WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Writing Assignment



Abstract

In this study we try to explore the American war on drugs which has a deep impact on the affected Latin American countries. The effects rebound to the world economy and other third world countries. The shortage of suitable world market products, attractions and alternatives is why former colonies of Latin America completely downgraded their national ambitions to the export of agricultural products and random existing raw materials and shifted to drug production. After the colonial era, the former colonial countries, such as Spain or Portugal subdued those countries with their free trade and capital movements in order to build up the needed agricultural production and raw materials for the world market. Because of this, more and more countries in the Andean and Amazon regions suffer depletion of their lands by producing different kinds of ores and agricultural products such as bananas, coffee, cocoa and caoutchouc.

Writing Assignment

Introduction

Since the economy sometimes totally relies on the price of one of the produced goods, drug production is on a steep rise as drugs become the main exported goods. Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, in particular, have created a supply for the rising demand of the western nations. Nearly all of the South American countries are involved in producing, processing, transit trading or money laundering. Drug business has changed the structure of whole regions when hundreds of thousands of farmers who were relying on more lucrative market prices for coca plants.

The economic situation of these countries worsens steadily because of the decreasing inflow of foreign currencies due to falling prices of raw materials and agricultural products, declining imports, and an increasing national debt. The outcome is an increasing poverty level fostering national bankruptcy.

 

A Comparative Analysis

Colombia's most important source of foreign currency was coffee until 1987 when the coffee price on the world market slumped nearly fifty percent. Instead of 3 billion US dollars, coffee brought only 1.7 billion US dollars into the country. Compared to the 9 billion US dollars income of the drug cartel during 1986 - 1987, of which only 1.7 US dollars stayed in the country, the impact of this money is clarified (Mittermeyer 21). Therefore, it is understandable that cocaine production is now the number one export of Colombia. According to United Nations estimates, 300 - 400 billion US dollars are spent every year on drugs, which is more than for food in Latin American countries.

The main cocaine output happens in Colombia, while Peru and Bolivia provide the coca leaves. The drugs are circulated to the USA, from the cities of Cali and Medellin. The economical influence is enormous. Over two million people in the Andean region alone depend on cocaine as a export good. Colombia controls eighty percent of the world cocaine market. In supplement, they produce twenty-two per hundred of the American consumption. The two foremost cartels are run by a couple of selected families. The Cali cartel has been round since the mid seventies, with about 2500 - 6000 ...