Andean Drug War
Latin America: Five Killed, Six Wounded, Six Missing in Attack on Colombian Soldiers, Coca Eradicators
Three Colombian soldiers and two civilian members of a coca eradication squad were killed Monday when the boat in which they were riding came under rifle and grenade attack.
Latin America: Washington, Bogota on Verge of Deal to Make Colombian Military Air Base Regional Hub for Counter-Narcotics, More
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that US and Colombian negotiators are ne
Latin America: Obama Administration Declines to Restore Bolivian Trade Preferences, Cites Government's Acceptance of Coca Production
President Barack Obama has declined to restore trade benefits under the Andean Trade Preference Act to Bolivia, citing the Bolivian government's acceptance of coca growing.
Latin America: Coca Cultivation, Cocaine Production Down Last Year, UNODC Says
In its World Drug Report 2009, released Wednesday, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported tha
Video on Abuse of the Environment -- and of People -- in Colombia's Drug War, from "Witness for Peace"
Posted in Chronicle Blog by David Borden on Sat, 06/13/2009 - 11:46pm"Shoveling Water" is a 25-minute documentary from the organization Witness for Peace on the impact of chemical spraying of Colombia's coca crop, in the words of people living with the effects on the ground.
I have always felt this part of "Plan Colombia" as launched by President George Herbert Walker Bush -- expanded into the "Andean Initiative" by President Clinton -- to be particularly reckless. It doesn't take a chemist, nor even a medical doctor, to expect that dumping poisons into the environment might be bad for the life forms inhabiting that environment, including humans. Hopefully the madmen pushing for aerial fumigation of Afghanistan's opium crop will lose that fight at least, as they have so far. The tide is slowly turning in Andean drug policy as well.
In the meanwhile, check out "Shoveling Water":
Drug War Chronicle Book Review: "Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug," by Paul Gootenberg (2008, University of North Carolina Press, 442 pp, $24.95 PB)
Phillip S. Smith, Writer/Editor
Latin America: Jimmy Carter to Harvest Coca Leaves on Evo Morales' Farm
At a Saturday meeting in the Bolivian capital of La Paz, former US President Jimmy Carter accepted an invitation from Bolivian President Evo Morales to go pick coca on Morales' coca farm in the Cha
Latin America: Bolivian Cocaine Production Increasing, Official Says
Latin America: Shining Path Kills 14 Soldiers in Peruvian Coca-Growing Area
Leftist guerrillas of the Shining Path killed 14 Peruvian soldiers in a pair of ambushes in Ayacucho province, in the remote and rugged coca-growing region of the VRAE (Apurímac and Ene River vall
Latin America: Colombia's Uribe Seeks to Recriminalize Drug Possession
Since a 1994 Colombian Supreme Court ruling that held criminalizing drug users violated their privacy and autonomy, drug possession has not been a crime in Colombia.
Latin America: Peru to Export Coca Beer
A coca trade fair in Lima designed to demonstrate that coca is not cocaine showcased a number of products, but the star of the show was a coca leaf beer whose manufacturer has plans to export it to
Federal Budget: House 2009 Appropriations Bill Contains Even More Drug War Funding Increases... And a Slight Cut to Plan Colombia
Just two weeks ago, the Congress passed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, which included $
Feature: It's Time for a New Drug Policy Paradigm, Say Latin American Leaders
A blue-ribbon commission of Latin American leaders has issued a report saying that the US-led war on drugs has failed and it is time to consider new policies, particularly treating drug use as a pu
Feature: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly -- The Top 10 Drug Policy Stories of 2008
With 2008 now rapidly receding in the rear-view mirror, it's time to reflect on the year that was in drug policy.
Latin America: Peru's Shining Path Making a Comeback?
In the 1980s, the Maoist Shining Path guerrilla organization conducted a bloody uprising against the Peruvian state in which nearly 70,000 people were killed.
Feature: Gazing Into the Crystal Ball -- What Can We Expect in 2009?
In the other feature article in this issue, we looked back at last year, examining the drug policy high and low
Latin America: Venezuela Could Renew Cooperation With DEA, Chávez Says
In a Sunday interview, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said relations between his government and the US could improve dramat
Latin America: Bolivia's Morales Says Yes to Obama, No to the DEA
Bolivian President Evo Morales said at a Monday news conference at the UN that he would like to improve t
Latin America: Bolivia Suspends Operations By DEA
Already cool relations between Bolivia and the US grew even chillier over the weekend, as Bolivian President Evo Morales announced Saturday that he was suspending anti-drug operations by the US DEA
