Washington Office on Latin America
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Drug trafficking has tremendous consequences in Latin America: distorting local economies, fueling political violence, and corrupting and weakening local and national governments. Drug use, which had previously been a minor concern in Latin America, has become a serious problem in some major urban areas. As the world’s largest consumer of illicit drugs, the United States also suffers the consequences of drug abuse and drug-related violence. Thus, there is no question that the United States has a legitimate interest in working with its neighbors in Latin America to develop effective drug control policies. Yet, the United States has imposed a hard- line law enforcement drug control strategy on source and transit countries in Latin America, an approach that has not been successful to date and has caused significant collateral damage. This paper will provide an overview of the impacts of current international anti-drug efforts and the debate in Washington about funding for such efforts. The paper will further examine two cases in which U.S. policy has exacerbated the effects of the drug problem, social conflict in the coca- growing regions of Bolivia, and environmental destruction associated with drug cultivation and eradication in Colombia.
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