U.S.-Colombia : an Analysis of their Relationship. The colombian war on drugs between 1970 and 1990

Résumé du document

The early 1980s saw Pablo Escobar reached its peak in terms of economic power and popular support. Colombia's parsimonious commitment to the war on drugs had not yet affected all its different actors at that time.

Extraits

[...] Alexandra Guáqueta believes that Colombia's active and early engagement in these international debates was more related to the image of Colombian rulers regarding their country's place on the international scene - that of a respectable Western bloc nation. - under foreign pressure. Far from "coercive diplomacy", but rather an alignment of interests largely in line with the institutional routines of the foreign diplomatic circles of the time. The drug problem was undergoing other forms of internationalization. Collaboration between the Colombian police and the US anti-trafficking agencies began in the mid-1970s. But the internationalization of the subject did not upset nor reshape the administrative routines, neither in Bogotá nor in Washington. [...]

[...] The "sinister window" as the press called it, allowed the legal laundering of millions of dollars from the drug traffic. More broadly, such a system exemplified the weight of financial considerations in decision-making circles regarding drug trafficking. In order for the colombian government to reestablish its sovereignty over the traffic, an extradition treaty was signed in 1979. It did not initially raise any major opposition. This was purely a diplomatic question that found no meeting point in the domestic political game. [...]

[...] As a parliamentarian, Lara was one of the most prominent protagonists in denouncing drug traffickers. Once a minister, he ordered investigations against major traffickers, including Pablo Escobar. He publicly said he was in favor of extradition, going against the official position of the President. He even tried to override the opposition on this particular matter; thus, in August 1983, shortly after taking office, Lara met with the US ambassador and suggested that she send a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for the extradition of Carlos Lehder. [...]

[...] He was the only personality in the colombian government to consider the drug problem a threat to society. On March Lara organized a joint operation between the Colombian police and the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to search for the Tranquilandia complex, a cocaine production unit located in the Caquetá Forests, where police seized nearly fourteen tons of cocaine. The property belonged to drug traffickers from Medellín. A few weeks later, on April Lara was assassinated. This triggered reaction among the executive. [...]

[...] Thus, an experimental aerial spray program, targeting primarily marijuana plantations, was adopted in December 1983. For this purpose, a service responsible for the coordination of air operations was created within the national police force. The assassination of Lara was followed by similar operations, shown by the government as a response against drug traffickers. Lara's successor, Enrique Parejo, became a staunch defender of this method. In 1984 the Paraquat herbicide, banned by the US Congress because of its high toxicity, was replaced by Glyphosate, which facilitated the adoption of a new spray program. [...]