Strengths
-War on drugs
(destroy the plantations of coca plants)
-in 2000 – 1000 tonnes
of cocaine annually
-in 2010 – less than
300 tonnes of cocaine annually
-in 2000 – 170000 hectares
of coca bushes
-in 2010 – 75000 hectares
of coca bushes
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Weakness
-Columbian
government has no authority:
*left wing guerrillas
(FARC)
*right wing
paramilitary groups
-environmental pollution
(spraying & toxic materials).
-Farmers cannot make
a living from legal agricultural activities, coca cultivation creates jobs and
income for all the coca farmers in remote rural areas.
- +- 1.2 % of
Columbia’s GDP is spent every year on the war on drugs (1 billion dollars).
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Opportunities
-American support
(also European support).
-US provides 1.3
billion dollars mainly in military aid, to help fight the drug barons.
-US provides
military helicopters.
-US organised a training
program for 3 special army battalions.
The special army battalion try to clear the area of drug traffickers.
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Threats
-the demand for
cocaine in the US is extremely high. For example most Columbian heroin is
destined for the US Market.
-the international
crisis in the coffee world is tempting small coffee farmers to turn to growing
the coca plant.
-Farmers in Columbia
go bankrupt because they can’t compete with subsidised agricultural products
imported from Europe and the US.
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