By: Daniel Nardini
The Armed Forces for the Front of Colombia (FARC) has called upon the Colombian government to legalize the growing, buying and selling of coca. Obviously, the Colombian government has refused to do this. Among the reasons the Colombian government does not legalize coca is that it would jeopardize its relationship with the United States and also jeopardize its commitment to the United Nations to interdict and stop the cultivation of coca which is then processed into cocaine. At the same time, the Bolivian government is putting pressure on the Colombian government to let farmers grow and cultivate coca for “local” consumption since the Bolivian government has managed to get away with doing the same thing. Of course, the Colombian government has one very good reason why it cannot allow the legalization of coca.
If coca were legalized, this would be a money maker for the FARC. Among other sources of revenue, the FARC protects and helps farmers grow, sell, and smuggle coca. The coca is obviously processed into cocaine which is then sold in North America and Europe. Legalization would only make it easier for the FARC to be able to have farmers grow coca so that it can then process the coca into cocaine. From the money earned from cocaine the FARC can then buy weapons and finance its operations against the Colombian government and against the Colombian people. This will in turn keep their war against the country running, and will lead to the further death of countless innocent lives. Because of this, coca cultivation and production remains justifiably illegal in Colombia.
Not so in Bolivia. Sadly, the Bolivian government was able to get its way in “convincing” the United Nations that coca grown in that country would only be used for local consumption by its people and would not be used by the drug smugglers for processing it into cocaine to be sold elsewhere. The Bolivian government has instituted a system whereby all coca farmers are registered with the government, and their lands are registered by the government (much as the U.S. government does with those who brew alcoholic beverages). While it means that coca production has decreased, the production and smuggling of cocaine has in fact increased from Bolivia. Smugglers have been able to increase their cocaine production through more efficient means in Bolivia, and this means that cocaine making and smuggling has not stopped in Bolivia (so far, all of this illegal cocaine goes to Brazil and not the United States so far). I should point out that Bolivia does not have a guerrilla insurgency destabilizing the country. Colombia does, and this is among the reasons why coca production in my view should remain illegal for any reason in Colombia.
The FARC’s Effort to Legalize Coca
By: Daniel Nardini
If coca were legalized, this would be a money maker for the FARC. Among other sources of revenue, the FARC protects and helps farmers grow, sell, and smuggle coca. The coca is obviously processed into cocaine which is then sold in North America and Europe. Legalization would only make it easier for the FARC to be able to have farmers grow coca so that it can then process the coca into cocaine. From the money earned from cocaine the FARC can then buy weapons and finance its operations against the Colombian government and against the Colombian people. This will in turn keep their war against the country running, and will lead to the further death of countless innocent lives. Because of this, coca cultivation and production remains justifiably illegal in Colombia.
Not so in Bolivia. Sadly, the Bolivian government was able to get its way in “convincing” the United Nations that coca grown in that country would only be used for local consumption by its people and would not be used by the drug smugglers for processing it into cocaine to be sold elsewhere. The Bolivian government has instituted a system whereby all coca farmers are registered with the government, and their lands are registered by the government (much as the U.S. government does with those who brew alcoholic beverages). While it means that coca production has decreased, the production and smuggling of cocaine has in fact increased from Bolivia. Smugglers have been able to increase their cocaine production through more efficient means in Bolivia, and this means that cocaine making and smuggling has not stopped in Bolivia (so far, all of this illegal cocaine goes to Brazil and not the United States so far). I should point out that Bolivia does not have a guerrilla insurgency destabilizing the country. Colombia does, and this is among the reasons why coca production in my view should remain illegal for any reason in Colombia.