ANTINARCOTICS
STRATEGY IN COLOMBIA:
MILITARIZATION OF DEMOCRACY AND LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY*
María Clemencia Ramirez
−ABSTRACT−
Upon the end of the Cold War, the Drug War came in
to replace the pretext used to guarantee U.S. Armed Forces’ hegemony in Latin
America and the Caribbean. In Colombia
after 9/11, the Drug War and the anti-terrorist war, or counter insurgent war,
progressively began overlapping. With Alvaro
Uribe’s ascension to power on August 7th 2002, the
U.S. Congress −under Presidential Directive of August 2, 2002− removed restrictions so that Colombia could use
antinarcotics resources in a unified battle not only against narcotics
trafficking but also against organizations classified as terrorist, such as the
ELN, FARC and AUC. This process of
expanding militarization, together with Colombia’s loss of autonomy regarding
anti-drug policies, comes to undermine the Colombian state’s sovereignty.
Democracy and the Drug War: The Andean Regional
Initiative, launched by the Bush administration on May 16th 2001, is
put forth as regional cooperation against drug trafficking and its stated aim
is to secure democracy for the Region. The fact that the Drug War has become
not only a counter-insurgent war but also an anti-terrorist war −furthermore
defined as a struggle against those crimes that might generate social upheaval
which can unbalance a political and institutional regime− distorts the
programs aimed at strengthening democracy, human rights, alternative
development, and the rule of law. Instead of contributing to consolidating democracy
and respect for human rights, these programs bear the mark of expanding militarization
and US intervention in the country’s domestic affairs.
Democratic stability and trade bargaining:
The anti-narcotics struggle has been incorporated into regional trade
negotiations. By using the War on Drugs as leverage, the US seeks to speed up
the establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA in its Spanish
acronym), geared to favor U.S. interests as of the crisis following 9/11 and
global recession.
Judicial reforms:
Reforms to the judiciary have been framed, firstly, within a neoliberal perspective of justice, namely, an
authoritarian-focused pacification process as an essential requisite for
markets to operate smoothly. Secondly, they are proposed as of the idea of
promoting a counter-narcotics political agenda which strengthens Colombia’s
penal apparatus to the point that the right to a due process is often
disregarded. This tendency can be observed in the programs to strengthen the
judicial system developed since 1986 and those which are now being implemented
under the Plan Colombia.
Considering the framework of growing militarization
and repression of U.S. anti-drug policies, programs funded under the Plan
Colombia are on the whole destined to fulfill Drug War requirements rather than
satisfy Colombia’s domestic needs.
* Research developed through the WOLA-sponsored
project: “Dangerous Exports: the Impact
of US Foreign Anti-Drug Policies on Democracy and Human Rights in Latin
America” and presented at the Cartagena Thematic
World Social Forum, June 16/20 2003.
Translated from Spanish by MM Moreno
Mama Coca
www.mamacoca.org