On July 2, 2008, when three American private contractors and Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt were rescued after being held for more than five years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the world was captivated by their personal narratives. But between the headlines a major story was lost: Who exactly are the FARC? How had a drug-funded revolutionary army managed to hold so many hostages for so long?
The United States wants to lease Colombian military bases, but a coalition of activists from the two countries are saying no. And they have the Colombian constitution on their side.
The Coke Machine takes readers deep inside the Coca-Cola Company and its international franchisees to reveal how they became the number one brand in the world, and just how far they’ll go to stay there.
Ever since its “I’d like to teach the world to sing” commercials from the 1970s, Coca-Cola has billed itself as the world’s beverage, uniting all colors and cultures in a mutual love of its caramel-sweet sugar water. The formula has worked incredibly well-making it one of the most profitable companies on the planet and “Coca-Cola” the world’s second- most recognized word after “hello.” However, as the company expands its reach into both domestic and foreign markets, an increasing number of the world’s citizens are finding the taste of Coke more bitter than sweet.
We’d be better served by a policy that redirected funds to drug prevention education and treatment in the United States.
The nerve of supply and demand.
Promise of a collaborative foreign policy and focus on land reforms at home provide a glimmer of hope for new Colombian president Juan Santos’s administration.
Since it helps fund and train Colombia’s Department of Administrative Security, Washington might be implicated in its scandals.
It looked peaceful on the surface. But as Laura Carlsen reports, the Colombia elections were anything but.
By any measure, the military approach to countering a demand-driven cocaine trade has been a complete failure.
When it comes to changing term limits on Latin American presidents, U.S. lawmakers and pundits are applying a double standard–at least in Honduras and Colombia.
Bogotá and Washington are negotiating an agreement for five military bases in Colombia that would escalate the U.S. military’s presence in the region.
The illicit cultivation of coca in Colombia is not as profitable a business as one would imagine. A new study by Colombian development expert Andrés García, reveals that the majority of small farmers growing coca in the areas studied were earning less than the legal minimum wage. Why do they persist in cultivating coca for illicit use? They simply do not have a viable economic alternative, according to Mr. García’s report. Indeed he found that the majority of peasants used the money to buy basic social services, such as healthcare, which were not provided by the state.
Andrés García’s research was funded by Oxfam and conducted in the departments of Nariño and Cauca. Mr. García will share his experience working directly with coca growing communities and explain what anti-narcotic programs have failed — and which have failed miserably. He will also look at the potential impact of the proposed U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement on illicit coca cultivation.
For more information contact Sanho Tree stree@igc.org or call (202) 787-5266.
This presentation is cosponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam America, and the U.S. Office on Colombia.
As the new policies take shape, Washington must understand that being tough is not the same as being effective.
In seven days, the Andean region went from the brink of war to a grudging peace. But as columnist Laura Carlsen reports, all is still not well.
The U.S. Military reconfigures its unpopular presence in Latin America.