Since the 1960’s, Columbia has been engaged in conflict with itself, but not the type of skirmish that was fought on American soil between the North and the South, but a battle between the right wing, left wing, drug trafficking, and land owning elites all vying for authority in the region. Currently, Columbia is a divided nation; separated into 3 distinct segments each representing a different ideology for Columbia’s future. “The Northwest [is] dominated by counterinsurgent paramilitary groups; the Andean and central area, controlled by the constitutional armed forces; and the southeast, where the leftist guerrillas prevail.” (Romero) This hotbed of confrontation has been raging for decades and the bloodshed appears to have no end in sight.
The [FARC] Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia and the [ELN] National Liberation Army comprise the majority of the guerrillas in the nation. Both groups, although not united, believe in instituting a Marxist polity, with the ELN deemed as having greater political aspirations of the two groups. The [AUC] United Self-Defense Forces of Columbia represent the paramilitary groups that originally were set up by landowners and drug-traffickers to combat the intense kidnappings, extortion, and political killings by the guerrillas. However, as it stands today “the guerrillas are held responsible for 20% of political killings, and the paramilitaries for the remaining 80%. Thus, the guerrilla violations of human rights have remained constant since 1990, but the paramilitaries have taken over the ‘dirty work’ of the army.” (Sanford) Lost amongst all of the violence are the civilians who are taking the full brunt of the brutality. “The country has the world’s highest murder rate and is the scene of h...
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... explain the continuation of the struggle. All authors offered their suggestions to the mysteries surrounding the ongoing hostilities, but in all instances, the future of Columbia remained unsettled.
Works Cited
Romero, Mauricio. “Changing Identities and Contested Settings: Regional Elites and the Paramilitaries in Colombia.” International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society, 2000, Vol. 14 Issue 1.
Robinson, Linda. “Where Angels Fear to Tread: Columbia and Latin America’s Tier of Turmoil.”
World Policy Journal. Wint1999/2000, Vol. 16 Issue 4.
Sanford, Victoria. “Learning to Kill by Proxy: Colombian Paramilitaries and the Legacy of Central American Death Squads, Contras, and Civil Patrols.” Social Justice, 2003, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p63-81.
Uncited
Sweig, Julia E. “What Kind of War for Colombia?” Foreign Affairs, Sep/Oct2002, Vol. 81 Issue 5.
The Civil War in El Salvador lasted from 1980 to 1992, and the El SAlvadoran government was doing their best to minimize the threat of their opposition. Their main opposition, The Frente Farabundo Marti Para La Liberacion Nacional; otherwise known as the FMLN, was a guerrilla group that was organized to fight the corruption in the country. 175). One of the main goals of the organization was to create a new society that is not degrading its citizens and promotes equality. Throughout El Salvador’s history, one organization to the next would run the country through repressive actions and social injustice. One of the main reasons that the FMLN fought the acting government were due to these social restraints on the lower- class citizens in El Salvador.
Mignolo, W. D. (2005). The Idea of Latin America (pp. 1-94). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
These documents detailed a series of counterinsurgency sweeps through Guatemalan regions to kill the enemy guerillas and destroy their bases with extreme force. The prosecution proved with evidence that General Rios Montt was guilty of 1,771 indigenous people, forced displacement of 29,000 people, at least nine cases of sexual violence and various cases of torture (Burt 2). The violence was overwhelming when described in court and included powerful testimonies that showed indiscriminate massacres, rape, infanticide, destruction of crops to induce starvation, and abduction of children (Burt 2). The use of defense patrols was also produced as evidence against the General, citing that these where used as methods to undermine local populations and instill fear amongst the citizens of these villages.
Illegal drug trade in Colombia is the practice of producing and distributing narcotics domestically and around the world. As of 2012, Colombia was the world leading cocaine producer in the world (Neuman, 2012). Cocaine, marijuana and heroin along with other illegal drugs have become a big part of Colombians lifestyle and a major source of income for many people. Since the establishment of the War on Drugs in the late 20th century, European countries and United States have provided billions of dollars, logistics and military aid to the Colombia government to combat the illegal drug trade (Lilley, 2006). As of 1999, Plan Colombia has been one of the biggest movements towards Colombia’s biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The movement was implemented as Colombia supplies 80% of cocaine to American citizens (Vellinga, 2000). The US Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that Colombia’s annual profit ranges between $5-7 billion from drugs smuggled into the United States.
Narcoterrorism has a long past in the history of Colombia, focusing mainly on the market development of one drug: cocaine. Colombia, with its arid tropical climate and lush land, is an ideal place for the sowing and reaping of the coca plant whose extracts are synthesized into the powder cocaine drug. As Colombian cocaine production skyrocketed in the 1970’s and 1980’s thanks to booming demand for the product in Americas, drug kingpins in Colombia began to wield immense power in the country. ...
Drug trafficking and terrorism are illegal clandestine activities with strong national security and law enforcement threat components and operational similarities. Terrorists like drug traffickers, need weapons and engage in violence to achieve goals. Terrorists, like drug traffickers, are often involved in hiding and laundering sources of funds. Both terrorists and drug traffickers operate transnationally, and often get logistical and operational support from local ethnic satellite communities. Both groups often rely on the criminal community for support: they may need smuggled weapons, forged documents and safe houses to operate effectively. Finally, both groups need a steady cash flow to operate. In the case of terrorists, where state sources of funding are rapidly diminishing, drug trafficking is an attractive funding option. Increasingly, terrorist organizations are looking to criminal activity and specifically the drug trade as a source of funding. The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces, a guerilla force) in Colombia are but one of many cases in point.
Mignolo, W. D. (2005). The Idea of Latin America (pp. 1-94). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Haiti was once an economic power when France held claim to the Eastern Part of Hispaniola, then named St. Domingue. It was a French colony flourishing with coffee and sugar. Eventually the ideals of the French Revolution - Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity - made its way to the colonies resulting in a revolution. Haiti was the first slave-led revolution and declared its independence as a republic on January 1, 1804. After their declaration of independence, things started to make a turn for the worst. In 1934 the U.S. forces occupied Haiti to establish stability. The U.S. appointed heads of state but the real power was present in the U.S. occupiers, whereas the heads of state are just figureheads. Haiti’s economy dwindled further down when France demanded reparations of 150 million francs, which wasn’t paid off until 1947. In 65 years, Haiti had 22 heads of state.” In 1957 Francois Duvalier is elected president. He later “creates a totalitarian dictatorship and in 1964 declares himself president-for-life.” This is where Haiti’s political instability really begins.
Between the years of 1976 to 1983, the period known as the ‘Dirty War’ was in full force in Argentina. During this period, thousands of people mysteriously went missing, and are referred to now as the ‘Disappeared’. It is believed that many of the disappeared were taken by agents of the Argentine government, and perhaps tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed of in unmarked graves or rural areas. Whenever the female captives were pregnant, their children were stolen away right after giving birth, while they themselves remained detained. It is estimated that 500 young children and infants were given to families with close ties to the military to be raised. Within this essay I would like to touch on the brief history of the Dirty war and why the military felt it was necessary to take and kill thousands of Argentina’s, and also the devastating affects the disappeared, and stolen children are having on living relatives of those taken or killed. It is hard to imagine something like this happening in North America relatively recently. To wakeup and have members of your family missing, with no explanation, or to one day be told your parents are not biologically related is something Argentina’s had to deal with, and are continuing to face even today.
2) What is the main conflict in the book? Is it external or internal? How is this conflict resolved throughout the course of the book?
Before exploring the issues of human trafficking in Colombia, a definition must be established in order to keep confusion from happening. The issue here is the various forms that the definitions of human trafficking can that shape. Maggie Lee’s Human Trafficking (2007), attempted to categorize the definition into four separate parts: slavery, prostitution, organized crime, and migration (Maggie Lee et al. 2007). Although the every definition has an aspect of sex trafficking in Colombia, the definitions are cohesive enough to fit the problem. After comparing many definitions, one fit Colombia’s version of human trafficking. The U.S. Department of State developed a definition complex enough to fit the human trafficking and sex trafficking.
Dunne, Jemima, and Paula Regan, eds. The Civil War. New York City: DK Publishing, 2011. Print
Bruneau,C.,(2005, May).The Maras and national security in Central America. Strategic insights (5). Retrieved from http://www.nps.edu/academics/centers/publications/onlinejournal/2005/may/bruneaumay05.html
In 1995, the US began to fund aerial eradication campaigns in Colombia. Military planes dumped pesticides over thousands of acres of coca fields. These campaigns turned out to be counterproductive, leading to an actual increase in the amount of coca acreage. The spraying of coca only led Colombian growers to diversify their techniques, growing coca amongst other crops or in locations that were hard to identify by radar techniques. In 2002, the CI...
LaFeber, Walter. Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America. New York: W.W. Norton, 1984. Print.