ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the greatest menace to the security of the states in the Caribbean Basin stems from a new form or level of corruption which should best be called the internationalization of corruption and violence. The Antigua case - as revealed by the Official Commission of Inquiry - exposes the depth and spread of corruption, indeed, its internationalization. It also clearly reveals the links between internationalized corruption and violence. An array of violent challenges to legitimate authority seemed to find, if not direct causes, at least fertile ground in the area's propensity to both traditional and bureaucratic corruption. That world awareness about the threat posed by the drug trade, the internationalization of corruption, and violence has reached new levels is evident in the language of the 1987 UN Draft Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. It is a multinational agreement designed to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement efforts against illicit drug trafficking.
