{"product_id":"cocaine-death-squads-and-the-war-on-terror-9781583672525","title":"Cocaine, Death Squads, and the War on Terror","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince the late 1990s, the United States has funneled billions of dollars\u003cbr\u003e in aid to Colombia, ostensibly to combat the illicit drug trade\u003cbr\u003e and State Department-designated terrorist groups. The result has\u003cbr\u003e been a spiral of violence that continues to take lives and destabilize\u003cbr\u003e Colombian society. This book asks an obvious question: are the official\u003cbr\u003e reasons given for the wars on drugs and terror in Colombia\u003cbr\u003e plausible, or are there other, deeper factors at work?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Scholars Villar and Cottle suggest that the answers lie in a close\u003cbr\u003e examination of the cocaine trade, particularly its class dimensions.\u003cbr\u003e Their analysis reveals that this trade has fueled extensive economic\u003cbr\u003e growth and led to the development of a “narco-state” under the\u003cbr\u003e control of a “narco-bourgeoisie” which is not interested in eradicating\u003cbr\u003e cocaine but in gaining a monopoly over its production. The\u003cbr\u003e principal target of this effort is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of\u003cbr\u003e Colombia (FARC), who challenge that monopoly as well as the very\u003cbr\u003e existence of the Colombian state. Meanwhile, U.S. business interests\u003cbr\u003e likewise gain from the cocaine trade and seek to maintain a dominant,\u003cbr\u003e imperialist relationship with their most important client state\u003cbr\u003e in Latin America. Suffering the brutal consequences, as always, are\u003cbr\u003e the peasants and workers of Colombia. This revelatory book punctures\u003cbr\u003e the official propaganda and shows the class war underpinning\u003cbr\u003e the politics of the Colombian cocaine trade.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oliver Villar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48274287853819,"sku":"9781583672525","price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_bc8abe0d-c17b-4647-84b4-a38df929a4fd.jpg?v=1771043787","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/cocaine-death-squads-and-the-war-on-terror-9781583672525","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}