Environmental Munificence: An Analysis of Narco-Trafficking in Colombia (Spanish)

The “environmental munificence” is a concept that allows for explaining the success of the drug traffickers organizations of Colombia. These organizations in Colombia have taken advantage of some dimensions of the environment to increase the volume of drug exports and the business revenue. Some of these dimensions are geographical; others could be seen as economic, political and social. The geographical closeness to the United States, the availability of land for illegal cultivation, the presence of qualified hand labor in the use of violence, the high corruption levels and the inefficiency in the administration of justice, are dimensions that can explain the strengthening of these criminal organizations in the last three decades. According to the evidence, the drug trafficking organizations have actually increased the generosity of the environment. One of the consequences of the strengthening of drug trafficking and the increase of the environmental munificence of drug trafficking is the development of a “criminal cluster”. The concepts of strategic management allow the explaining of some elements of the rationality of the drug trafficking organizations.