Colombia, the Drug Wars and the Politics of Drug Policy Displacement – from La Violencia to UNGASS 2016

Collins, John; Alarcón, Karen Torres

doi:10.31389/jied.93

“…In contemporary civil wars, war economies often revolve around the relevance of alternative sources of self-financing for armed actors in the post-Cold War era. These sources of revenue may include extortion, oil, diamond, or drug trafficking (Collier and Hoeffler 1998;Collins and Alarcón 2021;Nwosu 2023). The concept of a 'war economy' refers to an intricate system of economic structures that involve combat, shadow, and coping economies.…”

Section: Literature In Post-conflict Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The counternarcotics policies began in the early Nixonian war on drugs. The following decades were characterized by the government's 'kingpin strategy', targeting key members of drug cartels (Collins and Alarcón 2021). With the capture and death of Pablo Escobar in 1993 the power vacuum left in the illegal drug business was sought to be filled by FARC and right-far forces Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC in Spanish) (Franz 2016).…”

Section: Conflict and Counternarcotics Policy In Colombiamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of a Less Repressive Counternarcotics Policy on Post-conflict Violence

Alvarez

2024

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<p>This paper examines the connection between post-conflict violence and crime incentives. The argument is that violence should increase after the peace signature due to the regulatory role of illegal actors in a war economy. Colombia made history by signing a peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas, which was hailed as one of the most inclusive and progressive ever but also marked a significant shift towards a less repressive counternarcotics policy. Contrary to expectations, the peace agreements led to a rise in homicide rates in areas previously controlled by FARC. By integrating multiple datasets and using comparative interrupted time series, this paper reveals a significant change in homicide rates in municipalities with previous FARC presence after the peace accords. The rise in post-conflict violence in these municipalities is ascribed to the combination of FARC withdrawal and unanticipated crime incentives, which does not necessarily imply the failure of the counternarcotics policy. </p>

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“…In contemporary civil wars, war economies often revolve around the relevance of alternative sources of self-financing for armed actors in the post-Cold War era. These sources of revenue may include extortion, oil, diamond, or drug trafficking (Collier and Hoeffler 1998;Collins and Alarcón 2021;Nwosu 2023). The concept of a 'war economy' refers to an intricate system of economic structures that involve combat, shadow, and coping economies.…”

Section: Literature In Post-conflict Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The counternarcotics policies began in the early Nixonian war on drugs. The following decades were characterized by the government's 'kingpin strategy', targeting key members of drug cartels (Collins and Alarcón 2021). With the capture and death of Pablo Escobar in 1993 the power vacuum left in the illegal drug business was sought to be filled by FARC and right-far forces Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC in Spanish) (Franz 2016).…”

Section: Conflict and Counternarcotics Policy In Colombiamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of a Less Repressive Counternarcotics Policy on Post-conflict Violence

Alvarez

2024

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>This paper examines the connection between post-conflict violence and crime incentives. The argument is that violence should increase after the peace signature due to the regulatory role of illegal actors in a war economy. Colombia made history by signing a peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas, which was hailed as one of the most inclusive and progressive ever but also marked a significant shift towards a less repressive counternarcotics policy. Contrary to expectations, the peace agreements led to a rise in homicide rates in areas previously controlled by FARC. By integrating multiple datasets and using comparative interrupted time series, this paper reveals a significant change in homicide rates in municipalities with previous FARC presence after the peace accords. The rise in post-conflict violence in these municipalities is ascribed to the combination of FARC withdrawal and unanticipated crime incentives, which does not necessarily imply the failure of the counternarcotics policy. </p>

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Contemporary narcoterrorism in Latin America. A case of Colombia and Mexico

Bobkier¹

2022

Zeszyty Naukowe Państwowej Wyższej Szkoły Zawodowej Im. Witelona W Legnicy

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At the end of the Cold War, the term "narcoterrorism" was coined. This concept originally meant ties between drug dealers and terrorist organizations and the countries of the Soviet bloc. The definition of this phenomenon, developed later, is ambiguous and means both methods attributed to terrorists, applied by drug cartels and the financing of their activities by terrorist groups through drug trafficking. This article deals with the first of these meanings and discusses the situation in two Latin American countries. The Colombian Medellin cartel was the first to use typical terrorist measures. Criminals carried out bomb attacks on public buildings, planes and attacks on politicians. In doing so, they wanted to achieve the goal of preventing the extradition of cartel leaders. Mass drug production has been going on since the 1930s in Mexico, but at the turn of 21st century, local criminal groups monopolized drug trafficking routes to the US. In 2006, an attempt by the state to combat this practice resulted in a long-term "drug war", in which several hundred thousand people were killed. There has also been an unprecedented increase in crime in the world, to the point where about 100 people are killed at the hands of the cartels in Mexico on a daily basis. The international community has almost unanimously labeled the activities of the Mexican drug cartels as terrorism. Only the opinion expressed in Mexican literature differed in that respect. The cooperation of these cartels with terrorist organizations turned out to constitute another threat to international security. This kind of cooperation can bring mutual benefits to terrorist groups and the countries supporting them – especially in the case of money laundering. The long-term operation of cartels has created the phenomenon of "drug culture" in Latin American communities, glorifying the terrorist activities of cartels and the figures of their leaders.

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Colombia, the Drug Wars and the Politics of Drug Policy Displacement – from La Violencia to UNGASS 2016

Cited by 3 publications

References 29 publications

The Effects of a Less Repressive Counternarcotics Policy on Post-conflict Violence

The Effects of a Less Repressive Counternarcotics Policy on Post-conflict Violence

The Effects of a Less Repressive Counternarcotics Policy on Post-conflict Violence

Contemporary narcoterrorism in Latin America. A case of Colombia and Mexico

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