A Brief History Of Drugs In Colombia

Drugs are a complex problem with widespread political, economic and social implications for producing, transit, and consumer nations. In the area of foreign policy, political and economic instability in drug producing areas around the world-and particularly in Latin America is an epidemic that cannot be ignored. The objective of this paper is to asses the past issues, current status, and future prospects of the US war on drugs in Latin America - specifically Panama. It begins with a brief overview of the basic problems of drug use in America, and examines how the United States has handled the specific situation of General Noriega and the Panamanians. Finally, I will examine an array of policy options

Supposedly 90% of all U.S. dollars in circulation, including the $13,304,844,056 dollars spent by the U.S. to date in the War on Drugs have trace amounts of cocaine on them. Of the $13,304,844,056, $9 billion in foreign aid has been endowed to Colombia, where nearly 100% of the cocaine that is imported to the U.S. originates. The U.S. is as addicted to coke as coke is to it. The ongoing Colombian conflict between the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), and the government of Colombia has been raging for nearly 52 years. Yet, the 1990-2015 era of the conflict is the most notable due to the mass proliferation of cocaine. After the cartels receded from preeminence in Colombia, the nation

Colombia has been a very unstable country for the past fifty years. Beginning in the

The scientific interest in cocaine was part of an awakening of Peruvian scientific nationalism. Lima’s medical elites and modern chemistry transformed the coca plant into medicinal cocaine in the nineteenth century. Peruvians took an herb that held deep cultural meanings in Incan history and changed it into an exclusive and modern good. This early study of coca combined science and patriotism. Peruvian scientist’s proximity and experiences lent a privileged place as compared to scientists in Europe. With help from Peruvians like Moreno y Maíz and J. C. Ulloa, elite scientific nationalism made local and traditional coca and universal and scientifically modern cocaine into national subjects, or what Gootenberg calls “highland

The United States has a long history of intervention in the affairs of one it’s southern neighbor, Latin America. The war on drugs has been no exception. An investigation of US relations with Latin America in the period from 1820 to 1960, reveals the war on drugs to be a convenient extension of an almost 200 year-old policy. This investigation focuses on the commercial and political objectives of the US in fighting a war on drugs in Latin America. These objectives explain why the failing drug policy persisted despite its overwhelming failure to decrease drug production or trafficking. These objectives also explain why the US has recently exchanged a war on drugs for the war on

Like many other countries in Latin America and across the globe, Peru is no stranger to the economic and social impacts of illicit drug trade. However, unlike most other countries in the region like Colombia, Peru does not experience a high rate or organized crime or violence surrounding the drug trade. Although violence is minimal, the growth of cocoa and the production of cocaine is a massive industry within the country, creating an interesting dynamic between the people of Peru, those involved in the drug trade, and the Peruvian Government. The drug trade in Peru has been fueled by the geography, structure of the criminal groups involved, perceived corruption of the military and police forces, and an ineffective and overcrowded prison system.

The international drug trade from Latin American states is having an impact on a global scale. The trafficking of drugs along with corruptness and murder is an international conflict that is being fought daily. There are many aspects of the drug war from Mexico and other Latin American states which have effects on United States policy as well as policies from other countries that participate in the global suppression of illegal drugs.

The earning of mass amounts of drug money has created a debate about whether the drug trade has helped or hurt the Colombian economy. Specifically, the debate centers on how narcotics have affected the economy in the short and long runs because the drug trade, in reality, has brought in millions of dollars. How this money, earned by trafficking drugs, has returned (or not returned) to the country and its population through its

The major conflict in Colombia is the civil war with insurgent groups, as time went the conflict worsens and new issues were added a result to the civil war in Colombian such as drug traffic, paramilitaries, common crime, poverty, and unemployment. However, the civil war in Colombia affects directly the U.S government interest; as a consequence, that, the insurgent groups in Colombia have as a major financial resource the drug traffic. Therefore, the high position of Colombia in the global production of cocaine and heroin has long been a U.S major concern to its national interest, since U.S has been one of the most cocaine consumers, affecting most of youth population and enriching the Colombian’s illicit groups.

Violence in modern Colombia takes place in many forms. The three major categories are crime, guerrilla activities, and attacks committed by drug traffickers. Violence has become so widespread and common in Colombia that many people have now become numb to it. The Colombian economy has also benefited from the illicit drug trade; however violent it may be. During the 1970s, Colombia became well known, as one of the world’s most important drug processing, production, and distribution centers for marijuana and cocaine.

Films often depict the trade and use of drugs in Latin America as an extremely violent situation. Countries like Columbia or Mexico are usually where the drugs come from while the United States are the destination. More times than not, Latin America plays the role of an antagonist while the United States plays the protagonist. A film about Latin America, when pertaining to the United States, can fall into one of three categories: fully Latin American, a joint effort between Latin American countries and the United States, or a film by the United States. Gerado Naranjo’s Miss Bala (2011), is a Mexican film that is set in Tijuana, Mexico, and follows a young Mexican pageant girl as she becomes mixed up in the Mexican drug cartels. Maria Full

Drug prohibition in Colombia has had minimal variations over time, as reflected in the precedent set by the Constitutional Court since 1994 when they established that only behaviors that interfere with the orbit of freedom and other people’s interests can be legally enforceable (Corte Constitucional , 1994). Almost 20 years later in 2011, same Court discussed about a constitutional claim raised by citizens regarding a change that contemplates prohibition of possession and production of drugs, resolving in the end that it was fair and adjusted to constitutional values, they agreed on the fact that the definition of prohibition has other meanings, aside from criminalization, because prohibition involves other measures for the consumer like voluntary rehabilitation (Corte Constitucional , 2011). unclear, needs elaboration

The majority, or being specific, approximately half of all this drugs we are talking about comes from Colombia. In Colombia drugs are legal in some level and some things, and that is what increase the use of it. Colombia is one of the top producers of drugs in all Latin America, besides Bolivia and Peru.

Latin America has had a long history of drug use, which contributes to its stereotype as a drug infested region. Beginning in the 1970’s, the United States has been trying to eliminate drug cartels, trafficking, and use in Latin America (Bogota). The influence of drugs in Latin America has led to violence and death over the many years.

The Republic of Costa Rica is deeply concern with the rise of international illicit drug trade in the region and the problems that are rising in our communities. Our stance is against illicit drugs that are not only passing through our borders, but the gangs that stay hidden in our national forest because the military of Guatemala and Mexico. The Republic of Costa Rica hopes to find a resolution that would benefit everyone in the Americas against drug trafficking and the cartels.