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This article analyzes alternative development coalitions, their contradictions and complexities, and how they promoted a steeply unequal agrarian change through illicit crop substitution. We zoom into two paramilitary-controlled territories in Colombia. We show that those programs counted with significant support from, and were actually driven by, long coalitions that included regional and national politicians, sectors of the rural rich, paramilitary leaders, Colombian government and United States agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to describe the accounts of farmers, collectors, and community social leaders regarding the impact of the Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS for its acronym in spanish) on social, economic, environmental, and institutional issues in Valle del Guamuez Municipality, Putumayo, Colombia. The research approach is qualitative, employing a comprehensive hermeneutic method, and the textual sources of information include the narratives of four cultivators, collectors, and social leaders from the region. The achieved results are presented under four analytical categories: social, economic, environmental, and institutional. Among the main findings, it is highlighted that, according to the accounts, the PNIS has not had a significant impact on improving the conditions of the communities affected by coca crops, primarily due to the non-compliance of certain commitments by the government and program beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a mobile application called SIREG, which is part of a bigger concept of a management system called SIREG (for its acronym in Spanish) for digital information management of eradication of illicit crops. Hence, the app is considered as the first step in developing the concept. Specifically, the app supports capturing and sending relevant information about the eradication process. This process is usually manually collected and reported by voice, which can result to errors in the reports. To this end, the main components of the process were identified, such as patrol information, crop characteristics, photographic record, and georeferenced information of the eradicated areas. These components were used to define the application's functionality through modules associated with each component. The implementation was performed on a Trimble TDC100, an Android device with suitable features for challenging field conditions. Preliminary tests show good performance in positioning, with an error rate below 0.3%. The application transparently supports information reporting, allowing traceability of the process and monitoring. Likewise, this is valuable information for decision-makers, such as military commanders or authorities. In addition, this digitized information would provide reliable data on areas affected by the growth of illicit crops, such as forests or protected natural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While illicit crops like the coca leaf can be vehicles of conflict and income for armed groups across the Global South, this article reveals that coca has alternative uses based on its nutritional and cultural value. Drawing on the experience of the Territory of Conviviality and Peace of Lerma in Colombia, the country's first community to receive state authorisation to experiment with coca for non-alkaloid purposes, we ponder whether coca can be a catalyst for peace. Lerma has been a large coca producer for decades, which enveloped it in relations of subordination and exploitation tied to illicit economies and armed conflict. Based on qualitative research over a six-year period, we analyse Lerma's project to overcome capitalist logics driving peasant dispossession through Colombian history and intra-community violence by diverging from production for the drug economy in favour of agroecological coca. In conjunction with other community-based programmes, Lerma's production of organic coca as part of its food sovereignty project suggests a process of decolonial peace at work, whereby the community breaks from oppressions tied to the rule of armed groups and capitalist markets. This reveals the ecological dimensions of peace, which requires community organising and sustainable relations between humans and land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Colombia, efforts to reduce coca cultivation include forced eradication (FE), interdiction, alternative development (AD), and a series of territorial transformations (TT). Whereas some of these policies have been assessed separately by the empirical literature, no attention has been paid to their possible complementarities. Following an economics of crime approach, we argue that people’s choice to grow coca depends on both the costs imposed by FE and interdiction, on the one hand, and the benefits arising from AD and TT, on the other. To test this, we collect data on the country’s 291 municipalities with net positive levels of coca cultivation from 2005 to 2015 and estimate a panel data regression model with fixed effects. The results suggest that, besides being complementary, these groups of policies also depend on each other to be effective.

In this paper, it is explored the impact of militarized and punitive methods of drug control on indigenous and peasant communities engaged in the cultivation of poppies in Guerrero (Mexico), within a context of neoliberal agrarian counter-reform and state repression, operating through a multi-level range of power brokers. Through the lens of ethnography and mixed methodology, it is examined the dynamics and changing characteristics of the commodity chain of heroin, from field production to consumption and money laundering, and it is analysed the different logics of dispossession involved, as well as the rationales of normative discourses in producing communities and their survival strategies. The framework of analysis behind is drawn from studies regarding the anthropology of the state, the anthropology of the «illicit», and of capitalism, and critical development studies.

Introduction-- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) classifies Colombia as one of the countries where drug trafficking and crime threaten the security, peace and development opportunities of its citizens. Objective-- This article presents the application of the unsupervised K-means classification algorithm to categorize municipalities with coca cultivation presence in Colombia. Methodology- The CRISP-DM methodology was used for data mining, and the PCA (Principal Component Analysis) algorithm was used for the correlation of variables. Results-- Multiple sources of information were used, such as: the number of hectares of coca per municipality, seizures, laboratories destroyed, manual eradication and fumigation, monitored by national institutions, in order to make crosses with socioeconomic and performance variables of the municipalities with coca crops in the period from 2010 to 2020. Based on the classification, the scenarios of each category were analyzed to find scenarios that allow elucidating the dynamics of the territories suffering from this scourge. Conclusions-- It was found that the behavior of coca-producing municipalities responds mainly to 4 groups. It was also found that the municipality of Tumaco in Nariño does not fit into any category since it exceeds the production with respect to the other municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Many armed conflicts worldwide occur in biodiversity hotspots and nearly 50% of those conflicts occur in forested regions. In Colombia, the armed conflict has implied the clearing of large forest tracts for the establishment of illicit crops. The aim of this study was to assess the role that illicit crops played in the deforestation dynamics in Colombia between 2001 and 2014. We established a database with the annual deforestation rates and nine predictors for 1120 municipalities and built fixed effects models that take spatial autocorrelation into account. Model selection with AIC suggested that the area cultivated with coca crops was the best predictor of annual rates of deforestation, whereas coca crop removal was associated with increasing forest cover. According to our results, coca crops promoted deforestation in Colombia between 2001 and 2014 through indirect (spilling-over to nearby areas), immediate and temporally-lagged mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTMany armed conflicts worldwide occur in biodiversity hotspots and nearly 50% of those conflicts occur in forested regions. In Colombia, the armed conflict has implied the clearing of large forest tracts for the establishment of illicit crops. The aim of this study was to assess the role that illicit crops played in the deforestation dynamics in Colombia between 2001 and 2014. We established a database with the annual deforestation rates and nine predictors for 1120 municipalities and built fixed effects models that take spatial autocorrelation into account. Model selection with AIC suggested that the area cultivated with coca crops was the best predictor of annual rates of deforestation, whereas coca crop removal was associated with increasing forest cover.According to our results, coca crops promoted deforestation in Colombia between 2001 and 2014 through indirect (spilling-over to nearby areas), immediate and temporally-lagged mechanisms.

For the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Colombia is one of the top countries where drug trafficking and crime jeopardize security, peace and development opportunities of citizens. Initially, an account of the history of coca crops in Colombia will be developed. Starting with the period known as “bonanza marimbera” in the 60s, it will be described how the country transformed from a marijuana producer to being one of the main cocaine producers in the world. Multiple sources of information are crossed, such as the number of hectares of coca per municipality, seizures, destroyed laboratories, manual eradication and fumigation monitored by the national institutions, crossed with socio-economic variables and performance of the municipalities that have coca crops in Colombia in the period from 2010 to 2020. Data mining algorithms were used to identify correlations and patterns that allowed the classification of municipalities with coca and starting from the classification it was possible to analyze the scenarios of each category found, to find scenarios that shed light on the dynamics of the territories that suffer from this scourge.

In Colombia, efforts to reduce coca cultivation include forced eradication (FE), interdiction, alternative development (AD), and a series of territorial transformations (TT). Whereas some of these policies have been assessed separately by the empirical literature, no attention has been paid to their possible complementarities. Following an economics of crime approach, we argue that people's choice to grow coca depends on both the costs imposed by FE and interdiction, on the one hand, and the benefits arising from AD and TT, on the other. To test this, we collect data on the country's 291 municipalities with net positive levels of coca cultivation from 2005 to 2015 and estimate a panel data regression model with fixed effects. The results suggest that, besides being complementary, these groups of policies also depend on each other to be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the deforestation phenomenon in Colombia and the armed conflict's influence on it, identifying reparation actions that State institutions, social organizations, and the affected local communities themselves can implement. First, a qualitative documentary review methodology is used to analyze the conflict's impacts on deforestation, its relationship with illicit economic activities, and the involved actors' roles. Then, the relationship between ecosystems and communities is addressed, focused primarily on the indigenous and peasant populations inhabiting the affected territories and the grave consequences experienced. Finally, some environmental reparation actions are studied, such as the Army's Operation Artemisa and other initiatives developed from the local communities' perspective, knowledge, and specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Iberoamericana de Ciencia, Tecnologia y Sociedad is the property of Centro de Estudios sobre Ciencia, Desarrollo y Educacion Superior and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo is the property of Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cadmium (Cd) tends to bioaccumulate in Thebroma cacao beans, affecting human health and its marketing possibilities. For this reason, the European Union (EU) approved Regulation No 488/2014 for processed cocoa products, which applies from January 2019, and motivated authors to conduct research on its bioaccumulation in beans, the potential risks to health, quality, and its export possibilities. The results show high levels in different regions of the main Latin American (LA) producing countries: Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Honduras, and others. However, EU regulation does not stipulate maximum limits for raw cocoa. In the absence of it, research has been classified by reference to the limits for processed cocoa, generating oversized metal levels, controversies in the producer's and setback in replacing illegal coca cultivation in this region. Thus, this review article will detail research on Cd levels in cocoa beans in major Latin American producing countries, the application of EU regulation No 488/2014 to raw cocoa, proposals to set maximum limits on raw beans and their implications for replacing illicit crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to understand the dynamics behind the expansion and consolidation of coca crops in the National Natural Parks of the Colombian National System of Protected Areas –SINAP-, based on fieldwork carried out in the national parks Catatumbo Barí (Norte de Santander), Alto Fragua Indi Wasi (Caquetá), and Farallones de Cali (Valle del Cauca), which have approximately 1.500 hectares of coca crops. This fieldwork has allowed us to identify the drivers behind the growth of coca in areas destined for environmental protection, as well as the different policies and programs that the Colombian Government has designed to respond to the presence of coca crops in these territories. Based on these inputs, we opened the discussion on the need to rethink the governance model for Colombia’s protected areas. To this end, we propose the formulation of a Special and Transitional Management Regime for Peasants (REMC) in protected areas, which will allow for a balance between the conservation objectives of these territories and respect for the rights of the peasants who have historically settled there.

Based on historical and structural data, this article aims to discuss the cultivation of cannabis as a social and political issue in Brazil. The objective was to analyze the genesis of the issue of illegal plantations, its evolution, the governmental response and its consequences for public security and agricultural policies in the São Francisco Valley region, in the Northeast of Brazil. Qualitative methodologies were used with emphasis on the descriptive analysis of the phenomenon. The result is that the state steps that affected the environment, the Brazilian drug policy, the inefficient agricultural policy for the semi-arid region and the plantation eradication measures are directly and indirectly related to the continuation of the plantations as relevant economic and criminal activities.

This article examines how the Colombian Government's peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have impacted the country's anti-drug policy. To this end, it reviews the literature on civil war economics and the economics of crime as a profession. It also examines anti-drug policy studies over the past two decades and analyzes the official figures in government and international reports on illicit crops, production, and trafficking. The results show that the State's anti-drug policy during the Santos administration, fundamentally based on voluntary eradication and crop substitution and a decrease in aerial spraying (forced eradication), was a determining factor in the increase of cocaine crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Jurídica Piélagus is the property of Universidad Surcolombiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

2019 was a significant year for Colombian politics and the country's political debate was dominated by four intertwined issues: (a) the implementation of the historic peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and all its economic, judicial, and political ramifications, (b) the ongoing presence of illicit crops and the impact of the drug trade on domestic and international security, (c) the tense bilateral relation between Colombia and Venezuela, and, similar to other Latin American countries, (d) social unrest caused by multiple and widespread frustration about public education, health, corruption, governance, and the environment. At the same time, the country was marked by steady economic growth, above the Latin American average. In addition, much of the political debate took place within and among the institutions of Colombian state and society, illustrating growing state capacity and a mature civil society. In this article, I describe the different aspects of this Colombian paradox-- high levels of domestic unrest and political polarization surrounding unsolved structural issues and pending expectations about peace combined with superior economic performance and growing institutional strength--in an effort to provide an overview of the challenges overcome as well as those lying ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, through the use of political ecology perspectives on coercive conservation, aims to explain how in two separate Colombian Natural Parks and buffer zones, environmental policies designed to (re)take control of the frontier, have produced a similar territorial differentiation in the contention of illicit activities. Los Farallones in the Colombian Pacific and La Macarena/Puerto Rico in the Ariari region have experienced different stages of the armed conflict and are at the center of this analysis. I argue that in the contexts of both conflict escalation (1998–2007) and conflict de-escalation (2008–2016), the State in its attempt to control the frontier has not only had military intervention in areas of conservation but has also reinforced environmental programs that attack illegal mining and coca, producing both a territorially differentiated containment of illicit activities and an uneven progression of the illicit frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After more than fifty years of conflict, in 2016 a peace agreement was signed by the Colombian government and the leftist group FARC. The agreement created important opportunities for addressing historical inequalities. However, some of the aspirations of the peace agreement may be too ambitious and generate expectations that exceed the capacities of existing state institutions. In addition, there has been opposition by political and social actors. This article examines the challenges to building a comprehensive and inclusive social contract through the lens of two 'core conflict issues': land, and illicit crops and the drug trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents the first evidence on the existence of money laundering in rural areas dedicated to the production of illicit crops. This paper uses, as money laundering (ML) measure, Financial Intelligence Reports (FIR). FIR is a more accurate ML measure than Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) since it implies more rigorous and detail analysis. The present research uses a new panel of municipal data for the period 2000–2013 which has information that measure: ML dynamics, economic activity, violence, conflicts, institutional presence and interdiction. Using a fixed-effects model by municipality and year, this study found a positive relationship between ML, measured as the value of FIR, and illicit crops. The results are maintained throughout specifications and robustness exercises. This paper found that a 1% increase in cultivated area in the municipality implies 3.04% increase in the FIR value. If one representative municipality of the sample is taken, an increase of 1% in cultivated area would be translated into 641 million COP (342.705 USD) in money laundering reported in FIR. Thus, the existence of money laundering in rural areas dedicated to illicit crops is concluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although still neglected in legal writings, the 2014 agreement on illicit drugs between the FARC and the Colombian Government deserves attention for a number of reasons, including that it was conceived as an essential part of the broader strategy for peace in Colombia, as well as because of its aim of eradicating illicit crops. Starting with some remarks on the Colombian ‘drug war’ and the policy and legal arguments for classifying the Colombian armed conflict as a non-international armed conflict (NIAC), the paper will then proceed with an analysis of the main reasons behind the drafting of a partial agreement on illicit drugs between the FARC and Colombia in 2014. Next, the paper will address the relevant sections and enforcement mechanisms for putting the provisions of the agreement into effect. An assessment of how the 2014 agreement has addressed the issue of drug trafficking and the issues concerning drug related crimes will also be considered. The paper will conclude with the lessons to be drawn from the new Agreement on illicit drugs.

Remote sensing data fusion has been playing a more and more important role in crop planting area monitoring, especially for crop area information acquisition. Multi-temporal data and multi-spectral time series are two major aspects for improving crop identification accuracy. Remote sensing fusion provides high quality multi-spectral and panchromatic images in terms of spectral and spatial information, respectively. In this paper, we take one step further and prove the application of remote sensing data fusion in detecting illicit crop through LSMM, GOBIA, and MCE analyzing of strategic information. This methodology emerges as a complementary and effective strategy to control and eradicate illicit crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The methods of substituting illicit crops in conflict areas have been debated at an international level in various studies. However, not many studies have focused on the effects of substituting illicit crops with regards to the concept of rural prosperity. The paper presents a new methodological focus for substituting illicit crops in conflict areas, based on the “Working with People” (WWP) model. It incorporates expert knowledge relating to planning activities for substituting illicit crops, and links between prosperity and rural development. The study is based on a region of Colombia called La Macarena. The social base consists of 2503 families affected by the historic conflict involving illegal armed groups (FARC) for more than 50 years. We present the different phases and historic milestones that have occurred in relation to Alternative Development policies in Colombia (1964–2016). The empirical evidence presented indicates that WWP model provides process of social learning, and can be effective for substituting illicit crops, to alternative development projects by the public and private sectors. Establishing trust by working with people was the main condition, which facilitated the creation of prosperity and rural development with a sustainability vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gestión y Ambiente is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most of the world's coca--the source of cocaine--is grown in the Amazonian forests of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. As cultivation continues despite eradication, a shift to giving farmers more incentives to abandon coca is currently proposed. Assuming coca cultivation is an important cause of migration and deforestation, new alternative development projects also aim to conserve forests. We show coca cultivation strongly increases near never-completed 1960s-1970s state-sponsored projects to settle the Amazon. Improved roads and colonization projects opened the western Amazon frontier to migration, generating deforestation and, once support dwindled, setting the stage for coca cultivation. New studies also show coca cultivation generates negligible direct or indirect forest loss and fails to explain migration, whereas expanding legal agriculture, roads, displacement, and eradication increase deforestation. These findings highlight the urgent need to both commit development investment for the long term and set explicit conservation goals in western Amazonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Araucaria is the property of Araucaria-Revista Iberoamericana de Filosofia, Politica y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study area is located in the northeast of the department of Antioquia, downstream of the Porce III dam, in the jurisdiction of the municipalities of Amalfi, Anorí, and Zaragoza and is part of what EPM calls the Guadalupe-Porce biological corridor. The area has a series of social dynamics such as an unusual population increase, activities such as mining, cattle ranching and illicit crops that result in high levels of deforestation. The spatial distribution patterns of deforestation hotspots were analyzed using Ripley's K function and a quadrat count for evaluation using the Chi-square test. The annual rate of deforestation was calculated and the probability of deforestation was modeled as a binary variable as a function of social and environmental covariates. Deforestation occurred throughout the study area with a gregarious spatial pattern, reaching a deforestation rate of -0.95%, with a total forest loss of 1820.78 ha between 2017-2022. The mining deforestation model was 79% correct at the same probability threshold, indicating a higher reliability of predictions. Slope is an influential factor in the probability of deforestation, associated with land productivity and forest accessibility. Distance to illicit crops, pastures and mining extraction zones were significant in the deforestation models evaluated, reflecting spatial dependence of these processes. Evidence was found of spatial heterogeneity in the main determinants of deforestation in the corridor caused by mining, conversion to pasture, or illicit crops. This project was developed within the framework cooperation agreement CT-2020-000469 between Empresas Públicas de Medellín E.S.P. and Universidad Nacional de Colombia - sede Medellín. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of efforts to curb the global supply of illicit drugs and significant shifts in how those efforts are designed and implemented, illicit crop cultivation persists. In this paper, we examine state and international development efforts to eradicate coca in Peru, opium poppies in Laos, and cannabis in California, USA and the ever-changing discourses used to justify and design these interventions. Scholarship in political geography frames eradication interventions as serving ongoing efforts to extend state and market power into the regions in which illicit crops are grown and to marginalize the people growing them. We find that environmental discourses are increasingly used to assert the need for continued illicit crop interventions, and that these discourses articulate with historical and ongoing portrayals of smallholders as environmentally destructive. Environmental harm narratives that justify enforcement and eradication efforts under the guise of protecting ecosystems from illicit crop farmers can become self-fulfilling prophecies when they disproportionately impact smallholders and push them into marginal geographic and economic positions. Our cases illustrate that environmentally-justified interventions drive cycles of marginalization for illicit crop smallholders, often conditioned by race or ethnicity, who are then portrayed as environmental criminals. Meanwhile, new state-sanctioned spaces of opportunity and profit are created for more powerful actors who are able to capitalize on the removal of illicit crop growers from the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For more than 30 years, the main strategy to control illicit coca crops has been forced eradication. Despite the importance of social investment and persistent poverty in areas where illicit crops are grown, there is no empirical evidence of the effect of social expenditures on preventing and reducing the expansion of illicit crops.Methods: This paper analyses how social investment in conjunction with eradication affects new coca crops. The model is tested using a dataset consisting of annual data for 440 contiguous municipalities that had coca in any year between 2001 and 2010. The analysis includes the two main techniques used to control illicit crops, manual eradication and aerial spraying.Results: Aerial spraying is effective in deterring farmers from increasing the size of their new coca fields, but this effect is small. Social investment, in addition to generating social welfare, has a significant negative relationship with new coca crops, 0.09-hectare reduction in new coca crops per additional 50-cent spent in social investment (human capital and infrastructure) per inhabitant.Conclusion: Social investment emerges as a complementary and effective strategy to control illicit crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]