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What Obama Can Do About Latin America
Published December 04, 2008 @ 05:12AM PT
Foreign Policy in Focus released a fascinating report last week on the state of our failed Drug War policies in Latin America and the reforms President-elect Barack Obama can enact upon taking office.
Our efforts to eradicate cocaine production in Latin America have been a costly, destructive failure. Plan Colombia, begun in the late 1990s under President Bill Clinton, has cost billions of dollars (almost $1 billion a year in recent years), done serious harm to the environment by spraying chemicals on coca and non-coca fields, and it hasn't reduced the supply of cocaine. In 2007, FPIF reports, coca production increased 27% in Colombia. Peru and Bolivia also saw increases in production in 2007, despite American efforts to eradicate the sacred crop.
And our policies in these Andean nations are not only failing, they're burning bridges, too. Coca is part of the culture in Bolivia, where President Evo Morales has begun a "Coca Yes, Cocaine No" campaign. Our brute force efforts in Colombia have strained the country's relationship with Ecuador, its southern neighbor, where Colombia's civil war has spilled for years like the toxic runoff our crop-spraying planes are pouring into the rainforest.
The FPIF article raises two main suggestions for Obama:
1. Listen to local policymakers, and work with them to try new approaches that may work. Report author Coletta Youngers writes:
In so doing, it must recognize that the one-size-fits-all approach to drug control is fundamentally flawed and that communities and countries need the flexibility to develop and experiment with policies that best fit their own realities.
2. Expand treatment programs at home and support already-developing movements in Latin America to decriminalize drug use and provide treatment options. Youngers reports on some very encouraging developments in Ecuador:
Ecuador is also taking the lead in addressing the problem of notoriously harsh drug laws that have led to massive prison overcrowding, a problem across the region but that is particularly acute in Ecuador. The weight of these laws falls disproportionately on the poor, who often engage in small-scale drug dealing for lack of employment opportunities and tend to be the target of police actions, rather than the criminal networks that run the drug trade. Presently, Ecuador has a 12-year mandatory minimum and a 25-year maximum sentence for anyone convicted of a drug-related offense. Yet the maximum sentence for murder is only 16 years. As a result, a small-time trafficker can end up with a higher sentence than a mass murderer. This should change once implementing legislation for the new constitution is enacted.
In the meantime, the Ecuadorian government has launched a program to pardon "mules," as people convicted of carrying small amounts of illicit drugs, are known. The program will benefit "mules" who meet certain conditions: They must have served 10% of their sentence, been convicted of carrying two kilos or less, and not be a repeat offender. An estimated 1,200 prisoners could ultimately benefit and this policy will ease prison overcrowding. The Ecuadorian government believes this is a more just approach: those who have committed crimes should be punished, but sanctioned reasonably. Government officials also state that as part of its new strategy, police forces will focus on dismantling drug trafficking networks rather than meeting arrest quotas to impress Washington.
The facts are clear: our efforts over the last decade to control the supply of drugs - especially cocaine - from Latin America have failed. Progressive leaders to our south are trying innovative programs to decrease demand, rather than supply, and we should join them in this new vision. The United States' relationship with Latin American nations has deteriorated over the last eight years, as it has with almost every country on Earth. It's time to reopen the dialogue and try something new.
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Matt Kelley
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Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.
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Please support the Bolivian government in its struggle with the opposition. Morales deserves to succeed.
Posted by Durell Douthit on 12/04/2008 @ 08:43AM PT
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Great post. It's true - the U.S. isn't willing to deal with the demand side of the drug economies in Latin America. When it comes to drugs - leaders need look at ourselves first in order to figure out why these businesses are booming. Or they need to be willing to pay more for sustainable agriculture products because since we moved our purchasing of products like banana's and coffee to countries like Vietnam, the Latin American countries have had to rely on "other" products to create income.
Investing in the development of technology, green industries or other innovative products could help thwart the proliferation of the drug trade by replacing it with other lucrative measures. For instance, there are very few computers produced in Latin America. But perhaps developing a competitive technology market with their educated work force could be a good route to create more jobs.
I would personally like to see the Obama administration go after the true criminals in the drug trade - the corrupt government officials and the landowners. Often it is the landowners who force their farmers to grow the drugs (with a nod from the government at times). Regardless of this fact, the State Department has been indiscriminately spraying poisonous herbicide across the jungle which destroys the land and ruins sustainable agriculture production. This herbicide is also known to cause health problems for the local farmers exposed to it and who are mostly just serfs to the landowners and have no say about what they produce.
It's important to realize who is controlling the production, not who is planting the seed when it comes to dealing with the drug trade in Latin America. The U.S. needs to stop punishing the small farmers and instead broker industry deals with the land owners and government officials driving the production.
Posted by Jen N. on 12/04/2008 @ 09:17AM PT
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Excellent points Jen, thanks for writing. The devastating health effects of the herbicides are particularly infuriating. I lived for a while in northern Ecuador, and heard stories often about high levels of cancer from this stuff getting into the water and land.
Here are some scary numbers from studies in the last few years - one found cancer rates 800 percent higher than normal in the areas where the US is spraying.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38067
Posted by Matt Kelley on 12/04/2008 @ 02:50PM PT
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Thank you for addressing the problems of drugs without citing a need for paramilitary operations! If our trade policies were fair, fewer people would look to income from drugs. I really admire Evo Morales, and recently watched a 1/2 hour interview on DemocracyNow.Org. He wanted to allow small crops of coca leaf for each home for personal use. Now, there is a man who knows the people and is thinking about their welfare!
Posted by Sharon Tipton on 12/05/2008 @ 09:13AM PT
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We've personally had connections with families in Costa Rica, truly a 'rich coast.' Costa Ricans are very democratic and independent, yet perenially struggling to collect taxes to maintain infrastructure that would allow for better transport of their very best export---coffee. They were the last to sign up for CAFTA, largely because of their independent spirit, but also because they are also rather cynical as to how they might benefit. This beautiful little country needs our attention, not because they have a powerful military---they do not---but because they are respected and admired in Latin America and could prove to be very positive, stable friends in a world region where stability is the exception, not the rule.
Posted by Mary Schwindt on 12/06/2008 @ 10:53AM PT
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If drugs were legalized, the cartels couldn't compete with capitalism.
If drugs were legalized, we could tax them like the usual sin taxes placed on some of my favorite vices.
If drugs were legalized, we could use the drug-tax to provide funds for treatment options.Drugs have been with us as long as sex & religion.As long as we continue to be human beings; i'm thinking we need to learn to just manage them as best we can. ugh..
Posted by g o on 12/06/2008 @ 05:44PM PT
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Our country should begin this by supporting legitimate democracy in Latin American.
Posted by Chris Retzler on 12/06/2008 @ 09:32PM PT
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Chris, I agree. We've smashed democracies in many Latin American countries and replaced them with administrations that allow US corporations to exploit resources and commit human rights abuses. John Perkins wrote of this in his autobiography, Diary of An Economic Hit Man. I've just watched Voces Inocentes which portrays the life of a young man in El Salvador who has to flee frm the US backed Salvardoan military who is trying to recruit 10 year olds. Based on a true story, it exemplifies how people are affected by our trade policies. And that we would harm people in such ways (Chevron - Nigeria, Nestle - Costa Rica (?), etc. is a heart breaking American tragedy. Here's the first part - I recommend purchasing it for the subtitles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkVPsBEWFWU
Posted by Sharon Tipton on 12/06/2008 @ 11:31PM PT
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How about demilitarizing Latin America? Close down the "School of the Americas" at Fort Bragg and stop training death squads. We definitely shouldn't subsidize governments like Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala in oppressing their own people. To me, this is much more important than closing Guantanamo.
Posted by Scott Singleton on 12/07/2008 @ 06:10PM PT
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I think when we talk about Coca we can't use generalities and should be more nuanced. Coca is a sacred leaf in Bolivia aind Peru, but in Colombia it's an introduced crop that is cultivated strictly for cocaine production. In addition, in Bolivia and Peru, part of the coca grown in these countries is for transformation into cocaine.
I live in Bolivia and here the cocaine trade has managed to stay relatively peaceful in comparison to Colombia and Mexico. Coca production has increased dramatically over the past several years, well beyond justification for local consumption for cultural use, that is for chewing the leaves and medicinal purposes.
People should know that coca production comes at a cost. Coca grows in sub-tropical and tropical areas and the expansion of coca production, mainly for transformation into cocaine, translates into destruction of primary forest habitat. In addition, cocaine laboratories located in areas where coca is produced contaminate rivers and water supplies with the toxic chemicals used to convert coca into a paste. This pollution poisons animals and humans consuming water from these rivers. Finally, there is a slow increase locally in the consumption of coca paste.
Evo, while admirable in standing up the US, has failed to do the same with his own constituents. His background is a coca union leader. Evo has been reluctant to have these unions stick to agreements on limiting coca production. He is a difficult bind to halt what's going on in fear of alienating his base of support. The question is whether increased coca production and cocaine processing will have the same consecuences here as has ocurred in other countries tightly linked to the drug trade. High rates of violence and organized crime.
Another issue we should address before legalization is the emptiness people must feel in the US and Europe to be consuming cocaine. What's going on in these rich societies?
Posted by Evan Meyer on 12/08/2008 @ 05:45AM PT
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Evan, you sound informed about coca. What do you think about Evo's proposal to allow plots of coca for each home. I suppose this would be in conjunction with eradicating cash crops.
Posted by Sharon Tipton on 12/08/2008 @ 12:21PM PT
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Evan, a question: If the US were to support Evo rather that the Separatists, would Evo be in a stronger position to ride herd on those who mis-use coca production? It seems simple justice to support the Bolivian government, and it might also have the affect of stabilizing coca production.
Posted by Durell Douthit on 12/08/2008 @ 12:50PM PT
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The U.S. should realize that the reason for coca yes cocaine no is that the process for distilling cocaine is a disgusting process that is done to decrease the bulk of the coca plant so that it is easier to smuggle into other countries, The U.S. should take a new stance on drug policy so that the human ingestion of the coca plant and its subsidies can be clean. In Bolivia for instance the Coca plant is used in making Coca-cookies as well other confectionaries.
Posted by Philip Winterhof on 12/10/2008 @ 08:54PM PT
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well said,, thanks :)~ come on america, your behind,,, ja ja ja
Posted by cody whitewind on 05/10/2009 @ 03:45PM PT
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