To What Extent Were Colombias Major Drug Trafficking Cartels the Main Cause of Political Instability From the 1970S to the 2000S

Section 1: identification and Evaluation of sources

This investigation will explore the question: To what extent were Colombian major drug trafficking cartels the main cause of social instability? The years 1970 to 2000 will be the focus of this investigation, to allow for an analysis of social distress in Colombia, and developing political and economic corruption due to major drug trafficking cartels.

The first source which will be evaluated thoroughly is Eduardo Pizano’s book “Plan Colombia: The View from the Presidential Palace”, written in 2001. The origin of the source is credible because former member of the Colombian Senate and present General Secretary to the President, Pizano, was forced to flee his country with family targeted by the Cali Carte, giving his book an emotional appeal. His presence in various Colombian conferences that have discussed U.S. policy conveys he has a deeper insight, making him more than qualified to make opinions on the topic. Moreover, the publication date only strengthens its value considering Pizano delivered a speech in the February 2001 conference on Plan Colombia. However, the origin of the source is limited in that the point of view of the book is his own insight on the topic and does not expand beyond it, which might misrepresent other Colombians that suffered from social instability.

The purpose of Pizano’s book is arguing the implementation of Plan Colombia to prevent oppression that many already suffered, in the future. Most specifically, 1970 to 2000 showed waves of violence brought by two major guerrilla movements: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Ejercito de Liberación Nacional. Fueled by the drugs, providing money to sustain violent movements, they also build a base of political support. However, the fact that the book is limited to Pizano’s opinions, may not necessarily discredit the work however it is less representative of the Colombian nation as a whole.

The second source evaluated in depth is The San Diego Union-Tribune’s 1988 interview on drug lord Pablo Escobar. The origin of this source is valuable because the perspective of one of the most influential drug lords that came to shape the fame of drug trafficking that Colombia is widely recognized for. Additionally, the date in which the interview was originally conducted, 1980, was when the ‘Bonanza Marimbera’ arose, leading drug-smugglers, violence, organised crime, and vast wealth to Colombia’s northern coastline. The date, a limitation, suggests that the interview occurred decades ago, before violence was caused by drug trafficking providing a small scope of a grand movement.

The purpose of this source was to expose Escobar’s thoughts on drug trafficking during the 1980s and the penetration of Colombia’s government and economy. It provides valuable insight into one of the most influential figures of Colombia’s major drug movements. The source’s purpose, however, is limited, having been conducted in 1988, but released in 2013, showing major controversy within the content which might have deliberately omitted several truths.

Section 2: Investigation

Colombian drug trafficking has prominently affeted its economic, political and human security. This movement first started as a major economic phenomenon in Colombia during the late 1970s. Drug trafficking has various features: its domestic amd international illegality, the degree to which corruption, intimidation, and violence tactics are used against members of society, the small volume of drug production whether it be of cocaine or marijuana that is involved, and lastly the importance of the benefits acquired from cost effective trade. It all began with the Colombian marijuana “boom”, which took place in the mid-1970s. One 1979 study estimated that US$1,400 million dollars entered the Colombian economy in 1978 as a result of marihuana exports, of which US$165 million came in through the central bank and the rest through other means (Chalk, 2011). By 1985, Colombia was in possesion of 22% of the U.S. marijuana market.

The marijuana boom was accepted, but mostly overlooked by the government, as it was favoring the most potent, land-owning families of Colombia, as well it was producing a new wealth into the country. Not only did it benefit the wealthy, as well it was benefiting the region of the Atlantic Coast which was always neglected by the country’s Andean center, but now it held the largest drug prodcuing cities in the country (Vargas, 2011). Eventually, marijuana exports began to sharply decrease, but right when this was happening cocaine trafficking in Medellin shortly began to escalate as the U.S. demand for cocaine increased. Consequently,with exports of cocaine expanding throughout more Latin American and European countries, in 1976, the United Nations recognized Colombia as the center of world cocain traffic (Nussio, 2012). Technology was advancing, exports were being transported in private airplanes, a major shift, as they were being transported by mules (commercial airlines or ships) before. The success of Colombias illicit drug trade allowed for large-scale drug figures such as Pablo Escobar, and Jorge Ochoa to be recognized as the wealthiest men in the world. These recognitions have given Colombia its fame of drug related corruption it has held to this day.

Subsequently, Colombia’s political structures were very much impacted by drug trafficking. During the 1940s, politics were ran by voter affiliation to whatever party they desired, mainly based on social or economic status, not taking into consideration who led them. This led to the liberals pushing the peasants to fight against the Colombian government. This was the beginning of the creation of violence caused by politcs, which was later on to be expanded into a larger scale. During the 1970s, there were rumors of drug money being involved in campaigns, but this reumor became concrete in the elections of 1982. Pablo Escobar, ran for congress on the side of the “New Liberalism”; he however was turned down because of his past involvement with drug trafficking. This caused the population to become disullusioned with this new political process (Saenz, 2011). President Belisario Betancur, implemented political reforms that would allow for the elction of mayors for the first time (Rincon, 2009). As well, he intended to solve issues with anti-government guerrilla groups such as The FARC, negotiating truces until evetually creating a political party Patriotic Union (UP), which included some ex FARC soldiers who voluntarily surrendered their weapons.

Guerrilla movements have been present in Colombia since the early 1960s. Colombia, since the late forties, has been living with la violencia, where liberals and conservatives fight against eachother with the goal of seizing control of Colombian government. Howevere, there have been extensive efforts to reconcile the liberal and conservatic sides. An example being the peace agreement that allowed the Frente Nacional to develop, where both liberals and conservatives shared power until 1960. At which point, the Liberal party decided to create an armed group, later known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Manuel Marulanda created this guerilla group which has been in operation for over 40 years, and currently holds about 18,000 smaller armed guerrillas active in rural areas of Colombia. Marulanda led the group to settle in Marquetalia in hopes of creating his very own society where the troubles of the members of its rural population would be “addressed”, or at least that’s what he had promised them in order to convince them to be apart of this new and promising land of opportunities. They later became widely recognized as The FARC. Following the first attack on Marquetalia on May 27 of 1964, the FARC met with about 200 other communities.

They began to expand more and more and with that they continued to make false promises to their followers who at this point were being turned into fighters and soldiers. The FARC began to gain economic power, it began to attract people who desired all the ‘high quality living standards’ that The FARC seemed to offer. With a growing membership of soldiers during the 1970’s, the rebels involvement with the FARC eventually began to be categorized as an escape of the increasing poverty levels in Colombia. During the sixites, another major guerrilla group arose as a result of the economic blockade against Cuba which led to Cuban government under Fidel Castro to launch a series of revolutionary movements throughout Latin America. Thus arose the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) in Colombia, which is currently present. Although some say the ELN is more ideological than the FARC, the two have similar programs. Both oppose the privatization of natural resources and claim to represent the rural poor against Colombia’s wealthy (Pizano, 2001) Historically they have cooperated in some parts of the country and clashed in others.

It was during this time that the peasantry of Colombia became involved, for it was the peasants whom the drug lords called to plant and harvest the cocaine crops (Livingstone, 2004). They vulnerably became involved because they already felt neglected by the government who were unable to provide good nutrition, education, and quality of life. There have been various linkages between drug traffickers and guerrilla groups. Throughout the 1980s, cocaine cultivation moved into the remote areas of Colombia where fronts of different guerrilla groups, mainly the FARC, had been operating in. The FARC became involved in coca production, later providing protection for cocaine labs, and may well have established some of their own (Pizano, 2001). When cocaine prices were higher in the mid-1980s, settlement among traffickers, peasants and the FARC may have been simpler, thus profits could be produced for all three. However, throughout the years, there has been growing tension between traffickers and the FARC, either because of higher ‘taxes’ charged by the FARC, lower world cocaine prices, FARC interest in direct marketing of cocaine, or a mixture of all these factors. The presence of the FARC rebels however, caused a great pain to Colombian society. The FARC would kidnap Colombians and kept them hostage for ransom. This created social instabiluty, the people lived in a constant unrest.

Moreover, money from drug trafficking had infiltrated Colombia’s government in the 1980s. Bribes were being made to government officials in order to continue with drug production and the illegal use of armed weapons. It was the development of drug trafficking and internal conflict that the issue of illegality in legislative issues came to be popularly recognized in Colombian society. Between the years of 1989 and 1999, corruption in Colombia is estimated to have cost the state 1% of its GDP annually (Sanin, 2004). In addition to the economic cost of corruption, other aspects of Colombian society had been affected such as the loss of credibility of politicians and the Colombian government. The incomes created by drug trafficking, government economic strategies, and unrealized expectations by urban middle and lower-sector groups generated by the sense the country was experiencing an economic ‘boom’ (in coffee) even as their own wages deteriorated because of the growing inflation, may all have heightened the nature of the country’s crisis even in the 1970s.

Section 3: Reflection

This investigation helped me acquire insight into obstacles that historians overcome when conducting historical investigations. I built an aptitude that was crucial in any investigation, that being carefully analyzing sources, presenting distinctive perspectives on an equivalent subject, and reaching a legitimate conclusion. While carrying out this investigation, I searched through a variety of journals all relating to the subject of this investigation. I read governmental documents, speeches, and articles by acclaimed historians familiar with my topic.

When analyzing information provided by a variety of sources regarding my research question, I became more knowledgeable of obstacles facing historians. While conducting research, I started to notice that main ideas of sources differed significantly from each other. For example, Peter Chalk, in his book: Latin american drug trade: scope, dimensions, impact, and response, and Silvia Mantilla in her article Drug trafficking, violence and social crisis in the Colombian insular Caribbean: The case of the island of San Andrés in the context of the Greater Caribbean, argued that transnational crime has been a life threatening issue in Colombia, with most issues connecting to drug trade. Others, for example, Eduardo Pizano in his book, Plan Colombia : the view from the presidential palace stated that there were no short-term answers to Colombia’s problems and all issues will be dealt with aggressively by Colombia and its allies.

Despite the fact that it was difficult to analyze all sources thoroughly to get specific information that fit my research question, I continued the investigation and connected different ideas belonging to different historians. A historian’s job includes analyzing history, putting it into words, and finding the most ‘acceptable version’ while focusing on the values and limitations of the sources used. I personally found this challenging during my investigation. Nevertheless, by assessing the limitations of the sources I effectively understood many point of views in order to come to a conclusion.

For example, I found the content in Peter Chalk’s book more valuable than Eduardo Pizano’s book because the former focused on socio-economic effects of drug trafficking during the 70s and 80s, while the other evaluated the long term effects ranging from the 60s to present day, meaning Chalk’s view appeared to have evidence and analysis that was more accurate and well organized than Pizano’s, who only had a small amount of information on this subject. As well, I employed similar methods to evaluate authenticity of secondary sources. In particular, Silvia Mantilla’s article presents a preliminary diagnosis of the magnitude of drug trafficking, its dynamics, modalities, and the social and economic conditions that favor the development of this illegal business on the island of San Andrés. This source, valuable for my investigation, because it was focused on one area in particular.

All in all, I acquired valuable insight into the obstacles facing the historian, allowing me to understand the importance of assessing the reliability of historical sources when trying to come to an effective conclusion.

Bibliography

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