really going on. This is drug war capitalism. Dawn Paley is a freelance journalist who has been reporting from South America, Central America, and Mexico for over ten years. Her writing has been published in the Nation, the Guardian, Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, Ms. magazine, the Tyee, Georgia Straight, and NACLA, among others.

Domestic Politics and International Narcotics Control
Domestic Politics and International Narcotics Control

Author: Victor J. Hinojosa

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-11-21

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 1135912262

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This book examines different levels of narcotics control cooperation between the United States, Mexico and Colombia. Victor J. Hinojosa finds that Mexico is consistently held to a very different standard than Colombia and that the US often satisfies domestic political pressures to be tough on drugs by punishing Colombia while allowing Mexico much more freedom to pursue different strategies. He also explores the role of domestic terrorism and presidential reputation in Colombia for the US-Colombia pair and the role of competing issues in the US-Mexican bilateral agenda for that country pair, finding that congressional pressure and electoral tests exert the most impact on US behavior but that Mexican and Colombian behavior is best explained in other ways. Together, these findings suggest both the promise of integrating the study of international relations and comparative politics and important limitations of the theoretical framework.

Driven by Drugs
Driven by Drugs

Author: Russell Crandall

Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9781588260895

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Crandall (political science, Davidson College) examines the evolution of US policy towards Columbia, largely driven by factors relating to the US's "war on drugs," as well as the roots of violence in Colombia. He then focuses on US policy towards the country during two key periods: the Samper administration (1994-1998) and the Pastrana administration (1998-2002). He concludes by assessing current US policy toward Colombia and suggesting directions for future policy. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

LBJ's 1968
LBJ's 1968

Author: Kyle Longley

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-02-22

Total Pages: 379

ISBN-13: 1108140572

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1968 was an unprecedented year in terms of upheaval on numerous scales: political, military, economic, social, cultural. In the United States, perhaps no one was more undone by the events of 1968 than President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Kyle Longley leads his readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of what Johnson characterized as the 'year of a continuous nightmare'. Longley explores how LBJ perceived the most significant events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy, and the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago. His responses to the crises were sometimes effective but often tragic, and LBJ's refusal to seek re-election underscores his recognition of the challenges facing the country in 1968. As much a biography of a single year as it is of LBJ, LBJ's 1968 vividly captures the tumult that dominated the headlines on a local and global level.