Memorandum
320 Washington St.
Easton MA, 02357
20 April 2017
From: Caitlin Ann Melaugh
Reply To: Caitlin Ann Melaugh
To: Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson
Thru: Office of the Department of State
Subject: The War on Drugs in Colombia
Why
is the Drug trade in Colombia a Problem?
A. Early
in the 19170’s, the Colombian cocaine market began to become a rising problem
for the United States. This market quickly grew and by the 1980’s became an
undeniable serious issue. At that point cocaine was the most common illegal
substance to be grown and then illegally trafficked to the United States, and
in 2000 the United States led War on Drugs turned Colombia into the largest
cocaine producer.
a. The
rapidly growing market is of great concern to keeping drugs off the streets of
the United States.
b. Statistics
today prove that half of the world’s cocaine is produced in Colombia, and the
United States is the world’s largest consumer of this cocaine.
B. The
increase in the amount of illegal international smuggling also increased the
amount of violence present in Colombian society.
C. Colombian
drug lords fight against themselves creating further violence, and campaigned
against the government.
a. Pablo Escobar was leader of the Medellin
Cartel and got elected into Colombia’s congress in the early 1980’s. The drug
world infiltrated the political culture within Colombia.
b. Colombia
is considered an ally to the United States, and the possibility of drug lords
in governmental power is concerning.
D. President
Obama met with the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, in February 2016.
During their meeting, they came to an agreement on a plan they called, Paz
Colombia.
a. This
agreement required the United States to send 450 million dollars to Colombia
over the next ten years. This money is intended to go towards restoring peace
in Colombia, and combat the drug market.
What
Needs to Be done?
A. Drugs
in America are a large problem for many of its citizens. As of recent years,
cocaine has not seen as much of a dangerous problem as narcotics, however, all
drugs are dangerous and must be limited from society. It is not possible to
completely remove these drugs from the market but efforts should be made to
decrease their availability.
B. To
do this eliminating the coca plant which naturally grows in Colombia, and once
refined creates cocaine, is a good place to start. The largest problem in doing
this is that about 64,500 families, according to the United Nation’s estimates,
rely on this crop as their sole income. Trying to eliminate as much of this
crop as possible in Colombia would greatly displace many struggling families.
a. These
families also report to drug manufacturers which have a lot of man power and a
plethora of weapons. This could cause great danger to the families.
b. If
we were to replace the crop the farmers produce it could also cause great harm
in displacing our own economies with crops grown in the United States.
c. Therefore,
full elimination of the coca plant does not seem realistic.
C. Another
cause for great concern is that we don’t want to use US military force in
Colombia to fight against the drug market.
a. There
is no one solution to this problem. Each potential plan has harsh realities
attached to it.
D. The
most realistic solution able to be presented in seeking a successful resolution
to the Colombian cocaine problem, is to continue further monetary aid at the
request of the Colombian government. Only with the Colombian government’s
desire to make a change can a realistic transformation in the drug market be
made.
a. The
perks of simply providing monetary aid is that we do not need to get our hands
dirty on the ground level. It is up to the Colombian government to enforce new
regulations and keep the peace.
b. A
negative to this monetary aid is the inability to know exactly where and how
the money is being spent. Also, the question arises on why the burden of
financial aid to Colombia falls on the United States?
i.
The United States is the leading consumer
of Colombian cocaine. Therefore, we must do something to fix our own problem.
What
does this accomplish?
A. Seeking
change in the cocaine production in Colombia is beneficial to the well-being of
the citizens of the United States, as well as those negatively affected by the
Colombian drug market. Supplying the Colombian government with monetary aid will
assist in limiting the amount of cocaine in the market without needing boots on
the ground.
Thank you for your time on this important matter
A very comprehensive and well made memo. It outlined the current climate surrounding Colombia and its drug trade problems as well as the issues involved with greater US involvement in the country.
ReplyDeleteThe memo argues why the US should be involved in reducing Colombian drug production as well as the many pitfalls that can be avoided if the US doesnt simply use the standard military intervention that has been used in other countries this century.
The memo also comments well on how even the proposed solution, monetary aid to the country and internal reform cannot solve all of the problems that are associated with drug production but gives enough reasons to show that out of all possible policies aid and reform is what the US should go with.
Caitlin I agree with Orlando great memo!
ReplyDeleteYour three sections were well organized and went into enough detail.
I agree with how you mention the "full elimination of the coca plant does not seem realistic."
The solution you propose is great also and how the Colombian government must want to see a change also in order for change to happen and be successful.
Because we are the is the leading consumer how do you think we can fix our own problem? Through education, more restrictions of drug possession and dealing, or even making it legalized. We also talked about punishments not being jail but rehabilitation programs and I think this would do more good and actually helping someone to get through an addiction.
I personally do not think cocaine should be our top priority. I think opiates should be more of a concern within the United States personally.
Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteThis memo does a good job of addressing the drug issue that affects the United States and how to best formulate a solution to stopping it. I like how you suggest monetary aid as opposed to any sort of boots on the ground intervention. Indirect support placing the burden on Colombian shoulders is a direction which could be more beneficial to American interests in the 'war on drugs'. This memo is well-organized and makes very good points on how to best deal with this important issue.
Caitlin this was great memo.
ReplyDeleteI liked how before you started to talk about the changes that need to be made you explained the history and the problem of the cocaine from Colombia instead of just going straight into it. I liked how you put enough detail for the reader to understand the important background without going into too much detail.
I completely agree with you when you said "It is not possible to completely remove these drugs from the market but efforts should be made to decrease their availability." And liked that you said this. Like you said it is impossible to remove every single drug but decreasing it would help like you said. There's also the farmers like you said and because of them and their families. The only way I see that they could grow less or stop would be if they can sell something else at the same value price and have protection from drug manufacturers to be safe but this would be really hard to do. Being in the US military also would not help that much like you pointed out. I agree with you completely that "Only with the Colombian government’s desire to make a change can a realistic transformation in the drug market be made.". Without them wanting to change, not much can happen. Like you said we could help them with money but they need to want the change themselves for anything to really happen.