Colombia War On Drugs
President Nixon declared the war on drugs on June 17th, 1971. The war on drugs has been defined as “a series of actions tending towards the prohibition of illegal drug trade.” This declaration has allowed for a variety of policies and legislative actions to be implemented over the past 45 years. One of the main actions taken by the United States has been the adoption of a multilateral military approach in combating the drug issue that continues to plague American societies. In 1999, President Clinton worked alongside Colombia’s President Pastrana Andrés to establish ‘Plan Colombia’, a military aid/intervention that ultimately targeted the source of drugs, coca crops, in hope of eradicating the ongoing societal drug issue in the United States …show more content…
Over the past 16 years, ‘Plan Colombia’ has been an ongoing process that’s constantly critiqued. The first goal of this initiative was to reduce the cultivation, processing, and distribution of illegal narcotics by 50 percent within six years of implementation. However, according to an October 2008 GAO report, this goal was not met. The GAO report highlights that from the years 2000 to 2006, the cultivation of opium poppy to produce heroin declined by 50 percent, however, the cultivation of coca increased by 15 percent and the production of cocaine increased by 4 percent. The second goal of this initiative was to improve overall security in Colombia through reclaiming the land that was conquered by illegal armed groups. As a result, the GAO concludes that Colombia has experienced improvement in regards to security through enhancing military and police operations that physically targeted these organized criminal enterprises and insurgent groups, in addition to targeting their finances. However, Colombia still has a long way ahead of them before the illegal armed groups stop being a threat to the government and become more of a law enforcement problem. The 2008 GAO report acknowledges that since 2000, the United States has provided $4.9 billion to Colombia as monetary assistance for their military and police …show more content…
However, despite the reliance on the food and agriculture sector, Colombia’s drug trade makes up 1 percent of the country’s GDP, and the cartels are estimated to export $10 billion annually. To put this into perspective, this means that the illegal drug trade roughly makes up a quarter of Colombia’s legal exports. Out of the $10 billion annually exported by the drug cartels, $4.6 billion of the profits were exports sent to the United States. According to a report released by Business Insider, about 90 percent of the cocaine used by American’s originate from Colombia. In addition, Colombian groups control the distribution of cocaine and heroin in the United States across 40 different cities, primarily located in the
A Brief Overview Of The Book Homegrown By Isaac Campos
763 Words | 4 PagesThus, this book also traces the origins of prohibitionist drug laws in Mexico and later the origins of Mexico’s war on drugs.
Annotated Bibliography On The Calderon's War
1632 Words | 7 PagesFor years, the United States and Mexico have been engaged in operations to halt the production of drugs south of the border as well as their shipment to the United States, which is world’s largest drug market. However, the genesis of the current Drug War is commonly traced back to the 2000s for a couple of reasons. Just days after taking office in December 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon kicked off a veritable “war” against the cartels when he sent 6,500 soldiers and police into his home state of Michoacan to organized crime in this area. Mexican society is largely homogeneous and socially conservative.
Pros And Cons Of Operation Intercept
856 Words | 4 PagesMany critics believe that because of the way drugs are looked down upon society, they become ever more enticing to buy them even through illegal and dangerous means. For instance, President Richard Nixon said in 1971 that “America’s public enemy number one in the United States [was] drug abuse,” and because of this, “it [was] necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive” (Sharp, 1994). Another drugfree advocate, William Bennett, who served in office as the Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, blamed the drug problem squarely on the loose and unethical morals of corrupt people. Another reason that Nixon’s War of Drugs was ineffective was in that the federal government could only prosecute national crimes, handing over the responsibility to the local law enforcement to keep the streets safe, meaning it would have to cross state lines to be under federal judication. Operation Intercept’s main contribution to the drug trade has been the restructuring of how drugs were exported.
Racial Caste System In The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander
748 Words | 3 PagesTo build support for this war Reagan made sure to publicize this all over the media. It was a grand success. Images of “crack dealers” and “crack babies” were seen all over the news. These images of the purposed inner city life of people of color led to the war that is now known as the War on Drugs. In just a mere thirty years the incarceration population increased from 300,000 to 2 million.
President Nixon War On Drugs Essay
1069 Words | 5 PagesThe American foreign policy on war on drugs is an important matter that came about in June of 1971 by President Richard Nixon. He increased the presence and the size of the federal drug control agencies. He also pushed for mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants for the war on drugs. This is also when President Nixon put marijuana in schedule one, which is the most restrictive category for drugs. There were many things that led up to the why President Nixon put the American foreign policy for the war on drugs in place.
President Richard Nixon And The War On Drugs
356 Words | 2 PagesIn 1970, President Richard Nixon, in response to the drug use coupled with the hippie counterculture of the late 1960s, signed the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) which enacted a method of classifying drugs by categorizing them into five schedules, schedule one considered to be the most dangerous. Shortly following this act, in June of 1971, Nixon declared “The War On Drugs”, famously naming drugs and drug abuse “Public enemy number one”. (History.com, 2016). Following Nixon’s presidency, many presidents and administrations, including Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, have continued the support for The War on Drugs, but where are the results? It seems today that the abuse of drugs is worse than ever before.
Summary Of Andean Cocaine By Paul Gootenberg
947 Words | 4 PagesIntroduction Written and published in 2008 by Paul Gootenberg, History professor and Latin American studies at University of New York at Stony Brook, “Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global drug” retraces the pivotal stages of the illicit cocaine trafficking, starting from the boundless coca fields in Latin America to the chemistry laboratories in Europe up until the streets of U.S. cities. The aim of this book review is to provide the reader with a short but detailed insight of what is the main content of the book, by paying particular attention to its structure, objectivity and style. Scope & Organisation Adopting a meticulous chronological approach, Gootenberg describes the infamous and complex untold history of cocaine, analysing and
Summary Of The War On Drugs
705 Words | 3 PagesDanielle Allen who is a “political theorist” wrote this article to bring perspective on the effects of the “War on Drugs” declared by late President Nixon, on mainly the African-American communities, and minorities. This war was meant to stop drug abuse to improve our communities, instead, it turned into a war on the people of our country. Danielle Allen begins with what we hold as truths in our society by quoting amendments from the Declaration of Independence, “that all the people are created equal…that among these are Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness”. She created a platform of these truths to remind the reader of beliefs and values of the American society. She also used Declaration of Independence further creating with an overview of the issues that we are facing today.
Gang Violence In Central America
1644 Words | 7 PagesThe purpose of this research is to draw a connection between a history of gang violence in Central America and drug trafficking in Mexico and Central American and Mexican migration patterns to the U.S. Beyond that, this paper highlights U.S. involvement in the increase of gang violence specifically in Honduras and El Salvador, and how the U.S. demand for narcotics has fueled the Drug War throughout Latin America but mostly in Mexico. This paper also shows how U.S. policies on the legalization of certain drugs and criminal justice reforms can decrease illegal immigration and improve the lives of people seeking to migrate north. Introduction As large numbers of Central American and Mexican migrants continue to cross the United States’ southern border, many
The Decriminalization Of Drugs In The United States
1077 Words | 5 PagesEssentially, although drugs have been held accountable for gang violence and other acts of violence that have occurred within communities, the illegality of drugs indeed may have aggravated the situation. In addition, it has become evident that one of the primary objectives of the war on drugs, which is to limit supply and demand, has been largely ineffective. CSDP (2007) “ According to the United Nations, profits in illegal drugs are so inflated that three-quarters of all drug shipments would have
Emigration In Latin America
787 Words | 4 PagesCauses for Emigration in Contemporary Latin America Similar to the Chinese of the 19th century, the United States is also a favorable destination of immigration to Latin Americans contemporarily. While Latin American nations do not face foreign threats as the Qing did, some nations face an equivalent, if not worse, economic hardships and violence. Instead of ubiquitous opium use and addiction, drug trafficking in Latin America presents threats to economic livelihood and personal security. In terms of statistics, In the list of major illicit drug producing/transit countries, approximately 60 percent of the countries are located in Latin America (Department of State 2015).
How Did Pablo Escobar Impact America
1772 Words | 8 PagesPablo Escobar’s Economic and Social Impact on Colombia and America Introduction Beginning in the early 1970s, Colombia began to develop economically for one significant reason: the Medellin Drug Cartel, beginning with the wealthiest, one of the most wanted men in the world, Pablo Escobar. Not only did Escobar impact Colombia economically and socially, but he also impacted the United States in a multitude of ways that are still seen in society today. Pablo Escobar, also known as the “King of Cocaine,” was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist during the 1970s, which became one of the wealthiest criminals in history. Throughout his “reign”, Escobar had many followers who believed he did good for the world, such as his charitable works like the building of schools, fields, and apartment complexes.
Counterculture Of The 80's
890 Words | 4 PagesThe use of narcotics like cocaine, claimed many lives and earned widespread coverage by media and news. Following this Nancy Reagan began the “War on Drugs”, a campaign to combat pre-existing drug usage and prevent future
Argumentative Essay On The War On Drugs
865 Words | 4 PagesSome may not be too familiar with the war on drugs and the effects it has had on the society we live in. The war on drugs was started by the Nixon administration in the early seventies. Nixon deemed drug abuse “public enemy number one”. This was the commencement of the war on drugs, this war has lasted to this day and has been a failure. On average 26 million people use opioids.
Persuasive Essay On War On Drugs
1794 Words | 8 PagesIn spite of the movement to abolish certain potent drugs, narcotics trafficking continues to pose a significant threat to even first-world societies. Nevertheless, the “War on Drugs” within the past few decades has weakened the grasp of drug traders, although this extends beyond the United States. Yet, millions of dollars have traded hands, as well as unfathomable amounts of illegal substances in the name of drugs, even after this advancement. While the problem is at its worst in less developed countries, the effects are still undoubtedly felt in more advanced nations. Bolstering this notion is the UN’s updated 2012 drug resolution, proclaiming that “despite continuing increased efforts by [worldwide governments], the world drug problem continues
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