The funding
link between terrorist groups and narcotics trafficking is
well known, and as well documented as any illicit activity
can be.
The term 'narcoterrorism' was first used to
describe a terror campaign waged by traffickers against
anti-narcotics police. The Canadian Security Intelligence
Service in its October 1991 publication
"Commentary No. 13: Terrorism and the Rule of Law:
Dangerous Compromise In Colombia", noted:
"Former President Belaunde Terry of Peru coined the term
'narcoterrorism' in 1983 when describing terrorist-type
attacks against his nation's anti-narcotics police. Now a
subject of definitional controversy, narcoterrorism is understood
to mean the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the
policies of government by the systematic threat or use of
violence."
Narcoterrorism became a major issue in the late 1980s and early
1990s with the US fight against the Colombian Medellin cocaine
cartel, more particularly in the fight by the cartel against
extradition. Again from the CSIS:
"Variously described as 'the Robin Hood of
Medellin', 'King Coke', or 'the most
wanted man in the world', Pablo Emilio
Escobar Gaviria surrendered to
Colombian authorities in mid-June 1991. Accused leader of a
major illicit narcotics organization known as the Medellin cartel,
and suspected mastermind of a terrorism campaign responsible for
the deaths and injuries of hundreds of Colombians, Escobar evaded
capture throughout an intensive two-year manhunt. His voluntary
capitulation was attributed to the government's introduction
of revised counter-terrorism policies, including the promise of
no extradition, coupled with arrangements for Escobar's
incarceration in a prison located, constructed and staffed
according to his personal specifications.
"Colombians generally welcomed the drug kingpin's
surrender. The prospect of ending a decade of narcotics-related
violence-violence that alone over the previous 24 months cost more
than a thousand lives and millions of dollars-was reflected by
opinion polls which endorsed the exceptional terms of the agreement
with Escobar. The Colombian media and most politicians there
largely hailed the outcome as a victory for the government, which
in turn, moved quickly to underscore the impression by means of
a full-page self-congratulatory advertisement in The New York
Times."
Yet, the victory came at great cost. From the CSIS report
again:
"Infuriated by government crack-downs, in 1984 the
cartel embarked on a brutal reign of narcoterrorism. The
assassination of Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla was the
initial step in a campaign aimed at intimidating the Colombian
political and judicial systems. Almost three years later,
the narcoterrorism developed an international character when
the cartel attempted the assassination of the Colombian
Ambassador to Hungary, Enrique Parejo Gonzales, in Budapest.
Parejo had earlier incurred the cartel's wrath when he
succeeded the murdered Lara and implemented then-President
Betancur's rejuvenated extradition policy. On year later,
another proponent of extradition, Attorney-General Carlos
Hoyos Jiménez, was killed, along with three body-guards,
in a botched kidnapping attempt.
"Despite the cartel's egregiously brutal behaviour,
Presidents Julio Turbay Ayala (1978-82),
Belisario Betancur (1982-86) and
Virgilio Barco (1986-90) remained firmly opposed to
the traffickers' demands, especially pressures to rescind
the extradition treaty. In August 1989, in what should have
ultimately proved to be a disastrous error, the cartel
murdered Senator Luis Carlos Galan, a highly popular presidential
candidate. Meant as a warning that no one, no matter how prominent
or influential, was beyond reach, the incident severely shocked
a Colombian public weary of violence, and served to reaffirm the
government's determination to defeat the traffickers.
"Designating narcoterrorism a serious threat to national
security, President Barco invoked state-of-siege powers and
emergency measures. In reply, the cartel
'declared war': over the 10 months which remained of
Barco's term of office the traffickers countered with a
horrific spate of assassinations, kidnappings and high-casualty
car-bombings, as well as downing an AVIANCA airliner at a cost
of 111 lives. Government attempts to apprehend the cartel
leadership (recognized as centered on Pablo Escobar)
for the most part proved fruitless. The security police, however,
did achieve success in a number of ways: i) disrupting the
traffickers' operations and infrastructure; ii) keeping
the king-pins uncomfortably on the move; and, iii)
occasionally eliminating a key individual (i.e. the
death of Rodriguez Gacha in a raid)."
