Colombia's War on Drugs: Can Peru Provide the Recipe for Success

Abstract

This thesis examines counternarcotics strategies of interdiction, eradication, and alternative development used in Peru during the 199Os to determine if Peru's success can provide the recipe for success in Colombia. It will show that Peru's sequential approach to eliminating its economic crisis and threat posed by the Sendero Luminoso guerrillas was key to its counternarcotics success. it will show that Colombia faces a similar situation but has failed to realize success because of policy decisions regarding how to deal with guerrillas and certain peculiarities of the drug trade in Colombia that render ineffective policies that worked in Peru. It will argue that Plan Colombia will escalate the civil conflict as FARC guerrillas linked to the drug trade battle to protect this source of revenue. It will suggest that the elimination of the guerrillas either simultaneously with the elimination of the drug trade as Plan Colombia promotes, or sequentially before fully engaging the drug trade. is key to counternarcotics success.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA386344

Entities

People

  • Michael E. Hobaugh

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Criminals
  • Department Of State
  • Drug Abuse
  • Drug Trafficking
  • Employment
  • Health Services
  • International Relations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Societies
  • Surveillance
  • Terrorists
  • United States Southern Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.