Dictators and corruption in drug war politics

Approximately $1 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid is provided for domestic drug enforcement operations in foreign countries. The money is allocated through multiple U.S. federal agencies. An exact number for the total funding is obtained only by adding up each agency’s share of the amount.

Every year the Caribbean region receives $50-100 million to aid in drug enforcement. Mexico, Central America, and the Andean region each get $100-150 million; Colombia gets $150-200 million; and global-multi-regional programs are awarded $200-300 million.

Foreign governments are free to use the drug enforcement money as they choose. There is no escrow account or anything similar itemizing how the money is spent. Systemic corruption is inevitable. Many dictators apply foreign aid to lining their own pockets and that of their political coalition members instead of wasting it on unwinnable drug wars.

It’s not as if the U.S. government is unaware of the diverted funds. Bribing puppet dictators is a standard operating procedure. The details of the process and its popularity is described in The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics, written by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alistair Smith. The book’s theme is that a dictator’s primary concern will always be to do whatever is possible to retain power. Nothing else matters to them.

Retaining power requires a lot of money, especially in Central and South America. From the perspective of the dictator, if the foreign aid were enough to eliminate drug cartels then funding for future drug enforcement might be curtailed or eliminated. Dictators are encouraged by these circumstances to prefer a thriving and robust illegal drug economy as it ensures more foreign aid will be forthcoming in the future.

In addition to propping up dictators, drug wars provide politicians and American citizens with a false sense of assurance that progress is being made in controlling drug trafficking. Most North American taxpayers would be surprised if they knew their money was being gifted to dictators using the drug war as a cover. It’s worse for people living in Central and South America who are forced to suffer the repression and impoverishment of their homelands brought on by dictatorial leaders.

A full disclosure of drug war corruption is overdue. A successful disclosure would require at least two steps. In the first step Congress would need to remove or repeal the section from the Title VII Office National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998: H11225 which states:

Responsibilities. –The Director – […]

(12) shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that – (1) is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812); and (2) has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration;…

Opposing attempts to fund Schedule I drugs to investigate potential medical use encourages the ONDCP and DEA to ignore the accuracy or legitimacy of any statements they make opposing illicit drugs and their legalization. False pronouncements about certain Schedule I drugs and a refusal to recognize their possible benefits adds to the toxic disinformation already in place. It aids and abets those who distort information to simulate democratic procedures in ways that undermine democracy and engineer support for tyrants.

Step two would require the government to clarify the intent of drug enforcement foreign aid by recognizing its true purpose. This can be achieved by giving it a more descriptive name, such as the False Flag Funding Subsidy (FFFS), the Drug War Deception Grant (DWDG), or the Petty Dictator Slush Fund (PDSF). Taxpayers will appreciate knowing how their money is spent.

Any country that relies heavily on false propaganda about drugs, the drug war, or anything else, risks endangering itself. Misinformation and disinformation corrode the information environment that governments and citizens depend upon to make rational decisions. Once that environment collapses everything it rests upon begins to decay. In its self-inflicted strategic blindness the propaganda driven state eventually deceives itself, not just its population. The results include bad decisions, weakened institutions, and long-term instability.

The United Nations notes that disinformation can undermine public policy, amplify tensions, and harm human rights. It can accelerate political polarization and social fragmentation. Responses to crises like those encountered with the COVID-19 pandemic are hindered by public health messages that misinform. Short-term gains are outweighed by long-term costs. Long term economic and scientific stagnation occurs. Regimes become brittle and oppressive.

Stopping the drug war’s assault on humanity is complicated. Drug war corruption strengthens many other types of corruption. When someone gets arrested for drugs, killed in an inner-city battle over drug territories, or blown to bits in a fishing boat off Venezuela’s coast, it severely affects the lives of that person’s siblings, parents, and other family members. Survivors’ lives need to be considered. Opposition to drug wars emerges as a battle aimed at combating disinformation, dictators, and professional prohibitionists whose lives hinge on nothing more than remaining in power.