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Recent content by Ricardo Vargas

USAID's Alternative Development policy in Colombia

Alternative Development as practised by USAID and the Colombia government was always guided more by security rather than development considerations. This report examines the key aspects of USAID's alternative development policy and its implementation in Colombia during the last decade. A critical analysis by Ricardo Vargas.

 

Colombia: A successful case for the war on drugs?

Is Colombia's narcotrafficking situation comparable to that of Mexico, including the strategies needed to combat it?

The Statistics Bazaar

The drugs scene in Colombia is characterized by the fact that it is dominated by a confusion of insufficiently supported statistics and speculative diagnoses which produce policies that reflect this chaos.

The security approach to the drugs problem

The drugs problem in Colombia is intertwined with structural factors at the social, economic, institutional and cultural levels. Moreover, its relationship to the armed conflict has had serious consequences for the socio-economic conditions of peasant and indigenous communities affected by the production of raw materials used to produce cocaine.

Political Challenges Posed by the Failure of Prohibition

After a slight dip in coca production during 2003 and 2004, the Andean region has returned to the historical average of 200,000 hectares of coca crops.

Colombia: A Crusade in Tatters
"Gran parte del narcotráfico va por el pacífico"
Anti-drug Policies in Colombia: 25 Years of Failure
Fumigaciones yacciones antidrogas en la fuente
Ricardo Vargas
Fumigaciones y conflicto armado en Colombia
Editorial
Editorial
Editorial
Editorial
The New Global Era:
Ponencia: Drogas, conflicto armado y desarrollo alternativo
A Few Comments about the OAS-CICAD Study of the Impact of Glyphosate used in the Eradication of Illicit Crops in Colombia
Cross Purposes

The anti-drug strategy in Colombia limits the establishment of the basic political conditions necessary to attain the socio-economic goals of alternative development.

A Failed Balance

This Drugs & Conflict debate paper elucidates the analysis TNI contributed to a high-level international policy conference to evaluate 25 years of Alternative Development.