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NEW YORK, NY, March 22, 2004— The effectiveness of U.S. anti-narcotics policies in South America’s Andean region is the topic of a lecture to be delivered by John G. Heimann, cochair, Center for Preventive Action Commission, Council for Foreign Relations, on Wednesday, March 31 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Wellington Conference Center at New York Law School, 57 Worth Street. In his C.V. Starr lecture, entitled “Moving Beyond ‘Drugs and Thugs’: A New Strategy for the Andean Region,” Heimann, will discuss the findings of a recent report challenging the effectiveness of U.S. anti-narcotics policies and comment on current developments in the Andean region of South America. Over the past two decades, the United States has spent billions of dollars trying to staunch the flow of illegal drugs from the Andean countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia. Experts say that the combination of the illegal drug trade with insurgency movements and pervasive corruption in these countries has made this region of South America one of the most politically volatile in the world today. U.S. anti-narcotics policy has been characterized as a “drugs and thugs” approach which concentrates on stemming the actual flow of narcotics, apprehending drug lords and producers, and assisting local security forces in these efforts. A report released by an independent commission in January 2004 challenges the effectiveness of these policies. The report is called “Andes 2020: A New Strategy for the Challenges of Colombia and the Region.” A central finding of the report concludes that the current focus on counternarcotics and security issues will not promote regional stability and security, and could, in fact, hurt long-term American interests. Instead, the report calls on the U.S. to refocus its policy by placing greater emphasis on economic growth, reducing poverty, eliminating corruption, strengthening good governance, and building greater international support toward these ends in the Andean countries. Because funding for current anti-drug policies expires this year, policymakers expect a vigorous debate on the future of American drug policy in the coming months. The event is free and open to the public. The lecture is approved for 2 CLE credits in Professional Practice. Registration is required. For more information, contact Michael Rhee at 212.431.2865 or mrhee@nyls.edu. ABOUT NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL Located near the centers of law, government, and finance in New York City, New York Law School is one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States. Its faculty of noted and prolific scholars has built the school’s curricular strength in the areas of tax law, labor and employment law, civil and human rights law, media and information law, urban legal studies, international and comparative law, and interdisciplinary fields such as legal history and legal ethics. The Law School enrolls 1,400 students and has more than 11,000 graduates. Contact: # # # |
