Ricardo Vargas

Long bio:

Director of Acción Andina Colombia

Ricardo Vargas Meza is a Sociologist with a Masters in Social Philosophy from the National University of Colombia. He is an author, among other texts of Fumigation and Conflict: Anti-drugs policies and the delegitimisation of the Colombian state (Tercer Mundo, TNI and Acción Andina, December 1999); Drugs, Armed Conflict and Alternative Development (Acción Andina Colombia, June 2003, Bogotá); Narcotrafficking, war and anti-drug policies (Acción Andina Colombia, Novib - Oxfam The Netherlands, June 2005); Alternative Development in Colombia and Social Participation: Proposals for a change of strategy (DIAL, September 2010, Bogotá).

Vargas writes frequently for various publications and journals, both in Colombia and internationally. He also does international consultancy on issues of development, illegality and security.

Areas of expertise:

Illicit coca production in Colombia; Drugs and Conflict; Alternative Development; Fumigation and Biological warfare against drugs; War on drugs in the Andes

Languages spoken:

Spanish

Recent content by Ricardo Vargas

USAID's Alternative Development policy in Colombia (24 Oct 2011)

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? (17 Jan 2011)

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

The Statistics Bazaar (5 Mar 2010)

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 (21 Dec 2009)

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 (1 May 2006)

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 (17 Nov 2005)

"Gran parte del narcotráfico va por el pacífico" (17 Nov 2005)

Anti-drug Policies in Colombia: 25 Years of Failure (17 Nov 2005)

Fumigaciones yacciones antidrogas en la fuente (17 Nov 2005)

Ricardo Vargas (17 Nov 2005)