Terrorist Financing and Money Laundering

Terrorism  causes  enormous  costs  to  society.  Since  the  9/11  attacks,  the  “war  on  terror”  has  therefore  been  an  important  challenge  to  all  civilized  countries.  In  the  present  contribution  we  analyze the root causes and costs of terrorist activity, thereby setting the stage for discussing the  need for measures against terrorist financing. We argue that running a terrorist organization requires  substantial financial resources which are transferred to the groups through clandestine and often  illegal channels. Anti-money laundering policies may appear useful measures to stop transfers to  terrorist groups; however, they are not sufficient means to deal with all facets of terrorist financing.  Compared  to  similar  activities  of  organized  crime,  terrorist  financing  involves  “reverse”  money  laundering. This is a consequence of some fundamental differences between terrorism and organized  crime, which also lead to different implications in terms of choosing appropriate counter-measures.terrorist financing, causes and costs of terrorism, money laundering, organized  crime vs. terrorism, anti-terrorist financing policies

ANTI-DRUG POLICIES: ON THE WRONG PATH TO PEACE

The objective of this research is to analyze why drug prohibition policy is the observed outcome on the international political arena and its effects on the Colombian conflict. A gravity model based on Akerlof (1997) is implemented to examine the international drug policy equilibrium of a game that shows how drug prohibition is a stable suboptimal policy. Finally, this work suggests how applying a less restrictive regulatory framework to the drug market can lead to a reduction on the rents obtained by illegal groups from the drug business and, therefore, to a reduction on the intensity of the Colombian conflict.Drugs rents, Gravity model, Colombia, Conflict resolution

The Doha Declaration Ten Years on and Its Impact on Access to Medicines and the Right to Health

Access to medicines is a human right, enshrined in legally binding international human rights treaties, select regional agreements and numerous national constitutions. The realization of access to medicines, including antiretroviral treatment, as part of the human right to health depends heavily on the legal framework for the production and distribution of medicines, including intellectual property rights. The adoption of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) changed dramatically the international landscape with regard to intellectual property, particularly in relation to access to medicines. Although one of the stated goals of the TRI PS Agreement was “to reduce tensions arising from intellectual property protection”, the possible conflict between such protection and essential public health objectives, particularly access to medicines, moved developing-country WTO Member States to request the Council for TRIPS to specifically consider the relationship between the TRI PS Agreement and public health in general, and access to medicines more specifically. After negotiations, in 2001 the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference adopted the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. This Discussion Paper briefly describes the content of the Doha Declaration and examines its implications for the realization of the right to health. The Paper discusses a number of repercussions of the Doha Declaration with regard to the international discourse on the right to health and access to medicines, and its implications within the WTO system and for national legislation. It presents some examples of use of the flexibilities confirmed by the Doha Declaration, and discusses the issue of compulsory licences with regard to patents relating to products for non-communicable diseases. Finally, a number of conclusions and recommendations are presented

Combating corruption in Colombia: Perceptions and achievements

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"Nested and Overlapping Regimes in the Transatlantic Banana Trade Dispute"

The decade long trans-Atlantic banana dispute was not a traditional trade conflict stemming from antagonistic producers’ interests. Instead, this article argues that the banana dispute is one of the most complex illustrations of the legal and political difficulties created by the nesting and overlapping of international institutions and commitments. The contested Europe-wide banana policy was an artifact of nesting--the fruit of efforts to reconcile the single market with Lomé obligations which then ran afoul of WTO rules. Using counter-factual analysis, this article explores how the nesting of international commitments contributed to creating the dispute, provided forum shopping opportunities which themselves complicated the options of decisionmakers, and hindered resolution of what would otherwise be a pretty straightforward trade dispute. We then draw out implications from this case for the EU, an institution increasingly nested within multilateral mechanisms, and for the issue of the nesting of international institutions in general

Literary and Cinematic Representations of Neoliberal Forms of Contemporary Violence in Latin America with Special Interest in Mexico and Colombia

In the last decades, with an increased rhythm and greater intensity, the so-called neoliberal violence has come to play a relevant role within the history of world societies. The Latin American institutional, political, social, and economic changes of the 1970’s and 1980’s, especially those produced under dictatorships, contributed to create the conditions for the implementation of the processes of economic liberalization and global market as part of the concept of institutional modernization and cultural globalization that gave rise to the neoliberal mentality. In this context, neoliberalism becomes hegemonic as a mode of discourse and is incorporated into the way individuals interpret, live in, and understand the world. Its incorporation into world societies has motivated changes in the division of labor, changes in social relations, the dismantling of welfare necessities, increase in technology, and differentiation in the ways of life and thought, but more importantly, it has motivated the rise of new forms of contemporary violence which develop and nurture themselves from the political and economic opportunities that neoliberalism creates. This work will present a theoretical approach of the theme of neoliberalism and will concentrate its study on literary and cinematic representations of the theme of narcotraffic and the relation migration-feminicides as new forms of contemporary neoliberal violence in the context of Latin America with special interest in Mexico and Colombia. In this sense, the work of authors such as David Harvey, Hermann Herlinghaus, Ileana Rodriguez, Jean Franco, and others; will contribute to the analysis of the theme of violence in this study in ways that will support how violence has been used historically as a tool to perpetuate relationships of domination. Also, the literary and cinematic representations of the theme of neoliberal violence will be analyzed in the works of Fernando Vallejo (La virgen de los sicarios), Jorge Franco (Rosario Tijeras), Roberto Bolaño (2666), Orfa Alarcón (Perra Brava), Juan Pablo Villalobos (Fiesta en la madriguera), and Yuri Herrera (Los trabajos del reino) are analyzed in this work. Key words: violence, neoliberalism, globalization, colonialism, feminicides, narcotraffic, migration, capital accumulation, marginalization, disposable workers, postmodernism, and competitiveness

Literary and Cinematic Representations of Neoliberal Forms of Contemporary Violence in Latin America with Special Interest in Mexico and Colombia

In the last decades, with an increased rhythm and greater intensity, the so-called neoliberal violence has come to play a relevant role within the history of world societies. The Latin American institutional, political, social, and economic changes of the 1970’s and 1980’s, especially those produced under dictatorships, contributed to create the conditions for the implementation of the processes of economic liberalization and global market as part of the concept of institutional modernization and cultural globalization that gave rise to the neoliberal mentality. In this context, neoliberalism becomes hegemonic as a mode of discourse and is incorporated into the way individuals interpret, live in, and understand the world. Its incorporation into world societies has motivated changes in the division of labor, changes in social relations, the dismantling of welfare necessities, increase in technology, and differentiation in the ways of life and thought, but more importantly, it has motivated the rise of new forms of contemporary violence which develop and nurture themselves from the political and economic opportunities that neoliberalism creates. This work will present a theoretical approach of the theme of neoliberalism and will concentrate its study on literary and cinematic representations of the theme of narcotraffic and the relation migration-feminicides as new forms of contemporary neoliberal violence in the context of Latin America with special interest in Mexico and Colombia. In this sense, the work of authors such as David Harvey, Hermann Herlinghaus, Ileana Rodriguez, Jean Franco, and others; will contribute to the analysis of the theme of violence in this study in ways that will support how violence has been used historically as a tool to perpetuate relationships of domination. Also, the literary and cinematic representations of the theme of neoliberal violence will be analyzed in the works of Fernando Vallejo (La virgen de los sicarios), Jorge Franco (Rosario Tijeras), Roberto Bolaño (2666), Orfa Alarcón (Perra Brava), Juan Pablo Villalobos (Fiesta en la madriguera), and Yuri Herrera (Los trabajos del reino) are analyzed in this work. Key words: violence, neoliberalism, globalization, colonialism, feminicides, narcotraffic, migration, capital accumulation, marginalization, disposable workers, postmodernism, and competitiveness