La securitización de las drogas y el narcotráfico en Colombia, Perú, Ecuador y Bolivia la influencia de los EE.UU. y las variables internas

Abstract

The purpose of this monograph is to analyze the way in which drugs and drug trafficking have been conceived as a security problem in the countries of the Andean Region (RA). In this regard, most traditional studies on drugs and international relations argue that the process of securitization of these issues in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, is the result of an imposition by the United States (USA) through the use of coercive instruments 1. The effect of this interpretation that reveals the development of relations between the US and the RA countries, is normally to close the space for cooperation, since it positions them as adversaries. If this premise is accepted, the RA countries have no alternative but to be reactive, so there is very little room for dialogue, negotiation and cooperation that can be generated around them. Likewise, these types of arguments limit the political responsibility of the officials in charge of formulating anti-drug policies in the RA, as the US is blamed for the results of such policies.