The Reasons for the Perpetuation of the Drug Crisis in Latin America - Essay Example

Anthropology Peoples of Latin America The reasons for the perpetuation of the drug crisis inLatin America The “War on Drugs” is a phrase commonly applied to a battle of prohibition, military aid and military mediation, with the intention of reducing and eliminating the illegal drug use and trade (Leon 21). The War on Drugs was formally declared in 1971 by President Richard Nixon and was still very prominent in our society today. It has a long history; since it was been established the government has used large sums of money funding it; made unlawful drug use rise in percentage overall, and formed an unnatural and thriving black market (Gabriela 22). There is a continuing dispute on whether the war on drugs is productive, and groups like the DPA (Drug Policy Alliance) are laboring to reverse it. However, the Obama regime is preceding the War on Drugs and has modified the name to the “National Drug Control Policy.” The perpetuity of the drug crisis is becoming a menace in the society. Despite efforts to curb it away, it is constantly increasing and gaining heights. The organization of the drug traffickers and drug lords is becoming more sophisticated (Gabriela 36). Understanding the drug world is beyond normal comprehension and handled by experienced and well-trained federal police and military personnel. Kidnapping, carjacking, extortion, and other crimes are some of the activities of drug cartels. Drug trafficking cartels have expanded their repertoires to include all manner of criminal activity. Below are some of the reasons for drug perpetuity crisis (Leon 478). The violence related to the trafficking of illicit narcotics, drugs and stimulants continues to stoke a ghastly appeal among North American politicians and observers, who curvy about tired phrases and terms like failed states, narco-terrorism, and security. However, it is the long and extended history of drug production, assembling and distribution in Latin America, and the imperishably robust demand for narcotics in the U. S that best assists to explain why the "war on drugs" has caused so few battles won and has resulted to great costs in both in human lives and money. Drug cartels and criminal gangs are often intertwined with corrupt police, soldiers, and politicians. Organized crime is interconnected with elements of the state in a matrix of “ill/legality” and “sponsored criminality.” Nonetheless, the largest Mexican criminal organizations maintain relative autonomy from the state. Because of their size, diversity, and complexity, these cartels have produced a macro-counterculture, including their lords and saints (Gabriella 23). The cartels use “Narco-propaganda,” a distinguished form of communication and discourse. This communication method is a central element of the cartel culture. It emerged in the recent context of intra- and inter-cartel or governmental violence. It is similar to methods of communication employed by Middle Eastern terror groups, influenced by paramilitary tactics used elsewhere, and utilizes new trends in cyber-communication (Leon 479). The drugs cartels are organized in a way that even without their leaders, cartels will continue to thrive. Drug outposts all through Mexico; “often work like franchisees, paying cartel leadership fees to use cartel name and the propriety to run local rackets” (Leon 480). The autonomy enjoyed by local drug gangs means that targeting the cartel leadership will not do anything to derail the cartel organization’s activities (Gabriela 24). Additionally, a perceived power vacuum will lead to more violence among the cartels. To avoid being tracked, the cartels fragment (Gabriela 24). Once they fragment, their drugs and drug lords go into hiding and finding them become more difficult. Whereas Mexico is focused on reducing drug-related violence (Gabriela 25), American is concerned with reducing the drug flow into America. Even if it were probable to completely shut down drug imports and illicit substances from Mexico, drugs and illicit substances will still flow into America from northern Europe, Southeast Asia, or Latin America (Gabriela 27). It is almost difficult to shut down drug trafficking due to their connections within their countries and around the world. Additionally, while American government only treats supply-side issue the drug crisis is more affected by the demand side. By behaving like drug users exist as drug dealers do, the U.S. is deceiving itself to the real origins of the crisis (Leon 479-81). The impacts on Latin American peoples The antidrug campaign has profound effects on the Latin American people as explained below. Force and repression have played an increasingly prominent and important role in eradication and interdiction of drug trafficking (Leon 482-3). The antidrug campaign mostly land on the lowly and the people present at the bottom of socio-economic and cultural hierarchy that eventually leads to victimization of the poor. In Bolivia, for example, the class effects of the war on drugs land on the poor peasants while the drug lords are left to walk scot free (Leatherman 119). The law has enhanced the corruption of the police as large numbers of people languish in prison awaiting trial. Those with access to money and cash are often able to bribe their way out to freedom by paying the police. The rural people and all detainees in Bolivia, for example, are poor and face serious judicial charges in judicial structures. As a result, majority of the prisoners remain sentenced (Leon 483). The drug trade in Bolivia and most of the Latin America states are shaped in a pyramid structure. While the lower echelons of the trade represent the largest numbers of people, they receive only very the fewer proportions of the enormous earnings from the drug trade (Gabriella 27-8). In reference to Gabriella (28), the middle-level area the skilled middle class while the higher echelons are those involved in international trade. These higher echelons are few and always retain most of the wealth that the drug trade generates domestically. The lower level people have been subject to abuse, victimization, arbitrary arrest, lack of due process and charges for crimes that they did not commit. These injustices can ultimately be summed to mean disregard of human rights (Leon 485). Gabriella (29) outlines that, In the Latin America antidrug forces often arrest three kinds of traffickers and drug offenders. The first is the low-level drug traffickers who lack financial resources and armed protection. When arrested, these people face the full force of the law and spend almost the rest of their lives in prison (Leon 488). The second traffickers and drug offenders include mercenaries who get intentionally arrested to cover up collusion between corrupt officials of the police force and drug gangs. When captured, the pass information and threaten the police force before they are left to walk scot free after being bailed out by the drug lords. The get back to the streets and continue intimidating lowly people since they are always ‘errand boys’ of the drug lords (Leon 488-90). The last traffickers and drug offenders arrested are the independent outside drug traders or traffickers, who operate outside the established and strong drug networks. They are often wealthy, though not like drug lords, and can twist the anti-drug police officers with bribery and corruption. In the end, the Latin American streets always filled with drug traffickers who are arrogant and intimidating. According to several studies about Latin America and drug trafficking, arrest of drug crimes has often fallen on the poor (Gabriela 29). Bolivia and Mexico’s drug prisons are filled with people of humble origins most of whom have been convicted or accused of transporting chemical precursors. Additionally, most of the arrest affects males (Leon 489). Studies show that women are reluctant to trade on drugs. Additionally they are often released by police upon arrests either in exchange for sex or the police might be concerned about who might take care of their children (Gabriela 30). Most often, juvenile delinquents of drug trafficking are sent to juvenile courts. If convicted the juvenile are sent to correctional farms until they reach adult age, mostly twenty-one years old when they can be taken to adult courts and prisons (Leon 491). There is also the relationship between drug trafficking and relation patterns. Most of the people accused of drug trafficking always hail from rural residences. They are always poor and travel to cities where they engage in transportation and sale of illicit substances for the drug lords to enable them to get money. Gabriela (36) says that, drug trafficking also come with huge problems of human rights. Violence and torture are always related with drug traffickers. Research studies discovered cases of victims shot and thrown under water, beaten while suspended in the air, injected with unknown substances or burnt with cigarettes. May of the human rights violations occur during interrogations. Traffickers, thugs, and thieves always belong to the same group, and they have no care about human rights (Leon 492). In conclusion, the trafficking of illegal drugs is a signature of Latin American input to our globalized world. Today the Latinos, especially Mexico and Colombia, play the supreme roles in terms of drug production and distribution (Leon 492). While heroin, marijuana, and cocaine have long presumed as primary trafficked drugs, in the recent past the drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have amplified shipments of methamphetamines (Gabriela 37). Works Cited Leatherman, T. L. “Gender differences in health and illness among rural populations in Latin America.” In “Grauer Ann & Stuart Macadam Patricia (eds), sex and gender in paleopathological perspective”. Cambridge, Cambridge university press, 1998:114-132 Leon, J. D. “Better to Be Hot than Caught”: Excavating the Conflicting Roles of Migrant Material Culture. American Anthropologist. 2012. Vol. 114(3); 477-495 Gabriela, R. "Drugs and Alcohol: US Prohibition and the Origins of the Drug Trade in Mexico, 1910-1930." Journal of Latin American Studies. 2002. Vol. 34(1): 21-42. Read More