The Perils of Simultaneous COIN and Counternarcotics in Peru and Colombia
Date of Publication
2014 12:00 AM
Security Theme
Transnational Organized Crime
Keywords
Left-wing Terrorism, Security Policy
Description
Peru and Colombia continue to be threatened by virulent insurgent groups having clear ties to narcotrafficking. In Peru, the current threat is from the guerilla group ‘the Shining Path’, whereas in Colombia, the most significant threat is from FARC-EP (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army). Both groups were originally constituted as leftist – Maoist and Marxist-Leninist, respectively – insurgents. Over time these organizations’ revolutionary ideologies gave way, at least in practice, to ‘narco-capitalism’ (Koven and McClintock forthcoming; Koven 2014).
The Perils of Simultaneous COIN and Counternarcotics in Peru and Colombia
Peru and Colombia continue to be threatened by virulent insurgent groups having clear ties to narcotrafficking. In Peru, the current threat is from the guerilla group ‘the Shining Path’, whereas in Colombia, the most significant threat is from FARC-EP (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army). Both groups were originally constituted as leftist – Maoist and Marxist-Leninist, respectively – insurgents. Over time these organizations’ revolutionary ideologies gave way, at least in practice, to ‘narco-capitalism’ (Koven and McClintock forthcoming; Koven 2014).