Colombia's Narcotics Nightmare: How the Drug Trade Destroyed Peace

by James D. Henderson

Overview

This history of Colombia's illegal drug trade--and of the extreme violence it created--describes how in the late 1960s narcotics traffickers from the United States convinced Colombians who had no previous involvement in the drug trade to grow marijuana for export to America. By the early '70s, foreign (mostly American) traffickers began requesting cocaine.

This book focuses on the decades of crime and violence the illegal drug trade brought to Colombia and how this social upset was ended in the early 2000s. Six chapters detail the Medellin and Cali cartels' war against the Colombian government, the revolutionary guerrillas' war against the government, the war that paramilitary groups conducted against the guerrillas, and the way in which the government finally put a stop to the cartel-financed bloodshed.

In conclusion, the author assesses Colombia's progress and prospects since the end of the violence claimed the lives of some 300,000 between 1975 and 2008.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476618845
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	01/28/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James D. Henderson specializes in modern Latin American and Colombian history. He taught at Coastal Carolina University until his retirement in 2014. He lives in Conway, South Carolina.
James D. Henderson specializes in modern Latin American and Colombian history. He taught at Coastal Carolina University until his retirement in 2014. He lives in Conway, South Carolina.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Left and Right of Violence and Illegal Drugs in Colombia
Song of Love (Between My Country and Me) by Luz Marina Posada
1. Colombia’s Decade of Peace, 1965–1975
Dynamism of the 1965–1975 Period
Colombia’s Iron Triangle of Violence
Rise of the Drug Culture in the United States
Initial U.S. and Colombian Responses to Illegal Drugs, 1965–1975
2. The Illegal Drug Hydra, 1970–1983
Colombia Gold
Cocaine Comes to Colombia
Drugs, Violence, Impunity
The Cartels’ Golden Moment, 1978–1983
3. The Cartels’ War Against the State, 1984–1994
The Extraditables
The New Violence
Democratic Responses to the Violence
Moment of Hope
4. The Guerrillas’ War Against the State
Introduction: Guerrillas and Drugs
The Guerrillas During Colombia’s Decade of Peace, 1965–1975
Guerrilla Advance During the Illegal Drug Boom, 1975–1993
The Guerrilla Offensive of 1994–2002
5. The Paramilitary Offensive
Introduction: Civil Defense and Impunity
Paramilitary Growth During the 1970s and 1980s
The ­Narco-Paramilitary
The Paramilitary Offensive of 1994–2002
6. Colombia Gets Tough, 2002–2013
The Uribe Phenomenon
Plan Colombia
Slogging Toward Peace
Conclusion
Victim of Globalization
Illegal Drugs and Colombia’s New Violence
Post-Conflict Colombia
Glossary
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Henderson takes by the horns this ‘difficult subject of study’”—Hispanic American Historical Review; “valuable”—Revista Arcadia.com.

From the Publisher

valuable

Revista Arcadia.com