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This reading group explores the main characteristics and impacts of the war on drugs. We will assess three key topics from the from the Latin-American perspective: the effects on democracy in the region, including the role of militarization, official violence and corruption; effects on the culture, including the role of the media and the impacts of an incisive narco-culture; impacts on rural development and ecology. By engaging with interdisciplinary scholarship, we will critically assess the effectiveness, intended and unintended consequences of drug policies in Latin America and beyond under to motto of the war against drugs.

Registration will be first come, first served. This event is only open to HUID holders. Preregistration is required. Please be sure to register separately for each session you plan to attend.

Location/Time:

This study group will take place over the course of three sessions:

• Session 1: Monday, March 3rd | 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM | L-234 - Fainsod Room
• Session 2: Monday, March 10th | 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM | L-234 - Fainsod Room
• Session 3: Monday, March 31st | 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM | L-234 - Fainsod Room

Recommended Reading - Session 2: Rural Development and Environmental Impacts

1. McSweeney, K. et al. (2014). Drug Policy as Conservation Policy: Narco-Deforestation. Science, 343(6170), 489–490.
2. Devine, J. A. et al. (2021). Narco-Degradation: Cocaine Trafficking’s Environmental Impacts in Central America’s Protected Areas. World Development, 144, 105474.
3. Vargas, R. (2005). Strategies for Controlling the Drug Supply: Policy Recommendations to Deal with Illicit Crops and Alternative Development Programs. Journal of Drug Issues, 35(1), 131-150.

Instructor Bio:

Camilo Umaña is a lawyer and human rights expert from Colombia. He has extensive experience in public policy, academia, and civil society organizations from an interdisciplinary approach. He holds a PhD in Criminology from the University of Ottawa (Canada) and a PhD in Sociology of Law from the University of the Basque Country (Spain).  

In his most recent position as Colombia’s Deputy Minister of Justice, he has focused on developing public policies in three main fields: the penitentiary system, drugs, and transitional justice. He has led several initiatives, including the design and implementation of a policy of humanization of the criminal and the prison system, the formulation of a new drug policy based on human rights standards, and the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms for the location of disappeared persons, the truth commission’s recommendations regarding justice, and the prevention of torture. 

His interest in the championing of human rights has guided his trajectory. This includes supporting Colombia’s Truth Commission by leading the research on access to justice and impunity in the internal armed conflict for the final report. He has also assisted the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on transitional justice for the emergence of various institutions derived from the Peace Agreement with the FARC guerrilla group.  

Additionally, he has worked for the National Ombudsman as an expert on restorative justice and several human rights organizations in Colombia, Mexico, and the US, litigating and conducting research to provide human rights NGOs with tools to strengthen their work. He has been a constitutional law professor for over seven years and co-directed the human rights master’s program at Externado University.