The Haiti coup and the US mercenary problem and the "war on drugs"

The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse has for a moment highlighted the plague of mercenaries that US policy unfortunately encourages. Igor Derysh (Pentagon: US military trained Colombian soldiers arrested in assassination of Haitian president Salon 07/15/202) reports:

The U.S. military frequently provides training to troops in Latin America, and intelligence agencies have partnered with Colombian forces on covert operations in the country. The U.S. has also provided billions to Colombia to combat drug trafficking and rebel groups. Lawmakers earlier this year called for the U.S. to stop providing weapons to Colombian security forces after they were used to kill protesters in demonstrations during the pandemic.

Many former Colombian soldiers trained by the U.S. have been hired to fight in overseas wars, including in Middle Eastern countries like Yemen.

"The recruitment of Colombian soldiers to go to other parts of the world as mercenaries is an issue that has existed for a long time, because there is no law that prohibits it," Gen. Luis Fernando Navarro, the top commander of Colombia's military forces, told reporters after the assassination. "There are a significant number of Colombian soldiers in Dubai, for example." [my emphasis]

All of US Latin American policy has been deeply effected by the War on Drugs, formerly inaugurated by the Nixon Administration, which has long since turned into a forever war.

There was a 2000 Steven Soderbergh film called Traffic starring Michael Douglas that gave a memorable dramatization of how the drug war is often cynical with major Sisyphean characteristics. Almost any "narco-novela" conveys a similar picture, although often with over-the-top plots and particularly melodramatic acting.

Reality should be convincing enough. It hasn't been. And know there are huge police agencies and private businesses, including mercenaries, that have personal and financial stakes in the illegal drug business.

But it's important to keep in mind that the market for illegal drugs in the United States is the main driver of the narco networks in Latin America and in other parts of the world, as well.

I don't know anyone suggesting that the drug problem is simple. But it's also obvious that a shift of the US approach to treat drug problems primarily as a public health problem instead of a criminal one would be a very practical and sensible change.

But look at the Democratic President Joe Biden's stance on marijuana. He promised in the campaign to remove marijuana from the list of "Schedule 1" drugs which includes narcotics like heroin. Not only does it make plain sense from a law-enforcement perspective. But a majority of US states have legalized or decriminalized marijuana. And it widely understood now that a large portion of African-American men who have prison records got those from marijuana offense, often just possession convictions for small amounts. This not only restricts their life opportunities in a major way. In many states, it also means they aren't allowed to vote.

So this is an important civil rights issue, as well. Biden has not kept his promise about removing marijuana from Schedule 1, which itself would be a major improvement. This is something he can do on his own without action by Congress. He apparently was never serious about it.