Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 01/2013

Drugs and the peace process in Colombia

Ricardo Vargas Meza

November 2012

Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract

It is significant that the drug issue has been included in the agenda of Colombia’s peace process. The illegal drug economy cuts across the country’s internal conflict to a greater or lesser degree. One of the reasons why the lives of most of Colombia’s rural population have deteriorated is resistance to land reform, underpinned in part by drug-trafficking interests. A rural policy to tackle this situation is key to solving the problem of illegal drugs in Colombia. This policy brief offers a brief analysis of the drug question within the framework of the peace talks, together with recommendations and proposals.