Abstract

ARMIJOS, Luis  and  MEDINA, Ricardo. A Regional Security Subcomplex against Drug Trafficking via Sea Lanes: The Case of Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama. rev.relac.int.estrateg.segur. [online]. 2019, vol.14, n.1, pp.167-188. ISSN 1909-3063.  https://doi.org/10.18359/ries.3696.

This paper interprets the development of a maritime Regional Security Subcomplex among Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama so that they can fight against drug trafficking via sea lanes in the Pacific, after executing the agreements on new borders, based on the thesis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of December 2016. The document is based on the theory of Regional Security Complexes and securitization processes to highlight that despite the current robust bilateral cooperation among the analyzed countries, the development process of a regional subcomplex for multilateral cooperation is still in an early stage. To reach this assertion, this paper presents the analysis of the naval capabilities and levels of narcotics police capture from each country. It also points out the problem of drug trafficking via sea lanes that is interpreted in the light of a qualitative methodology under a causal historical tracing approach, based on data from open sources, interviews, speeches and official documents, in order to interpret the securitization process of the problem.

Keywords : Regional security complexes; transnational organized crime; drug trafficking; sea lanes.

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