Beyond Cocaine Cowboys: Looking at Security in Latin America from a Different Perspective by Maj. Gen. Frederick S. Rudesheim, U.S. Army and Maj. Michael L. Burgoyne, U.S. Army, Military Review
… If the United States is to pursue a more robust policy toward increasing our economic partnerships with Latin American countries, the security of their citizens will be a prerequisite. One need only look to Colombia to see the importance of security in economic development. A decade of successful security policies under presidents Alvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos have reduced the number of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia members by half. Colombia’s focus on “democratic security” has delivered positive results in virtually every measure of citizen security: kidnappings declined 89 percent, homicides 49 percent, and terrorist attacks 66 percent. As a result, Colombia’s gross domestic product averaged a 4.54 percent growth rate from 2002 to 2012, increasing by $244 billion. The U.S. role in Colombia’s success was driven mainly by Plan Colombia counterdrug funding. However, not all destabilizing forces in the region fit into the drug trafficking mold.
Powerful criminal gangs are a serious problem throughout the region and especially in Central America. The most dangerous criminal gangs, often referred to as “third-generation gangs,” are militarized criminal groups that use guerrilla or rudimentary light-infantry tactics against the state. These groups often engage in retail drug sales but do not reach the transnational level that would invite significant U.S. counterdrug interventions; yet, their impact on citizen security is tremendous. It is estimated that crime costs almost eight percent of Central America’s gross domestic product, some $20 billion.13 Perhaps worse is the loss of untold amounts of foreign direct investment that goes to safer locales…