Chelsea E Shambley
Blog #11
10 April 2011
8:48 PM
Central America has been used as a stopover point for drug traffickers since the 1970s; however, lately crackdowns on criminal organizations in Mexico and Colombia have pushed the drug scourge deeper into the Central American countries, which are unable to combat it. Five of Central America’s seven countries are now on the United States’ list of 20 “major illicit drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries,” three of which were just added last year. In 2006, twenty-three percent of cocaine shipments crossed through Central America. In 2008, the percentage rose to forty-four percent. Last year, according to radar tacking data from American authorities, eighty-four percent of cocaine shipments made their way through Central America. In President Obama’s recent visit to El Salvador, he announced a plan to fight organized crime in the region by “strengthening civilian institutions and providing training for local authorities, weapons and equipment.” His words; however, did not mean much to many Central American leaders, as such words had been said before and have still not been fully acted upon. In 2007, $1.6 billion in law enforcement support was promised, and $258 million was assigned to Central America. Years later, only $20 million of it has actually been spent, according to the Government Accountability Office.
The elimination of the drug wars in general is what officers would like to achieve, though the chances of doing so are slim to none. Accepting these odds, law enforcement should place its attention on the areas that need it the most, such as the countries deeper in Central America. The outer regions are better prepared to combat drug trafficking than are the deeper regions. Instead of having crackdowns in the outer regions, which brings it all deeper into Central America, law enforcement should start right in the middle and work their way out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/world/americas/24drugs.html?_r=1
1 comment:
I know if sex trafficking, the main cause of it is poverty. If people weren't poor they wouldn't have to result to this type of behavior to provide an income. I do agree with that belief on poverty. I feel like it also applies here. One way to help decrease drug trafficking would be to work to lower the level of poverty. Hopefully, that would help eliminate some of the trafficking activity because people would have other ways to make money. It certainly won't eliminate it as a whole, but it could help.
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