Visions of Global Environmental: Justice Comunidades Negras and the War on Drugs in Colombia

About this Video

• Video Title: Visions of Global Environmental Justice: Comunidades Negras and the War on Drugs in Colombia
• Channel: UCLA Latin American Institute
• Speakers: Alex Queso, UCLA Latin American Institute faculty member (name not specified in transcript), audience members
• Duration: 01:05:26

Introduction

This video presents Alex Queso's book, "Visions of Global Environmental Justice: Comunidades Negras and the War on Drugs in Colombia." Queso explores the connection between supernatural beliefs (visions) within Colombian communities and the environmental injustices caused by the US-led War on Drugs, specifically the aerial fumigation of coca crops using glyphosate.

Key Takeaways

• Supernatural beliefs and environmental justice are intertwined: The video argues that the stories and beliefs surrounding supernatural entities in southwestern Colombia reflect the social and environmental realities shaped by the War on Drugs. The disappearance of these beliefs correlates with changes in the landscape due to coca cultivation and eradication efforts.
• The War on Drugs causes environmental racism: The aerial fumigation disproportionately affects Afro-descendant and indigenous communities, illustrating environmental racism. The spraying of glyphosate damages crops and ecosystems, leading to displacement and economic hardship.
• Necropolitics and biopolitics in the War on Drugs: The presentation discusses how the War on Drugs exemplifies necropolitics (the elimination of populations) through violence and displacement, contrasting it with biopolitics (maximizing the life of certain populations).
• The limitations of state-based solutions: The case of Exide Technologies demonstrates how state-based solutions to environmental injustice often fail, as problems are simply shifted elsewhere. The need for multiscalar and intersectional approaches to environmental justice is highlighted.
• Community resistance and the importance of prior consultation: Afro-descendant communities utilize legal strategies like "diabolica" (challenging the state to prove the justification for its actions) and advocate for prior consultation rights to address environmental harm.