Drugs and Power in Columbia

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Pablo Escobar Gaviria, as well as his closest associates of the Medellin cartel, managed to virtually dominate the nation of Colombia throughout the 1980s and into the beginning of the 1990s. Among the forces used to attain this unbelievable level of power and dominance were huge, trained armies, advanced assault weapons, widespread corruption and bribery and various violent methods that often included cold-blooded murder. The paper shows that the effects of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin cartel are still felt strongly today all over Colombia. The paper argues that constructive action must be taken to ensure that neither an individual nor a drug cartel ever rise to their level of power again.

From the Paper:

"By the beginning of the 1990s Pablo Escobar had built the largest and most lucrative illegal, undercover industry that the world had ever seen. In 1989 his cartel controlled an estimated 75 percent of the world's cocaine supply, and he himself had become a multi-billionaire (Jordan 82). On August 18 of that same year, both a Colombian police commandant and the front-running Liberal party presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan were assassinated. By the end of the night the Colombian government issued an emergency decree against the entire drug trade, and six days later, the Medellin cartel declared a war against the government and the industrial and political oligarchy."

More papers on Drugs and Power in Columbia:

• Research Paper # 6827 : "NarcoPolitics In Columbia"
• Essay # 47787 : "Pablo Escobar"
• Book Review # 8784 : "Annotated Bibliography for Latin American Studies"

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