Drug Trafficking Organizations and United States Drug Policy: A Comparative Case Analysis of Mexico and Colombia

This essay explores how the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Communist Party have affected U.S. foreign policies that target anti-drug and control narcotics strategies in Latin America. This paper will specifically be looking at Mexico and Colombia through a comparative case study analysis. The end of the Cold War left some Western countries, specifically the United States, with many uncertainties and fears of communist influence spreading globally. Through a case study analysis on Mexico and Colombia, it is revealed that the War on Drugs was a direct result of the Cold War; it was a tactic created by the United States government to target drug production, consumption, and smuggling from entering its borders, but more importantly and covertly, was a way to stop the spread of communist ideology and influence spreading to the west. In doing so, the War on Drugs has established ways and incentives for the United States government to create and implement a variety of policies targeted harshly towards certain Latin American countries that they deemed a threat to their national security; not so much because of the threat drug production caused, but due to the impending threat of communist influence in our southern borders.