ABSTRACT
The military has networks unavailable to civilians. The United States (US) military training missions in most Latin American countries provide US military personnel with personal relationships with Latin American counterparts, many of whose officers have been trained by US personnel either in Panama or in the United States. In light of world events in 1988-1990, use of military resources for nonmilitary purposes became more attractive. Mexican police and military personnel jealously preserve the right to police Mexico even while accepting financial aid from the US Colombia accepted both police arid military aid, for it faced danger from gangsters and guerrillas, but refused to increase US military activity. Peru provided a much better argument for the use of the military, for it is both the principal source of coca and a place where guerrillas are involved in the drug enterprise. The US-Bolivian decision to seek a military solution perhaps best illustrates the militarization of US drug foreign policy in Latin America.
