NCJ Number
178463
Date Published
1997
Length
226 pages
Annotation
The focus of this book, written as a companion volume to the author's "Fire in the Andes: U.S. Foreign Policy and Cocaine Politics in Bolivia and Peru," is on the U.S. anti-drug policy that is being implemented in Colombia.
Abstract
How this policy effort came about, where it has gone, and where it appears to be going for better or worse in terms of its implementation in the 1990's are central interests of the study. In addition, a brief examination of the U.S. government's perception of the drug threat and the related policies that emanated from this are presented. Finally, appropriate observations, lessons learned, and conclusions concerning the case are rendered. The central thesis of this study is that even if the White House's anti-drug policy for Colombia is successful in the short term, its greater success will be relative and limited over the long term, and the Colombian drug trade will continue to flourish. This is because there are too many complicating factors, including high international demand, immense profits, a weak state system, and negative cultural attitudes and values toward law and justice that constantly undermine the ability of a supply-side anti-drug strategy. The primary criteria used in this study to determine whether the U.S. anti-drug policy in Colombia has worked are the amount of cocaine produced and the variation in its prices on the street. A rise in prices indicates a scarcity of cocaine coming into the United States, and a lowering of prices shows a ready availability of cocaine or even a saturation of the market. Here too the size of the user population is an indicator of drug policy success or failure. Overall, the U.S. government has given the supply-side control effort in the north-Andes its best effort, but it has neither resolved the narco-trafficking problem in Colombia nor created the necessary conditions for political and economic development and stability in that country, which could give the policy some chance for success. A 208-item bibliography and a subject index