The Legacy Left in Latin America

Source: http://stopthedrugwar.org/files/eradication.jpg

Although the War on Drugs is a global war, there is one region where much of the focus is located- Latin America. In order to address the topic of the war’s impact on drug trafficking, we must first look at the war’s legacy in Latin America- the region home to some of the biggest drug producers. So what’s the home of the biggest Cocaine manufacturer like now since Nixon’s war on drugs launched 44 years ago in 1971?

“America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.” Those were the words spoken by then President, Richard Nixon, in 1971 proclaiming the start of the US government’s war on drugs; a war that has cost over a trillion dollars since 1971.

Unlike past, more traditional wars, this one isn’t as straightforward. By that I mean the US isn’t fighting uniformed soldiers or large nations that may or may follow the Geneva Convention; instead the US is fighting wealthy cartels that don’t exactly play by the rules. In order to combat these cartels, one of the main missions of the war is “attempting to dismantle drug cartels in Latin America.” During the 1970s through the early 1990s the Medellin cartel was the cocaine king-pin of the world bringing in “$420 million a week” and “[supplying] about 90% of cocaine in the United States.” Obviously, with numbers like that, they were a pretty big target for the United States government. Thanks to joint efforts between the Colombian government and the US government, Colombian forces were eventually able to kill the founder of the Medellin Cartel, Pablo Escobar, in 1993 which effectively dismantled his cartel. However, this has not come without a cost. For instance, the war “to dismantle the Colombian cartels has cost approximately 15,000 lives, many of them innocent victims of narco-terrorism.” Since the ‘90s the US has been helping Colombia get back on track. Between 2000 and 2010 the US has spent “$7.3bn on a military and economic aid program called Plan Colombia.” Plan Colombia was a plan with goals of ending Colombia’s armed conflict and to help combat cocaine production in the country. And although Colombia is still a cocaine producer, it is nothing like it was under what some could call “Escobar’s reign.” The drug-related violence has dropped significantly, the massive cartels like the Medellin have gone, and the government has taken over the land used for cocaine production. In essence, Plan Colombia has been relatively successful considering the country’s past which is a sign in the right direction. Being only about 20 years out of the Colombian situation, it is hard to tell where they’ll be at in another 20 years but I think that they’re heading in the right direction. Not perfect, the plan has pushed some of the drug trade into neighboring countries Peru and Bolivia.

Since the end of the Medellin Cartel and its cocaine, drug use has switched courses. Although drugs are still being used at rates some may argue is high, most of the drugs used are soft drugs like Marijuana. Use of hard drugs has fallen “fallen approximately 40% in recent years.” That’s a good sign because instead of destructive drugs (ie. Cocaine, meth, heroin, etc) increasing in use, they are falling in comparison to their softer counterparts (ie. Marijuana). This will play an interesting role in the war on drugs as currently multiple states have legalized marijuana while the US spends “$8bn a year on fighting pot and half of all arrests are related to the drug, even though many experts believe it is less harmful than alcohol and may even offer benefits to people suffering from serious illnesses like cancer.” In coming years it will interesting to see where this leads the drug war as marijuana becomes more acceptable in the US.

Overall, the War on Drugs is far from being over in Latin America and it will take some time to further eradicate the problem. And with the problem of hard drugs like cocaine getting both better and worse in different aspects, with softer drugs like marijuana getting more acceptable it’ll be interesting to see how the government reacts. The government should look into new ways to help combat the drugs that are a real threat. Possibly, if the government legalized marijuana, they could use the $8bn saved on fighting drugs like cocaine. Obviously depending on one’s stance on legalization, that’s up to you to decide whether or not that’s a good idea. But at this point, the government should be looking at all its options.