Radical Avenue

The US State Department estimates that Colombia ranks second only to Sudan in the number of internally displaced refugees. Up to 3.8 million Colombians live in exile, more than 5% of the population. Our country fuels this humanitarian crisis with $500 million in annual military aid, which is used in a drug war pitting the Colombian military against cocaine distributors and their militias. In the meantime Washington haggles over free trade agreements. Talk about misplaced priorities. A free trade agreement won’t help the Colombian refugee community anytime soon.

Does the conflict in Colombia really matter to the US? Well, the Colombian government recently seized 66 pounds of uranium from that nation’s largest rebel group, something the US government considers “disturbing”. Indeed.

Radioactive material in the hands of our enemy is never good news, and they’re probably not using it for clean energy production. The situation is just another example of a dangerously inept US foreign policy. The United States should fix its counterproductive relationship with Colombia.

Better Avenues for Investment
Here are some alternative ways to spend $500 million a year:
1) Humanitarian aid in the form of food, shelter, medicine and other necessities for displaced Colombians.
2) Research into the medicinal benefits of the cocoa plant, which has powerful analgesic qualities but which is also highly addictive.
3) Treatment for drugs addicts, so that they can get back to living productive lives.
4) Education programs to warn kids about the dangers of drug abuse.
5) Schools in remote Colombian villages, where education serves as a socio-economic equalizer, thereby giving poor communities leverage against dangerous local militias.

Treat the Illness
If every ounce of cocaine on the planet vanished overnight, thousands of cocaine addicts would still wake up in the morning needing a fix. Removing the drug doesn’t cure the addiction. Without remedial intervention, addicts will just move on to some other intoxicating substance.

Some people are more susceptible to addiction than others. Effective drug prevention programs help at risk kids before they ever get hooked. Plenty of recovered addicts have conquered their demons with a bit of intestinal fortitude and help from professionals. We can lessen the problem of drug addiction in America through a more therapeutic, less punitive approach.

The Bloody Black Market
During the days of Prohibition, alcohol production and consumption went underground. The ensuing gangster violence in Chicago and New York shocked the nation to such an extent that prohibition was repealed. Now cocktail parties are back in fashion. But drug and alcohol abuse still plagues America. In the modern era however, we’ve exported the intimidation and assassinations to places like Medellin and Cali. That’s why we need a fundamentally different arrangement with our Latin American friends.

Colombia, humanitarian crisis, refugees, foreign aid investment