The countries of Central and South America are cracking down harder and harder against the drug cartels. This has led the criminal gangs to increasingly establish themselves in some of the planet’s most remote forests to avoid drug crackdowns.
There they have built airstrips and roads to move the transports and can launder money and control territory.
Therefore, both indigenous peoples and rare animal species are now threatened, shows a new study from researchers who have been published in the journal Nature Sustainability.
Indigenous peoples are forced to cooperate
Amanda Rodewald, a researcher at Cornell University in New York, is the lead author of the study.
– They enter forests occupied by indigenous peoples. It affects the most vulnerable human and non-human populations.
When areas are invaded by drug cartels, the indigenous people are generally forced to cooperate.
– If they resist, their land is taken from them and a consequence is often that it becomes violent. For those who are not forcibly dispossessed, the only option is to cooperate or flee, said study co-author Nicholas Magliocca, from the University of Alabama.
“Unlimited money and power”
The research also shows that the cartels diversify their activities by, among other things, laundering money by buying forests, engaging in illegal mining and trading in endangered animal and plant species.
– The drug dealers have almost unlimited money and power in the regions, says Magliocca.
According to the researchers, in order to counter the cartels, it is necessary to create jobs and opportunities for the local communities, as well as to improve the monitoring and protection of forests.
– Efforts are being made to increase control, but these are complicated geographical areas and the states need to increase their presence and make investments in infrastructure and investments in education, says Tigran Feiler.
In the video, Tigran Feiler answers three questions about how indigenous peoples are affected.