Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-30-2012 Illicit Interest Groups: The olitP ical Impact of The Medellin Drug Trafficking Organizations in Colombia Patricia Micolta Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI12050231 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Micolta, Patricia, "Illicit Interest Groups: The oP litical Impact of The eM dellin Drug Trafficking Organizations in Colombia" (2012). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 625. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/625 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida ILLICIT INTEREST GROUPS: THE POLITICAL IMPACT OF THE MEDELLIN DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS IN COLOMBIA A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in POLITICAL SCIENCE by Patricia Helena Micolta 2012 To: Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation, written by Patricia Helena Micolta, and entitled Illicit Interest Groups: The Political Impact of the Medellin Drug Trafficking Organizations in Colombia, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Astrid Arraras _______________________________________ Ronald Cox _______________________________________ Victor Uribe ______________________________________ Eduardo Gamarra, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 30, 2012 The dissertation of Patricia Helena Micolta is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences _______________________________________ Dean Lakshmi N. Reddi University Graduate School Florida International University, 2012 ii © Copyright 2012 by Patricia Helena Micolta All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my husband Robert Michael Yunk, my parents Helena and Jose Vicente Micolta, and to Camilo, Mariana, and Cheche for their continued encouragement, patience, happiness, and love. I also dedicate this dissertation to Jair Bedoya, whose life was a reflection of the social impact of the illicit drug trade in Colombia. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to specially thank Dr. Eduardo Gamarra for his understanding and support throughout my graduate studies at Florida International University (FIU). I would also like to thank the members of my committee Dr. Astrid Arraras, Dr. Ronald Cox, and Dr. Victor Uribe for their valuable comments and advice on this project. My research was facilitated because of the extensive holdings on Colombian politics at FIU’s libraries. The Tinker Field Research Grant and a Graduate & Professional Student Research Funding Program funded the field research for this project. The fieldwork would not have been possible without the help and hospitality of the Jaime and Clarita Garzon Osorio family, Roberto Paz, Rafael Paz, and Luz Toro. I would also like to give special thanks to Lacides Hernandez and Medardo Oviedo, whom guided me through the interview process in Medellin, Bogotá, and Cordoba, Colombia. I would also like to acknowledge that portions of this project were published in a 2009 article I authored entitled, “Illicit interest groups and their influence on US- Colombian Relations: A study of the Medellin cartel,” in the book titled: Interest Groups & Lobbying in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, edited by Colin McGrath through the Edwin Mellen Press (McGrath, 2009). v ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ILLICIT INTEREST GROUPS: THE POLITICAL IMPACT OF THE MEDELLIN DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS IN COLOMBIA by Patricia Helena Micolta Florida International University, 2012 Miami, Florida Professor Eduardo Gamarra, Major Professor Although drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) exist and have an effect on health, crime, economies, and politics, little research has explored these entities as political organizations. Legal interest groups and movements have been found to influence domestic and international politics because they operate within legal parameters. Illicit groups, such as DTOs, have rarely been accounted for—especially in the literature on interest groups—though they play a measurable role in affecting domestic and international politics in similar ways. Using an interest group model, this dissertation analyzed DTOs as illicit interest groups (IIGs) to explain their political influence. The analysis included a study of group formation, development, and demise that examined IIG motivation, organization, and policy impact. The data for the study drew from primary and secondary sources, which include interviews with former DTO members and government officials, government documents, journalistic accounts, memoirs, and academic research. To illustrate the interest group model, the study examined Medellin-based DTO leaders, popularly known as the “Medellin Cartel.” In particular, the study focused on the vi external factors that gave rise to DTOs in Colombia and how Medellin DTOs reacted to the implementation of counternarcotics efforts. The discussion was framed by the implementation of the 1979 Extradition Treaty negotiated between Colombia and the United States. The treaty was significant because as drug trafficking became the principal bilateral issue in the 1980s; extradition became a major method of combating the illicit drug business. The study’s findings suggested that Medellin DTO leaders had a one-issue agenda and used a variety of political strategies to influence public opinion and all three branches of government—the judicial, the legislative, and the executive—in an effort to invalidate the 1979 Extradition Treaty. The changes in the life cycle of the 1979 Extradition Treaty correlated with changes in the political power of Medellin-based DTOs vis-à-vis the Colombian government, and international forces such as the U.S. government’s push for tougher counternarcotics efforts. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: USING A HYBRID MACRO-MICRO-MODEL EMPLOYING PLURALIST AND INSTITUTIONALIST APPROACHES TO STUDY ILLICIT INTEREST GROUPS ....................................................................................................... 15 Social Movements and Interest Groups ........................................................................ 18 Armed Social Movements and Illicit Interest Groups .................................................. 22 Traditional Interest Group Models ............................................................................... 23 The Hybrid Macro-Micro-Interest Group Model ......................................................... 33 Macro-model Variables ................................................................................................ 37 Micro-model Variables ................................................................................................. 40 Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 3: EVALUATING 1980s-ERA MEDELLIN DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS USING AN INTEREST GROUP MODEL: EXTERNAL VARIABLES .................................................................................................................... 48 Political Events ............................................................................................................. 50 Economic Events .......................................................................................................... 54 Social Events ................................................................................................................. 62 Technological Events .................................................................................................... 63 State’s Legal Parameters ............................................................................................... 64 Individual Preferences of State Officials ...................................................................... 69 State Autonomy ............................................................................................................ 71 State Capacity ............................................................................................................... 81 Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 84 CHAPTER 4: EVALUATING 1980s-ERA MEDELLIN DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS USING AN INTEREST GROUP MODEL: INTERNAL VARIABLES .................................................................................................................... 87 Membership Characteristics ......................................................................................... 89 Leadership: Pablo Escobar ........................................................................................ 89 Leadership: The Ochoa Brothers .............................................................................. 94 Leadership: Jose Gonzalo