scholarly journals Estudios de ignorancia, inteligencia y la guerra contra las drogas en Colombia/ Ignorance studies, intelligence and the war on drugs in Colombia

2017 ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Javier Guerrero Castro
Keyword(s):  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Paradoxical Results ◽  
Allowed State

Resumen Los enormes recursos invertidos en la inteligencia en la guerra contra las drogas han permitido a las agencias estatales acumular un importante conocimiento sobre el actuar de las redes internacionales del narcotráfico. La inteligencia juega un papel central en la planeación y conducción de operaciones de interdicción marítima. La utilización de la inteligencia en este tipo de operaciones tiene, sin embargo, limitaciones; y no menos importante, la interpretación y reinterpretación que se hace de los resultados. Propongo que los estudios de ignorancia pueden servir para explicar estos resultados paradójicos, así como el rol y los límites de la inteligencia en la guerra contra las drogas. En este artículo se reflexiona sobre las posibilidades de los estudios de ignorancia para entender las diferentes interpretaciones del uso de la inteligencia y los resultados de esta. El presente análisis se basa en una serie de entrevistas realizadas a miembros de la Armada en diversas partes del país.   Abstract The enormous resources invested in intelligence in the war on drugs have allowed state agencies to accumulate a valuable knowledge about the actions of international drug trafficking networks. Intelligence plays a central role in planning and conducting maritime interdiction operations. The use of intelligence in this type of operations, however, has limitations, not least the interpretation and reinterpretation of the results. I propose that studies of ignorance can serve to explain these paradoxical results, as well as the role and limits of intelligence in the war on drugs. In this article, we reflect on the possibilities of ignorance studies to understand the different interpretations of the use of intelligence and the results of this. The present analysis was based on a series of interviews with members of the Navy in various regions of the country.

Part II UN Core Conventions on Transnational Organised Crime, 6 The Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988 and the Global War on Drugs

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vogler Richard ◽  
Fouladvand Shahrzad
Keyword(s):  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Psychotropic Substances ◽  
Global War ◽  
Control Regime ◽  
Illicit Traffic ◽  
Narcotic Drugs

This chapter examines the origins of the global drug control regime that was established between 1961 and 1988, the cornerstone of which is the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988 (the Trafficking Convention). It attempts to explain how the humanistic and philanthropic enterprise represented by the Trafficking Convention and supported by overwhelming international sentiment has become distorted by state policy and organised crime to become the source of wars, offending, disease, and loss of life on an unprecedented scale. It suggests that the unremittingly penal and prohibitive approach to the problem of illicit drugs represented by the Trafficking Convention has served only to magnify the criminality associated with drug trafficking and it concludes by considering the ways in which states have sought to escape from the Convention’s restrictions as well as investigating contemporary moves for reform.

Coercive Inclusion in the Mexican War on Drugs: A Field Study of Human Rights and the State in Michoacán

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 91-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Wolfesberger
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Private Property ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Moral Rights ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Mexican War ◽  
Drug Trafficking Organizations ◽  
Derechos Humanos

Qualitative ethnographic study of the human rights violations committed in the course of the militarized combat against drug trafficking organizations in rural Michoacán unmasks state practices of coercive inclusion. The violation of human rights and the subsequent processing of human rights claims paradoxically bind the marginalized population to the formal state and foster its subordination. The practical configuration of the current arena of human rights is not the lever for a democratic, inclusive Mexico but a curtain that conceals the repressive practices that it makes possible. In the processing of human rights complaints, the legal rights of physical integrity and private property become moral rights with no effect of legal justice. Un estudio etnográfico cualitativo sobre las violaciones a los derechos humanos cometidas durante la lucha militarizada contra las organizaciones de tráfico de drogas en el Michoacán rural sirve para desenmascarar las prácticas de inclusión coercitiva del Estado. Las violaciones y el posterior procesamiento de las denuncias paradójicamente vinculan a la población marginada con el Estado oficial, fomentando su subordinación. La configuración práctica del actual contexto de los derechos humanos no funge como la palanca de un México democrático e inclusivo, sino como una cortina que oculta las prácticas represivas que el Estado hace posibles. En la tramitación de las denuncias sobre violación de derechos humanos, los derechos legales de la integridad física y la propiedad privada se convierten en derechos morales sin ningún efecto de justicia legal.

scholarly journals US IN LATIN AMERICA: KEY CURRENT INTERESTS AND METHODS OF THEIR ADVANCEMENT

2017 ◽  
pp. 52-66
Author(s):  
T. Kulinich
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Latin American Countries

The present article reviews the current set of interests of the United States of America in respect of Latin American countries. The author believes that the key groups of interests pursued by the US in Latin America are as follows: political and security interests, economic interests, and combined interests, the most important of the latter being the interests relating to combating drug trafficking. The author believes that the economic interest, albeit being a secondary one in terms of formal hierarchy of interests, is in fact one of the core US interests in the region at present. The US is interested to preserve its influence upon the Latin American market, and further engage the Latin American workforce and industrial capacities to the benefit of the US economy. The US pursues its interests in Latin America, inter alia, through various integration projects, including NAFTA, CAFTA-DR, FTAA, and a range of free trade areas. The article also addresses the interest of the US in the field of prevention of drug trafficking, which constitutes an important area of cooperation between the US and the Latin American countries concerned. The author argues that, despite the fact that the current outcomes of the ongoing war on drugs may be perceived as controversial, the issue in question serves as a strong factor contributing to the growth of the US influence over, and its presence within, the region. The article also reviews key methods used by the US to further its interests in Latin America, including the classical methods and those relating to soft power.

scholarly journals “Only Versace”: Knock-Offs, Ostentation, and Desire amid the Mexican War on Drugs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (29) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Isaac Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Mexican War ◽  
Mass Graves ◽  
Complex Landscape ◽  
Underground Economies

ince the war on drugs began in 2007, Mexico has accumulated more than 250,000 murders and 70,000 disappearances. A complex landscape of criminal organisations has been shaping the violent conditions in the country, accompanied by an imaginary that projects their presence in multiple forms. We can identify a dire example with the bodies found in mass graves that are still wearing their clothes, often designer knock-offs inspired by the wardrobes of drug lords. In this scenario, I argue that an overlap exists between two underground economies: drug trafficking and counterfeit clothing. To understand this relation and its connection to criminal power, my analysis focuses on one of the basic aspects of organised crime: governance, especially its symbolic vein as well as its interpretation and dissemination through media outlets. The names of my interlocutors have been changed in order to protect their security.

scholarly journals Drug Trafficking and Youth Mortality in Brazil: An Expression of Human Rights’ Violations

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (34) ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Motta Costa ◽  
Dani Rudnicki ◽  
Julia Maia Goldani
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Criminal Policy ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Victims Of Violence ◽  
Social Causes

This paper aims to analyze the intersectional problematic that surrounds the vio-lations of adolescents’ human rights that happen in Brazil nowadays. It focuses, more specifically, on the involvement of these youths with drug trafficking, and on the relations between their participation in crime and the rising mortality rates amidst young age groups. A large part of Brazil’s children and teenagers grow up in contexts of social vulnerability, lack of opportunities, difficult access to economical assets, and personal devaluation. This situation often pushes young individuals into involvement with drug trafficking or armed robbery, since crime represents, in their context, a possibility for economic and social ascendance. In parallel, the criminal policy adopted by the Brazilian State, synthesized in the expression “war on drugs” and manifested in the promulgation of Law 11.343/06, focuses on repressive police actions, and favors imprisonment, while doing nothing to attack the social causes of the problem. The result is the mass incarceration of young and economically disfavored individuals as well as, not infrequently, their deaths during police approaches, characterizing a situation where these adoles-cents are both perpetuators and victims of violence.

scholarly journals THE TRANSATLANTIC NARCO-NEXUS: SOUTH AMERICA, AFRICA, AND EUROPE IN THE CONTEMPORARY DRUG-TRAFFICKING DYNAMICS

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 378-394
Author(s):  
Thiago Rodrigues ◽  
Carol Viviana Porto ◽  
Adriano de Freixo
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
South American ◽  
Illegal Drugs ◽  
Drug Trafficking Organizations ◽  
History Of

The article analyzes the contemporary transatlantic flow of illegal drugs, taking on account the current transformation of the connections among South American, African and European Drug-Trafficking Organizations (ODTs) and the tendency to securitize this traffic which interests the Brazilian public, national and regional security and diplomatic policies. The article presents a history of the transatlantic drug-trafficking and the its contemporary contours in order to suggest viable initiatives to cope with this new and aggravated panorama pushed through by the so-called “war on drugs”.

Violence, Governance, and Economic Development at the U.S.-Mexico Border: The Case of Nuevo Laredo and Its Lessons

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freddy Mariñez Navarro ◽  
Leonardo Vivas
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Illegal Drug ◽  
Border City ◽  
Drug Trafficking Organizations ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
Political Economy Analysis ◽  
Cartel Violence ◽  
The U.S

The paper seeks to make sense of the impacts and responses to the current war on drugs in Nuevo Laredo. In it, the impacts of Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) in Nuevo Laredo as well as prospects for recovery are examined from three perspectives: a political economy analysis of competitiveness in a border city; the specifics of illegal drug business in Mexico as compared to Colombia using Michael Porter's “Competitiveness Diamond”; and the strategies of local government to regain governance. The results are summarized in five theses about how Nuevo Laredo's international trade culture affects how they cope with cartel violence.

scholarly journals The evolution of drug trafficking and organized crime in Latin America

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Bagley
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Control Policies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Criminal Groups ◽  
Drug Economy ◽  
Illicit Drug Trafficking

This article analyses the evolution of illegal drug economy in the Americas over the past two decades. It identifies eight key trends that have characterized illicit drug trafficking and organized crime as of mid-2011. They are: (1) The increasing globalization of drug consumption; (2) The limited victories and unintended consequences of the U. S. -led ‘War on Drugs’; (3) The proliferation of cultivation areas and of drug smuggling routes; (4) The dispersion and fragmentation of organized criminal groups; (5) The failure of political reform and state-building efforts; (6) The inadequacies U. S. domestic drug and crime control policies; (7) The ineffectiveness of regional and international drug control policies; (8) The growing support for legalization debate.

scholarly journals Taboo or pragmatism? Lopez Obrador’s dilemma over drug trafficking

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
Esteban Arratia Sandoval ◽  
Aldo Garrido Quiroz
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Illicit Market ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
Damage Limitation

During his election campaign, the new president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, proposed to grant an amnesty to those involved in drug production and trafficking in order to end the war on drugs, thus moving between taboo and pragmatism. Undoubtedly, this initiative is a radical change in the state approach to this conflict, as it involves typical tools of a peace process, such as demobilization, reintegration and transitional justice. But what are the main risks of this offer? This reflection paper aims to answer this question, analyzing, from a qualitative approach, the main constraints of this proposal. The main conclusion is that an amnesty is only a damage limitation strategy since it does not seek to de-escalate the illicit market, but to model its behavior—low profile, with no open confrontation position, and moderate mortality rates.

The Long Arm of the Law

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kal Raustiala
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Reagan Administration ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
The United States ◽  
District Court ◽  
International Police Cooperation ◽  
International Border

Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez was driving in San Felipe, Mexico on a winter’s day in 1986 when he was stopped by several Mexican police officers. The officers arrested Verdugo-Urquidez, placed him in the back of an unmarked car, and forced him to lie down on the seat with his face covered by a jacket. A Mexican citizen, Verdugo-Urquidez was believed to be one of the leading members of a major drug cartel and was suspected of participating in the brutal murder of Enrique Camarena-Salazar, an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). After a two-hour drive north the Mexican officers walked Verdugo-Urquidez to the international border, where he was transferred to U.S. Border Patrol agents. He was then brought to a federal detention center in San Diego. Working with the Mexican Federal Judicial Police, DEA agents based in Mexico searched Verdugo-Urquidez’s residences in Mexicali and San Felipe, where they found incriminating documents relating to drug trafficking. This seemingly smooth example of international police cooperation ran into a hurdle once Verdugo-Urquidez faced trial in the United States. His lawyers sought to suppress the evidence, arguing that it had been obtained without a warrant and in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” The district court agreed, declaring that the Fourth Amendment applied to the search in Mexico. The court called the search a “joint venture” of the DEA and the Mexican police. Because the DEA had failed to obtain a warrant, and because the search was improperly handled, the district court held that the incriminating evidence had to be suppressed pursuant to what is usually called the “exclusionary rule.” The Reagan administration immediately appealed the ruling. Drug trafficking had become a major concern of the United States in the 1980s, and the DEA overseas activities at issue in the Verdugo-Urquidez case were an important front line in what was commonly termed the war on drugs. If the Constitution regulated searches and seizures outside the United States, the DEA and other agencies would have to revamp their approach to foreign criminal investigations.

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