Colombia and the United States: Narcotics Traffic and a Failed Foreign Policy
by Robert W. Drexler
Category: Social Science

The cocaine trade between the United States and Colombia has perhaps caused more harm for two friendly countries than any other peacetime event in history. As the trade developed in the 1970s, most of the efforts went to interdicting the flow of the drug to the United States; little attention was given to decreasing the evergrowing American appetite for cocaine. This failed policy allowed the cocaine trafficking to flourish in the 1980s, resulting in untold deaths in both countries and countless dollars being spent in a futile effort to win the "drug war." The author supervised the antinarcotics operations of the American Embassy in Bogot as the deputy chief of mission and charg daffaires during the late 1970s. This work provides for the first time an insiders account of the formative years of the American drug policy and the failure of the U.S. and Colombian governments to form an alliance against the cocaine traffickers during this critical period. The earlier history of the U.S. and Colombian relations is covered, providing background to the failed drug policy. Recommendations for fundamental changes in the U.S. drug policy conclud