THE DRUG TRADE, POLITICS AND THE ECONOMY: THE COLOMBIAN EXPERIENCE (original) (raw)
1998, Carlos Malamud y Elizabeth Joyce, ed. Latin American and the Multinational Drug Trade (London, University College, 1998)
For Colombians today, drugs are probably the phenomenon that has had the greatest impact on national life. In different ways and with varying degrees of accuracy, all kinds of effects are attributed to the drug trade. For some, the resources generated by the drug trade have been one of the main causes of the upward trend of the economy over the last 20 years. For others, the violence, which has afflicted the country to a degree unparalleled in any society not at war, is primarily attributable to the large groups of criminals created by the narcotics industry. The destruction of the judicial system, customary impunity for criminal offenders and growing corruption are usually attributed to the influence of the drug traffickers. Many believe that the money and resources have in their turn allowed drugs to influence popular culture, the management of the media, political campaigns and parties, and the distribution of power in general. It is not only foreign journalists or US government rhetoric that characterise Colombia as a 'narco-democracy'. Every day Colombians see on the news how Congress, mayors from remote regions, the judicial system or the bureaucracy are penetrated, influenced and directed by the 'narcos'.
Related papers
The political economy of Colombia's cocaine industry
This study provides up-to-date scientific estimates of annual revenues generated by Colombia's illicit cocaine industry (1991-2007), imputed from data on coca production collected by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. While Colombian producers appropriate only a fraction of global revenues from cocaine trafficking and sales, control over production and appropriation of revenues is highly concentrated, suggesting a great capacity for illegal drug-firms to impact Colombian economy and society. We compare narco-capital accumulation within the wider context of the Colombian economy in terms of productivity, employment patterns, growth and concentration of wealth and power and find that narco-production ranks among the most productive and lucrative sectors of the economy. But while the potential for profits is high, the illegal nature of the industry means firms are prone to sabotage and violence from competitors and vulnerable to attempts at suppression of production by the state, making the industry highly volatile and risky. If illegally accumulated drug-money can serve as a source of financing for legal economic activities, thus propping up economic growth in the formal sector, it must also be said that illegally accumulated narco-dollars are used to finance illegal armed groups and contribute to violence and insecurity, particularly for rural peasants.
Made in Colombia: How the drug trade shaped an entire country
This text is a case-study on how the drug industry - under the global regime of prohibition - has conditioned Colombia's development during many decades. It was initially thought to constitute one of the chapters in a book arguing for the need to agree on and design a new global regime on drugs, with the very tentative title of "Stop the War on Drugs Now - Time to Do Something that Works!". With the disappointing outcome of the UNGASS on Drug Policies in April 2016, this book project unfortunately got stalled. However, this case-study on Colombia may also be of interest in other contexts than the one I originally had in mind. Maybe it could fill its place in an anthology on Colombia as well as in a critical reader on the global drug regime. If quoted, pls reference the title in full, adding "draft version, 2016".
Organized transnational crime has remained a major issue in Latin America and affected a number of neighboring countries, especially USA. The persisting drug violence has further evolved into causing adverse consequences to the democratic stability, human and national security of Latin America while also becoming the reason for a variety of global concerns such as financial crises, refugee crises and other drug- related violence. This study shall examine the effect of the drug culture in Mexico and USA and its influence on the political and socioeconomic contexts together with an analysis on the US war on drugs, an effort taken to eradicate drug violations. Finally it will provide recommendations towards resolving the conflict permanently and in a long-term approach.
This article examines the socioeconomic effects of the illegal drug industry on economic and social development in Colombia. It shows that illegal drugs have fostered violence and have had a negative effect on economic development. This article also shows that the Plan Colombia anti-drug policy has been an ineffective strategy in terms of decreasing drug production, generating economic development and reducing violence. Since this study includes both a statistical analysis of the effects that violence and illegal drugs have on the economic growth of Colombia, along with an evaluation of the Plan Colombia policy programme, it fills the gap between existing empirical studies of the Colombian illegal drug industry and specific analyses of Plan Colombia.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.