Coca and violence in Colombia

Amid an alarming rise in rural violence in Colombia, the country’s U.S.-backed drug policy is facing a new test. Bogotá argues that eliminating coca – the raw material for cocaine – is the only route to improving security in the countryside. Yet its hardline approach of forcefully eradicating the crop is having the opposite effect, exacerbating conflict in rural Colombia and undermining the country’s ability to consolidate the 2016 peace agreement. Eradication places the poorest, most vulnerable farming communities in jeopardy, while having little impact on drug supply to the United States. As the Biden administration reframes priorities in Latin America, the panel will join WOLA’s expertise on drug policy, Viso Mutop’s field-level experience and the analysis of a new International Crisis Group report entitled ‘Deeply Rooted: Coca eradication and violence in Colombia’.

There will be time for a Q&A session following the remarks.

The event will take place on Zoom via our partner WOLA and be livestreamed on Crisis Group's YouTube channel. 

Simultaneous Interpretation between English and Spanish: Charlie Roberts