A powerful new political movement bringing rural and urban Colombian civil society onto a common platform poses the real possibility for sustainable peacebuilding in Colombia. The reaction of the government to its emergence will be a path-setting moment.
The number of people in Colombia killed by US tobacco is way beyond the number of Americans killed by Colombian cocaine… Do they have a right to come to the United States and carry out chemical warfare on North Carolina and Kentucky because they have a tobacco problem and it’s coming from here?
A decade of violence and insecurity has deeply marked Colombia's society, politics and institutions. For Colombia to move on, its beleaguered yet independent justice system will have a vital role to play, says Adam Isacson.
Local officials in both British Columbia and Amsterdam wrangle with their respective national governments on the question of how to deal with marijuana trafficking. Meanwhile, Colombia's incumbent president seeks to begin an international dialogue on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs.
The recent assassination of Colombian marxist insurgent group leader Alfonso Cano has been hailed internationally as an advance towards peace, giving Colombia a boost down the path to becoming the latest emerging market of Latin America. A closer look at the history and nature of Colombia's nearly
Nairobi hit by grenade attacks as Somalis turn against Kenyan incursion. At least 279 killed in Turkey quake. Bloody weekend in Colombia just 10 days before elections. Indonesian police officer shot dead in Papua. All this in today’s briefing...
Many communities in countries torn apart by violence look beyond the state for their protection, to neighbourhood watch groups, civilian patrols or self-help associations. Interest in these non-state providers has risen sharply in the donor community, but can the risks of supporting vigilantes and
A deep strategic rethink is needed to reverse the dismal failure of the war on drugs and gangs, particularly in the way this has been fought across Central America and the Caribbean. Intimate community engagement and integral policy approaches are crucial steps in moving on from the bankrupt iron
Forces of globalization provide the link between the areas of extreme criminal violence in poorer countries and the random attacks carried out by fundamentalists in the west. On all sides, economic interconnectedness has brought wealth to some, criminal opportunities to others, and vulnerability t
After a few years of relative peace under the rule of a mafia boss, the Colombian city of Medellín, birthplace of the first great narco-trafficking cartel, has seen violent crime soar once again. The culprits are from a new generation of urban youth specializing in protection rackets, drug sales a
Following the successful openDemocracy Conference, ‘After the War on Drugs: Envisioning a Post-Prohibition World’; the Drug Policy Forum is back with a bumper edition and round-up of the last couple of weeks drug policy news. We lead this week with news that rebuffing the Conservative government,
The United States armed forces have played a leading role in the “war on drugs” across much of Latin America. The results are damaging and counterproductive, says Juan Gabriel Tokatlian.
