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Are Drug Kingdoms South America's New Wave?
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16538 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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11 / 1989 |
2,653 Words |
| Author
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Richard B. Craig
Richard B. Craig is professor of political science at Kent
State University and author of The Barcero Program. His
research currently focuses on the inter-American politics of
narcotics. |
Recent events in Colombia have startled all but a handful of knowledgeable analysts. The unthinkable has actually been unfolding before our very eyes: A sovereign Latin American republic is literally at war with los narcos. The question now being asked is whether the Colombian scenario will soon be repeated elsewhere. Will Latin America's current drug fiefdoms become the cocaine kingdoms of the 1990s?
Before addressing this question through an analysis of events in Bolivia and Peru, it must be emphasized that foreign demand, emanating primarily from American and Western European consumers, is the very raison d'être of Latin America's narcotics dilemma. It should also be noted that no country in the hemisphere has managed to avoid the multiple impacts of traffic in narcotics. Illicit narcotics have affected virtually every Latin American and Caribbean country--politically, economically, socially, psychologically, and diplomatically. Bolivia is a clear case in point.
South America's poorest country is also the quintessential coca nation: Most Bolivians are involved, either directly or indirectly, in the coca culture. They grow the leaf, ceremonialize it, chew it, drink it, cook it, stomp it, refine it, smoke it, sell it, or seek to eradicate it. Coca's impact on Bolivian culture is such as to render it a vital national resource. Meanwhile, the social impacts of Bolivia's transition from a land of traditional coca chewers to a major producer of cocaine for export have been profound. Estimates vary as to how many individuals are involved in the coca-cocaine cycle, ranging from 200,000 coca farmers and their families to half a million employed in all phases of the enterprise, from cultivation to smuggling. No one, however,
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