Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in Columbia
Small arms and light weapons (SALW) are widely used in inter- State conflicts (civil wars, organized crime, gangs) and in terrorism. Small arms are, by definition, cheap, light, easy to handle, transport and conceal, and available. All these attributes make small arms ideal for such conflicts, and increase the lethality and duration of the violence, especially against the civilian population. Although the vast majority of SALW are sold legally, they enter the illicit trade through distribution, theft, leakage or divergence, pilferage and resale – and so contribute to the continuation of the conflict. In 2001, the UN reached a Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN Document A/CONF.192/15). This program involves updates from the signatories about the implementation of the POA every two years.
Colombia is the world’s leading coca cultivator, the world's largest producer of coca derivatives, and supplies cocaine to nearly all of the US market and the great majority of other international drug markets. Competing drug cartels (criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations) occasionally fight each other, leaving in their wake deaths of civilians.
However, the biggest connection between drugs and guns in Colombia is political. The FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army) was established in the 1960s as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party and thus originated as a guerrilla movement. The FARC are considered a terrorist group within Colombia and in many countries world- wide, and there have been many clashes between the government and the guerillas. An additional reason for the violent conflicts is Colombia’s anti- narcotic efforts: the FARC finance themselves partly through narcotics: The FARC have ties to narcotics traffickers, principally through the provision of armed protection and a form of “taxation” over drugs crops and their profits.
The AUC – the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia – was originally created 40 years ago by land owners and drug traffickers to combat left-wing guerillas, such as the FARC. They are infamous arms smugglers. Although the AUC began talks with the government and started disarming themselves, the guns return into the system unnoticed, via the black market, and an estimated 400,000 illegal arms enter the country annually.
Points to pay attention to:
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"The arms trafficking is well beyond government control because there are many international interests in that. The problem in Colombia is the conflict. The only manner to control the trafficking of weapons is to reduce the conflict." (General Manuel Bonett, former head of Colombia's Armed Forces.) – Regional and global cooperation for solving the conflict in Colombia between the government and the FARC.
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Global strategies to shut down drug cartels' financial operations in any given country.
Helpful Sites:
Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN Document A/CONF.192/15): http://disarmament.un.org/cab/poa.html
Blood, Drugs, and Guns: Arms Trafficking Fuels Chaos: Article by Reese Erlich: http://vps.stanleyfoundation.org/initiatives/un21/resources/securitycheck/illegal_arms.php
Arms Trafficking and Colombia: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1468/MR1468.pdf
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