Colombian President: Drug War Perhaps More Harmful Than All Wars in the World

...But There Is Not Much He Can Do To Change It

The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, received the Nobel Peace 

Juan Manuel Santos (Wikimedia Commons)

Prize last Saturday, December 10th. If you're not familiar, Colombia is now ending a 52-year civil war that took the lives of 220,000 people in which 80% of the victims were civilians. This was a war between government soldiers, paramilitary groups, and communist rebel forces. There were various paramilitary and rebel groups, but the two primary forces involved in this war were the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The AUC was an extreme right-wing paramilitary organization that served as a proxy for Colombia's military and the FARC is a communist-inspired rebel group. These two groups were responsible for the majority of the estimated 2,000 massacres that have occurred in Colombia since the 1980s. Thankfully, the Colombian government signed a peace agreement in September with the FARC and the plan is for their remaining 7,000 members is to disarm and form a political party.

One particular quote from Santos' acceptance speech was very remarkable:

"That is the great paradox I have found: while many who have not suffered the conflict in their own flesh are reluctant to accept peace, the victims are the ones who are most willing to forgive, to reconcile, and to face the future with a heart free of hate." 

He also said this:

"The manner in which this war against drugs is being waged is equally or perhaps even more harmful than all the wars the world is fighting today, combined. It is time to change our strategy."

The people of Colombia know the damage from the drug war all too well; the profits from drug trafficking helped fuel this civil war. An estimated 6.7 million Colombians (13% of the population) are categorized as "domestic refugees" or "internally displaced people," according to the United Nations. These people have been forced to flee their homes by the paramilitaries and/or rebel groups in a battle for territory. These land grabs have been for strategic warfare purposes and to enhance drug trafficking routes.

Th AUC and the FARC are responsible for an untold number of crimes against humanity. Both the paramilitaries and the rebels have used murder, rape, extortion, torture, and other violent acts as weapons of terror. Hence, both the AUC and the FARC have been officially designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. However, the U.S. government has essentially turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the AUC in order to suppress their communist rivals, the FARC.

The U.S. government began funding an initiative in 2000 known as "Plan Colombia" that provides the Colombian government with military aid for "counternarcotics" purposes. Several U.S. companies lobbied in favor of Plan Colombia because the FARC have conducted numerous attacks against major corporations. That includes several bombings of oil fields and the ransoming of wealthy business people. By the same token, the AUC has been linked with numerous U.S.-based corporations and it acted as an enforcer for those companies by killing or "disappearing" several human rights activists and union organizers.

The media rarely provides the full context of the drug war in Colombia. If you've been following the news in Colombia, then you are aware that the FARC is a major drug trafficking organization. However, that was not always the case. The Colombian government estimated in 2001 that paramilitary groups were responsible for 40% of country's cocaine exports as opposed to 2.5% by the FARC.(1) Albeit, the FARC substantially expanded into production as the war escalated by forcing Colombian farmers to grow cocaine. Nevertheless, the media has generally omitted the fact that the more powerful drug traffickers in Colombia have been the paramilitary groups. They grown in power primarily due to their connections with the military and key government officials. There are many more details about this in my upcoming book series, Rackets, in which you will see that the U.S. government has essentially continued fighting the Cold War under the pretense of the drug war.

The anti-drug mission has been a failure even though $10 billion has been spent on "Plan Colombia" over the course of sixteen years. With that said, Plan Colombia is partially responsible for the FARC entering into a peace agreement. Obviously, that is a fantastic result, but the ramifications from indirectly supporting the paramilitary organizations remain very visible. The AUC officially disbanded in 2006, but various AUC leaders formed their own paramilitary groups. One of which is "Los Urabeños," which is now arguably Colombia's most powerful drug trafficking / paramilitary organization. Likewise, a variety of other paramilitary groups continue to terrorize Colombians through waves of mass violence.

What can Colombia's President, Juan Manuel Santos, do to reduce the violence in his country? Unfortunately, there is not much that he can do. The vast majority of income for these paramilitary groups comes from the black market profits of the drug trade. Santos could decriminalize drugs in his own country, but that would have very little impact. After all, the demand for illegal drugs comes primarily from the U.S. and Europe. On the other hand, these organizations would be dismantled if the United States and a few European countries decriminalized drugs. Therefore, once again, there is not much President Santos can do other than plead to the world:

"The manner in which this war against drugs is being waged is equally or perhaps even more harmful than all the wars the world is fighting today, combined. It is time to change our strategy."

(1) Peter Dale Scott. Drugs, Oil, and War. Oxford: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, 2003. Print. P 73