Cocaine In Peru Essay
Despite Columbia’s growth as a primary cocaine producer and distributer, it was surpassed by Peru in 2015. There are an estimated 120,000 hectares of coca crop in Peru, most of which are concentrated in the Huallaga Valley, representing a possible production of no less than 290 to 340 tons of cocaine product annually. The sheer magnitude of Peruvian coca production has been steadily increased from the mid-1970’s to the 1990’s. In 1975, Peru had an estimated 45,000 hectares of coca crops – this figure increased to 70,000 hectares in 1980, and reached its peak at 180,000 hectares in the mid-1990’s. In terms of employment, the Peruvian cocaine sector generated an estimated 300,000 jobs, split between farming, production, and trafficking in 1992.
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Peru began the process of strengthening its democracy and limiting the role of former security forces in everyday civilian life. This was problematic during the 1980’s and 1990’s because of the nature the Peruvian government policies during the War on Drugs. The US would rely on Peru’s security forces and military to combat the illicit cocaine trade. They would provide resources, training, and justification for the military to play a hands on role in domestic counternarcotic operations. Which further strengthened the military’s control and weakened Peru’s civilian oversight over military operations. The US believed that the military and security forces were more adequately equipped to combat the heavily armed narcos than the local police forces. So the US provided counter-narcotics aid to the Peruvian National Intelligence Service (SIN); an agency known for questionable and illegal practices during the autogolp of President Alberto Fujimori from 1992 to 2000. The Peruvian government and military officials used the drug trade as a smoke screen to concentrate their authority while being unresponsive to civilian oversight or public will. This severely weakened the effectiveness of the Peruvian democracy. Compliance was assured through strategic aid allocation and market access issued by
Peru began the process of strengthening its democracy and limiting the role of former security forces in everyday civilian life. This was problematic during the 1980’s and 1990’s because of the nature the Peruvian government policies during the War on Drugs. The US would rely on Peru’s security forces and military to combat the illicit cocaine trade. They would provide resources, training, and justification for the military to play a hands on role in domestic counternarcotic operations. Which further strengthened the military’s control and weakened Peru’s civilian oversight over military operations. The US believed that the military and security forces were more adequately equipped to combat the heavily armed narcos than the local police forces. So the US provided counter-narcotics aid to the Peruvian National Intelligence Service (SIN); an agency known for questionable and illegal practices during the autogolp of President Alberto Fujimori from 1992 to 2000. The Peruvian government and military officials used the drug trade as a smoke screen to concentrate their authority while being unresponsive to civilian oversight or public will. This severely weakened the effectiveness of the Peruvian democracy. Compliance was assured through strategic aid allocation and market access issued by