Coca is a serious destabilizer—keeping Colombia’s rebels armed and the country’s progress in check. But after almost a decade, U.S.-assisted efforts to reduce the crop’s production in Colombia haven’t just failed; they’ve been downright counterproductive. Plan Colombia was meant to improve security, stamp out drug cultivation, and improve law and order after a decades-long conflict with leftist militants. But coca cultivation rose 15 percent between 2000 and 2006, an October 2008 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found. A separate U.N. study found that in 2007 alone, the area of land hosting coca crops rose 27 percent. To put it mildly, something is not working.
O artigo segue, concluindo:
The United States has spent $6 billion on Plan Colombia, but Colombia still supplies 90 percent of U.S. cocaine. Time for a rethink on the drug war?
De facto, todos os anos uma enorme fortuna é gastada na luta dos vários governos do mundo contra as drogas. Quando é que os governos finalmente percebem que enquanto houver procura pelas drogas nos mercados desenvolvidos, estas continuarão a ser produzidas? E que, gastar dinheiro no seu combate apenas incentiva à criação de um submundo que lucra de ela? Será que nunca mais vamos aprender a lição dos anos da "Prohibition":
Alcoholic drinks were not illegal in surrounding countries. Distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or illegally imported to the U.S. Chicago became notorious as a haven for Prohibition dodgers during the time known as the Roaring Twenties. Many of Chicago's most notorious gangsters, including Al Capone and his enemy Bugs Moran, made millions of dollars through illegal alcohol sales. By the end of the decade Capone controlled all 10,000 speakeasies in Chicago and ruled the bootlegging business from Canada to Florida. Numerous other crimes, including theft and murder, were directly linked to criminal activities in Chicago and elsewhere in violation of prohibition.
Seria bom que, por uma vez, as boas políticas de Roosevelt servissem de exemplo.
P.S. Vale a pena ler o artigo completo da Foreign Policy.
Postagens
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário