colombia vs. netherlands
...bia. According to the CIA World Fact Book, Colombia alone supplies over eighty-five percent of the cocaine in the Netherlands. The Netherlands, Amsterdam in general is one of the world’s largest producers of ecstasy, illicit amphetamines and other synthetic drugs. It is also the largest gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish into Europe. The Netherlands also provides America more ecstasy than any other country in the world. Both countries depend heavily upon foreign trade. According to Mary Jordan of the Washington Post Foreign Service “Colombian cocaine is on its to the United States. It is flown in …[or] driven in through Mexico and into the United States, hidden in almost anything from cans of house paint to crates of fresh cheese.” This is considered to be a huge problem for Colombia, but perhaps an even larger one for the U.S.. These two countries have both suffered economic agitation due to money laundering. In the Netherlands a relatively large financial sector is vulnerable to money laundering. Money is laundered in Colombia through the black-market peso exchange. Colombia and the Netherlands both have well-developed financial systems which heightens each country’s use as a money laundering center. Both countries are a primary money-laundering centers for narcotic revenue. Financial monitoring is improving in The Netherlands but the political conflicts in Colombia have affected their ability to monitor financial situation. Colombia’s money laundering has had an overwhelming impact on the islands in the Caribbean. Edward Guillen, chief of financial operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, suggests “growing cooperation between law enforcement and the banking community to combat money laundering by major drug trafficking networks” (L.2-4) Both of these countries, Colombia and the Netherlands, have struggled with political turmoil and conflicts with other countries. The Netherlands fought for many years with Spain over land, religion and political differences. Although, Frank E. Huggett, author of The Modern Netherlands states that “the struggle against Spain was part of a much larger ‘indescribably complicated series of conflicts’…” (p. 15). Fixing these problems was significant in the advancement of the Netherlands. Colombia has had its’ fair share of political conflicts, rural terror has had its’ effects on the country as well. Gonzalo Sanchez and Donny Meertens, authors of, Bandits, Peasants and Politics agree that the guerilla warfare of Colombia has had many “visible consequences, [such as] the plunder[ing] of land and property … the confiscation of harvests and livestock; the burning of houses [and the] physical coercion of discontented rural workers” (p. 17). Both co...