The Drug War In Mexico And Colombia

The Drug war in Mexico and Colombia has persisted for decades and will continue to do so if we don’t change our plan of action. Colombia notoriously was and still continues to be a major drug producer, exporting a large percentage of its drugs to the U.S and neighboring Latin America. Analysts predict that Mexico is soon becoming the next Colombia of the 1960-1990 era and has the potential to surpass Colombia in terms of producing, selling and distributing drugs both domestically and internationally. There have been numerous strategies to detain and halt the production, and flow of drugs altogether, yet it seems like they are inefficient and incapable of doing away with this problem. Some governments have sought to increase legislative and implement draconian measures to reinforce and emphasize the punishments if one is caught with the smallest dosage of drugs or is in some way related to the drug industry.

We now stand at a crucial moment where we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Namely, whether the situations in Colombia and Mexico have been progressing forward with the impact of drugs lessening or perhaps the opposite- the drug war and the effects of it on the respective countries are exponentially growing worse and worse. Then we need to construct a series of steps that will ensure the gradual decline of drugs and their effects on Colombia and Mexico. The reality of it is that the drug war has had its toll on the Colombian and Mexican people significantly, yet this is not to say that these are the only two nations suffering greatly from this dreadful and precarious situation. Where a multimillion dollar illegitimate business is found, there will surely be some sort of resistance and armed group willing...

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... to protect the lucrative coca trade. In the wake of peace talk failures, violence between FARC, the army and the paramilitaries grew in the 1990s.

In 1978 the Security Statue was passed by president Turbay in response to an increase in guerrilla activity from the various guerillas and armed forces, which included, the 19th of April Movement (M-19), and the FARC. This Statute allowed military a more open and broad form of power with respect to guerillas. It was granted more powers to combat, arrest, and interrogate guerillas across the country. There was a condemnation and outcry by human rights organizations and other nations, arguing that many rights of people were being violated, especially with an increase in the number of unwarranted arrests and cruel forms of torture. However, this statute was not a failure in terms of combatting the counterinsurgency groups