The Effects of Coca Eradication in Colombia Essay

While the United States and Europe are the main importers of cocaine, the main exporters of cocaine are found in Latin America. Latin America has among one of the most impacted nations involved in narco-terrorism. In Latin America, cocaine is known as the “atomic bomb”. The most impacted countries of narco-terrorism are Columbia, Mexico, and Peru.

Andean Cocaine traces the obscure processes and transformations of the global coca and cocaine commodity chain. Gootenberg documents the lore of the Andean coca leaf, the birth of cocaine as a medical commodity, the early twentieth-century decline cocaine, and its reemergence as a global illicit good following World War II.

Issues such as manufacturing and delivering of materials were delayed. As a consequence, the plan could not be executed right away. However, even with the aid that Colombia has provided, data proves that numbers have not decreased for drug activity. Since December of 2001 combatants have sprayed herbicide over 75,000 of the 340,000 acres of drug crops reported to exists in Colombia. The plan was to cut that acreage in half by 2002. However, evidence from reports conducted by the United Nations have emerged, proving that there is far more than 340,000 acres of drug crops in Colombia. Which puts into question this plan. Another statistic that is proven misreported is the total amount of cocaine produced in Colombia. The U.S. stated their estimates to be around 580 tons annually. However, recent studies show that cocaine production out of Colombian ranges from 800 to 900 tons annually. This miscalculation is supported by the fact that according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the street prices of cocaine have not been reduced since the commencement of Plan Colombia. If crop eradication in Colombia had been successful, the supply of cocaine would have decreased, thus forcing the law of supply and demand to raise the price of cocaine in the black

The alternative crop programs the US proposed to replace coca failed for various reasons. The unstable political situation made the area too dangerous to bring in “agronomists, engineers, and project specialists” to survey the land (Kirk 265). Even if farmers had been successful in growing alternative crops, the Colombian market for legal crops such as corn, yucca, coffee and chocolate was already “battered by global shifts in price.”(Kirk 264) Legal crops had to be transported on poor roads and farmers had to wait months to be paid for their goods. These were no competition for coca which was paid for immediately, often times with American cash, and transported without any charge to the farmers (Kirk 243).

In 2006, Mexico began to crack down on drug trafficking operations in union with the United States. Why all of the sudden? In regard to that question, my paper will include a history of events leading up to this sudden crack down on drug trafficking, from its start in the 1960’s until today. After the history of the drug war, I will discuss the main states involved like the United States and Mexico itself. Along with their main goal of eliminating drug trafficking all together, although it is a very high expectation. Mexico has sent out 50,000 soldiers that are being paid less than a burrito vendor, in attempt to lessen the

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.

Pablo Escobar was now leading the cocaine business in Colombia. The cocaine that was sold on the streets of the United States was a white powder called cocaine hydrochloride. At first the coca leaves were not grown in Colombia. Most of the coca leaves and paste were imported from neighboring countries like Bolivia and Peru. Escobar knew this was not the most efficient way to make money. He began to hand out the coca seeds to the peasants and encouraged them to grow the important crop (Drug).

This refers to the elimination of drug crops while they are still being grown. The U.S. has used this policy in several South American countries as a means to limit drug trafficking before it has a chance to develop. However, significantly reducing crops has not always led to decreasing drug trafficking. Reduction of drug crops in one country may lead to increased production in another. This is likely to happen when one country becomes the focus of an eradication effort, while another country can increase its production to fill in the void. If there is one thing that the world market can produce, it is its high demand of illegal drugs. The Drug Policy Alliance gives cites a specific instance verifying the problems that can be associated with eradication procedures. During the mid 1990s, “eradication efforts in Bolivia and Peru created incentives to grow coca in Columbia. While Peru experienced a 66% reduction in coca cultivation and Bolivia experienced a 53% reduction, coca cultivation in Columbia doubled. In addition, more potent strains of coca have been developed, leading to higher yielding coca crops.” This example shows the adverse effects of the policy of eradication.

Historically, the relations between U.S and Colombia have been marked the foreign policy and the international trade. Nevertheless, the civil war in Colombia have shifted this relation. In Colombia, the establishment of The Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) during the 1960s created the beginning of an era of terrorist and drug trafficking. The FARC began forming in 1966 inspired by the Cuban Revolution with a left-wing nationalism and Marxism-Leninism. FARC’s actions trough the history has been involved with terrorist against of the population in Colombia. As well, thousands of peasant farmers that have been obligated to produce illicit drugs in their own properties controlled by the guerrillas. Nowadays, the FARC has been the largest and oldest insurgent group in the Americas. The FARC has been roundly criticized for initiating

It's not often that a book has such a great story and such rich culture behind every chapter. I am a Taxi by Deborah Ellis is a story about a young prison boy named Diego. It is about Diego’s story towards a better life for him and his family. The story takes place in current day Cochabamba, Bolivia which gives the story a rich setting due to its culture and people. The setting also gives a dangerous feel due to the country’s war on drugs which becomes eminent in the story ahead.

Nowadays, when someone thinks of Colombia, they unfortunately almost always think of two things, coffee and cocaine (with its associated guerilla warfare). It is true that during the last 50 years these two products, one legal, and the other not, have been great monetary contributors to the Colombian economy. Coffee is Colombia’s principal agricultural product, and it is also the country’s second largest export. The production of coffee uses 300,000 farms and employs almost one million people (Steiner 6). Conversely, cocaine is a completely illegal product, but it earns almost twice as much money as coffee (Steiner 6). Also, in contrast with the production of coffee, cocaine uses fewer employees but earns

Drug trafficking is a major issue in Colombia, causing many other issues across the country. Many people involved in the drug trade including civilians are being killed, kidnapped, and injured over this problem. Over the years, the government has started cracking down on the growers, producers, and sellers but so far, they have only caught minor criminals. The government is making agreements with neighboring countries and finding alternative uses for the crops to slow down the production of drugs. Despite all of the efforts being made to stop drug trafficking, violence, and production the cartels are still thriving throughout Colombia.

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.

For many years in Medellin a civil war had occurred costing many lives between both sides of the parties concerning government and guerilla groups, later to become the Medellin Cartel (Fukuyama and Colby 2011). The war had begun and had been prolonged due to the weakness of Colombia’s national government who only commanded a small army and police all around Colombia (Fukuyama et al. 2011). It was by this that the beginning of The Medellin Cartel was able to start strong and continue a successful business. In the book Kings of Cocaine an Astonishing True Story of Murder, Money, and Corruption, authors Guy Gugliotta and Jeff Leen (Gugliotta and Leen 1989) name the founders of what can

The Coca Cola company has promoted a new campaign launch to help catch consumer’s attention. From 1886 to 2016 Coca Cola has been a well-known soft drink. The campaign launch “Share a Coke with a Friend” that was released in 2014 had grabbed consumer’s attention tremendously. The new campaign was targeting everyone. The Coca Cola company knew they needed to create a campaign that would make an impression on the newer generation. The “Share a Coke with a Friend” Campaign was an interesting approach that made a tremendous change in the Coca Cola advertisement industry. The new ad had drawn in even more consumers.