Belén Boville, a Spanish journalist working in Latin America, holds a doctorate in geography and history from the Universidad Complutense (Madrid) and a masters degree in environmental education, UNED/UNESCO (Madrid 1996). The Cocaine War (her first book to be translated into English) was originally published by Random House (Spain), and is an outgrowth of an earlier work, "Inter-American Relations Against Drugs."

She has regularly weekly columns in various newspapers in Spain, including El Correo and Marco De Jerez.

A Spanish journalist reveals what the Drug War really means: the danger it poses to the political stability of weak democracies, human rights and development, and its environmental impact. In an important and desperately...

A Spanish journalist reveals what the Drug War really means: the danger it poses to the political stability of weak democracies, human rights and development, and its environmental impact. In an important and desperately needed alternative view on the 'war on drugs,' Boville explores in depth the relationship between the United States and Latin America, explaining the political need of the US government to develop a useful tool to extend American authority after the Cold War. She depicts Andean society and the cocaine culture, with all of the social, political, environmental and economic changes brought about by drug trafficking, and provides essential information on how the Drug War currently works, in order to predict what the future may hold. The book has proven widely popular in Spanish, especially in Latin America. In the complex web of today's politics, this courageous and intelligent text offers an objective, critical look at all aspects influencing the war on drugs. Bibliography, Index RELEVANT ACADEMIC COURSES: Political Science, International Relations, History, Economics, Latin American Studies, Anthropology. Other works on this topic are mostly anecdotal; none of them provides an historic and environmental perspective and none gives importance to international relations as this book does. This is an essay about the past and the future, useful for academic purposes but also for general information about the current drug war in Colombia, Mexico, PerÃ??Ã??º, Bolivia and the United States.

Excerpt from Chapter IV. US-Latin American RelationsRenewed US attention to Latin America, motivated by drugs, led to colder relations between the two regions. Absent the heavy hand from Washington, which was felt off and on throughout the last century and more, the region enjoyed a period of relative autonomy in the 1970s. The US fight against South American drugs is essentially equated to a fight against communism (personified by the Marxist guerillas). The North/ South confrontation...

Excerpt from Chapter IV. US-Latin American RelationsRenewed US attention to Latin America, motivated by drugs, led to colder relations between the two regions. Absent the heavy hand from Washington, which was felt off and on throughout the last century and more, the region enjoyed a period of relative autonomy in the 1970s. The US fight against South American drugs is essentially equated to a fight against communism (personified by the Marxist guerillas). The North/ South confrontation paradigm goes back to the rivalry between the empires of England, Spain and Portugal, and after the colonies became independent it continued as a complex set of international relations where the mutual benefits of exchange flows (economic, demographic, environmental) were tempered by the fact that the North, which was stronger, had a goal of obtaining economic and political dominance.# Given the alternating seasons of close relations and distancing, cooperation and rivalry, it is necessary to consider relations between the US and its southern neighbors in a historical context to determine to what degree the war on drugs, and in particular the war on cocaine, is truly intended to limit drug consumption, motivated by a concern for the harms of drug use, or is one in a series of political, economic or military mechanisms designed to effectively gain control of Latin America. The US had enjoyed a certain hegemony in the region, until the 1970s crisis, and could be expected to seek to regain that advantage. The war on drugs ...

Sound Bite The Cocaine War denounces the geopolitical interests behind the US "War on Drugs" in Latin America, and shows the how Washington uses this new pretext to preserve its grip on Latin America

Sound Bite The Cocaine War denounces the geopolitical interests behind the US "War on Drugs" in Latin America, and shows the how Washington uses this new pretext to preserve its grip on Latin America