The history of South America has long been fraught with turmoil. Dictators and generals ravaged the countries. Guerilla groups waged wars from the forests and mountains. When classical liberal tendencies seemed to take root and the military juntas believed their states were ready for free and fair elections, the losing party typically rejected the results and commenced vicious campaigns of terror. But South American countries have another source for their internal conflicts: the political influence of the powerful drug cartels and the constrained desire and ability of legitimate governments to dismantle them.
The often untold fact is that the drug trade helps these governments. Colombia, for example, desperately needs revenue. Coca is something of a cash crop for Colombian farmers. Does it make sense to deny these farmers the chance for a very high income?
The reality is that there is no easy solution to this problem, no clear "we should do this; we should not do that" policy. Other means to supplant cocaine production should be encouraged within the Colombian economy. Crops such as bananas, citrus fruits, and coffee also flourish in Colombia's fertile soils. But Colombians argue that coca is an inextricable part of their culture. Telling them not to grow it is like telling farmers in Iowa not to grow corn or telling farmers in Kansas to destroy their grain. It simply will not happen without a hard fight in either case.
Colombians will continue to grow coca. Nothing except the efforts of their government will impeed farmers from growing the leaf. Even then the cartels need only give a bureaucrat a few bills of solid currency or destroy a government building to obliterate any chance of prosecuting the cartel leaders or ratifying extradition treaties. The Colombian government almost deserves pity for its untenable position. It may have the best intentions to fight the drug trade, but it does that at the risk of the lives of its ministers. Their predicament: To die for a moral cause or to live the lavish life of a Mafia boss while their allies in the cartels tell them exactly what legislation to sign and how to sign it. Who can easily blame these ministers for taking the route they have often chosen?
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