The problem is the penetration of narcotics trafficking into politics, not the war on drugs

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) With the ascent of Gustavo Petro to Colombia’s presidency, 21st Century Socialism has reinstated the campaign “to end the war on drugs” previously pushed in the past by narco-States, political leaders identified as having ties to narcotics’ trafficking, and politicians who are suspected to have been financed by such activity. In 21st century’s Latin America, narcotics’ trafficking has penetrated into politics and from the power gained it pretends to decriminalize its criminal activities. The real problem is narcotics’ trafficking penetration into politics and governments, the problem is not the war on drugs.

The nature of narcotics’ trafficking is crime, defined as “the large-scale trade of toxic drugs” that, according to the 1988 United Nations’ Convention against Illicit Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, includes “the production, demand, and illicit trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances, that represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of humans and erodes society’s economic, cultural, and political bases”.

An action, or an omission, is considered a crime when it aggrieves the rights of others and this is done so in order to protect the security of a human being and of society. In the particular case of crimes included in narcotics’ trafficking, the main and well-protected asset, as an individual’s security, is societies’ and the people’s health and wellness, and also the protection of the economy, culture and political bases (democracy) as public security.

Narcotics’ trafficking encompasses a long list of crimes that range from the illicit harvesting and cultivation of the raw products intended to be used in the production of drugs, to money laundering and any other type of benefit gained with the funds earned from this criminal activity. The “war on drugs” is the generic way to describe all actions against these crimes and “the war on drugs” is the label given in 1971 by the President of the United States at the beginning of his policy against narcotics’ trafficking.

One of the main strategies of narcotics’ traffickers is to gain control of political power in order to decriminalize narcotics’ trafficking and this was formulated and applied by Pablo Escobar who, along with his Bolivian partner Roberto Suarez and dictator Fidel Castro, made Cuba the first narco-State of the region at the beginning of the 1980‘s decade. Escobar personally tried this and was able to win a seat in Colombia’s Congress.

The funding for politicians, political candidates, and electoral campaigns with narcotics’ trafficking funds has been amply denounced and documented in the region. Important Latin America’s leaders, even presidents, have lost their entry visa to come to the United States, have been identified as having “ties to narcotics’ trafficking” and others have been prosecuted and sentenced.

Twenty-First Century Socialism, or Castrochavism, has taken Cuban dictatorship’s doctrine to use narcotics’ trafficking as an anti-imperialism weapon with proclamations from Castro, Guevara, Chavez, Morales, Maduro, Ortega and others. It has achieved its position by establishing as current narco-States the countries of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua with influence in the governments of Lopez-Obrador in Mexico and Fernandez/Kirchner in Argentina and now Petro in Colombia.

Narcotics’ trafficking moneys from the narco-States are now used for a permanent conspiracy against democracy, to take politicians who are subjected to their influence to powerful positions, to assassinate the reputation of defenders of democracy, and to keep unpunished the violation of human rights that is perpetrated with State-terrorism in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. Political parties, leaders, candidates, and even governments who are not funded or penetrated by narcotics’ trafficking have a great deal of difficulty to oppose the actions funded by unlimited amounts of funds that have disfigured the nature of politics and that are a real threat to the stability of governments.

The war on drugs has not failed as the spokespersons of Castrochavism claim, proof that it works is the fact they ask for it to end. They are seeking protection for their crimes, so they will not follow on the footsteps of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, or the path of Nicolas Maduro sought by justice with a bounty of $15 million dollars for his capture, or Evo Morales head of the Bolivian narco-State, Daniel Ortega and members of Cuba’s dictatorship. Only then may we be able to understand Petro’s question at the United Nations “what is most venomous for humanity, cocaine, carbon, or oil?”

The war on drugs needs to be backed, updated, and reinforced. Democracies must strengthen the fight against narcotics’ trafficking identifying and removing from the government anyone who wields power to promote and defend narcotics’ trafficking as it currently happens in the narco-States of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua.

*Attorney & Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Translation from Spanish by Edgar L. Terrazas