Neocolonialismo y financiamiento de la “guerra contra las drogas”: análisis de las políticas actuales y recomendaciones para los países del norte global

Daniels et al. analizan cómo el financiamiento, la asistencia técnica y los intereses corporativos perpetúan el poder neocolonial a través del control de drogas, e instan a desmantelar estos sistemas en favor de una reforma basada en los derechos humanos. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

Globally, punitive drug control upholds racist and colonial structures. Marginalised and racialised communities, including Indigenous peoples, are disproportionately targeted and affected by punitive drug policy in law enforcement, judicial and carceral systems, and policy implementation. Power imbalances also exist at the international level, with high income countries exerting influence over drug policy in low- and middle-income countries. This paper examines that influence through financial and material aid, technical assistance, capacity building, education and awareness campaigns and the interaction between the vested interests of the private sector and the State, specifically via the Prison Industrial Complex and land and resource grabbing in conflict and post-conflict contexts. The global war on drugs entrenches power imbalances and reproduces mechanisms of racial control and subordination. To begin to decolonise drug policy, the financial and material basis of these mechanisms must be illuminated and dismantled and this paper offers recommendations on how to move forward (Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, 1923; Carrier et al., 2020).