The Military, the Drug War and Democracy in Latin America: What Would Clausewitz Tell Us?

There is an obvious but superficial sense in which the drug trade threatens democracy in Latin American countries: powerful drug cartels become illegal and often uncontrollable corporations which can avoid taxes, corrupt government officials, raise private armies, and use force and terror to intimidate publicly elected officials, join with right wing landlords to kill local leaders of citizens' organisations, and in some cases make alliances with military officers who bring authoritarian, prodrug regimes to places like Panama (General Manuel Antonio Noriega) or Bolivia (General Luis Garcia Meza).