Uruguay has “temporary window of opportunity” to prevent drug trafficking from growing

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Due to its “recent” incorporation into criminal routes, Uruguay has a “temporary window” to prevent drug trafficking from growing, according to a study published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which warns of the importance of generating effective policies to combat it.

The authors highlighted it during the presentation to the press of the study “Crime and drug trafficking: an exploratory analysis of the case of Uruguay”, commissioned by the office of the UNDP in the South American country as part of its series “Ideas for emerging agendas”.

The analysis was developed by researchers from the Department of Social Sciences of the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU), Juan Bogliaccini, Carlos Díaz, Rosario Queirolo, and Emiliano Tealde, and is based on an in-depth study of the various strands of existing literature on the subject.

According to the researcher, Uruguay entered the drug trafficking routes “more recently” than other countries, and even though it shares with Latin American peers a “neighborhood” base of these markets, it differs in aspects such as the legalization of cannabis implemented in the government of José Mujica (2010-2015), of the leftist Frente Amplio.

Thus, the study, which analyzed regional cases such as Plan Colombia, which sought to eradicate coca plantations in that country, the pacification of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and the war against drug trafficking in Mexico, concluded that Uruguay today has a “temporary window of opportunity” to act.

In this line, while remarking as a key reflection that there is no “silver bullet” to solve the problem since it is “multi-causal”, Bogliaccini said he sees “an imperative need to improve the capacity of the political class to reach long-term agreements” on this issue in the country.

“It is not the same to act and generate coordination today than to do it in five years due to a market maturation issue, penetration of violence, corruption. It is an issue that should mobilize and quickly generate State policies,” he emphasized.

In addition, on the strategies that can be implemented, divided in the study into “repressive” and “legal”, the UCU professor emphasized that it is necessary to “meditate a lot” which one is useful; a declared fight like the one in Mexico can lead to “complete failure” and tougher penalties to overpopulate prisons and make possible schools of organized crime.

On the other hand, Queirolo emphasized that paying attention to the international dimension is essential since an isolated national action is not advisable for a problem that crosses borders.

At the same time, he said that in Latin America, there was some “movement” towards legalization that was “stuck,” and today, it is Europe that is moving towards it, but he stressed that it is always about cannabis, which is “very different” from other illicitly trafficked drugs.

With information from EFE