Will the Summit of the Americas Be Historic?

It seems that at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, the governments of the world will finally discuss alternatives to prohibitionist-based drug policies.

For some time, it has been said that the summit was the ideal stage to open the topic because it assembles the region most affected by prohibition, from the principal producers who dominate the market to the prime world consumer. As host, Colombia had the opportunity to introduce the topic to the agenda, but the government preferred to use a “tempest” strategy, waiting until the conditions were ripe for action. This approach, used by President Santos at the end of 2010, was obviously aiming to stimulate other Latin American countries to demand the debate. It was in favor of opening the debate and not rejecting legalization, if this were the world conclusion. Santos foresaw that the spark would start inside of one of the multilateral meetings for the region, and that Central America would come to be recognized as the zone affected by the bloodshed of narcotrafficking.

And that was how it happened, but the initiative ended up coming from an unexpected actor: the new president of Guatemala, a former general that has had success in gathering support from his colleagues despite the opposition of some to the idea of legalization, like Panama and Honduras. It has been said that the United States opened the door to the discussion, but the reality is that it did not have an alternative because the Central Americans were pushing for it forcefully. After the failed attempt of Vice President Biden to put out the flame with a clumsy expression, “the United States is absolutely committed to [ … ] work with Honduras to win this battle against the narcotraffickers,” and because of the opposition to Cuba’s participation in the summit, Americans remained without veto power. But this is anecdotal. The reality is that the historical conditions are set to start the discussion: from the disproportionate growth of collateral harm to the loss of the United States’ influence in the region.

Now the challenge is to get a good start. For this, there are two requirements: that the discussion does not radicalize countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia, and that, in the summit, the United States does not keep alive the theory that prohibition has succeeded based on the fact that the consumption and production of cocaine have decreased in the United States and Colombia. The next question is: What should be the second step? To go directly to the UN is the preferred strategy because there, the United States is a minority, but the reality is that in this forum there exists other strong opposition in the Arab countries and China. Perhaps it would be better to go to OAS first, where critical mass in favor of the discussion would neutralize the influence of the United States and the problem would be seen in its full magnitude. The impulse that Guatemala has supported will be probably be exhausted in the summit, and all of the region, including the United States, will look to President Santos to continue leading the issue. From this moment on, Colombia should decide to convert drug legalization into its principal foreign policy goal, with all the risks and benefits that this entails.