Abstract
This project involves uncovering why Venezuela emerged as a center of drug trafficking in Latin America over the last decade. To explain this shift, I will examine the foreign policies of Venezuela, the United States, and Colombia. Specifically, this project focuses evaluating the interactions of Venezuela with the United States, focusing on the implementation of ‘Plan Colombia’, which was the departing point for the increase of narcotic trafficking in Venezuela to Central America and Europe. Also, several political actions taken by the Venezuelan government in the last two decades will be taken into consideration as a possible influence. The effect of the deterioration of US-Venezuelan relations, along with the shared border with Colombia, has made easier the laundering of money on Venezuelan soil in the last decade. Therefore, this research looks to explain the shift of narcotics trafficking from Colombia to Venezuela by examining the foreign policies of the three major players in the region, and to shed light on how the international community can best address this problem.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. G. Nelson Bass
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-4-2014 1:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2014 5:30 PM
The Transatlantic Drug Trade: Explaining the Shift from Colombia to Venezuela
Alvin Sherman Library
This project involves uncovering why Venezuela emerged as a center of drug trafficking in Latin America over the last decade. To explain this shift, I will examine the foreign policies of Venezuela, the United States, and Colombia. Specifically, this project focuses evaluating the interactions of Venezuela with the United States, focusing on the implementation of ‘Plan Colombia’, which was the departing point for the increase of narcotic trafficking in Venezuela to Central America and Europe. Also, several political actions taken by the Venezuelan government in the last two decades will be taken into consideration as a possible influence. The effect of the deterioration of US-Venezuelan relations, along with the shared border with Colombia, has made easier the laundering of money on Venezuelan soil in the last decade. Therefore, this research looks to explain the shift of narcotics trafficking from Colombia to Venezuela by examining the foreign policies of the three major players in the region, and to shed light on how the international community can best address this problem.
