Maria Alejandra Vélez Discusses Drug Policy and Natural Resources in Global South

In an October 7 event organized by SIPA’s Latin American Student Association, Maria Alejandra Vélez, the Edward Larocque Tinker Visiting Professor at the Institute of Latin American Studies at SIPA, spoke on the complex interplay between drug policy, environmental management, and rural development in the Global South.

Vélez, who is a professor at the School of Economics and former director of the Center for Studies on Security and Drugs at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, emphasized that drug policy and natural resource management are closely tied in the region because of coca cultivation’s harmful economic and environmental impact. In Colombia, coca production has resulted in biodiversity destruction, water pollution, and deforestation. But the solutions aren’t simple: Vélez highlighted how efforts to eradicate coca in one geographical area often result in cultivation in other regions, creating a cycle of environmental degradation.

Vélez argued for a significant reframing of drug policy, rejecting a solely security-based approach in favor of one that uses a development lens to address drug and environmental policies in tandem. 

She stressed the importance of understanding local contexts. “Nothing can replace going to the place and seeing it with your eyes,” she told students. Such firsthand experience, she said, is crucial to making effective drug policy in the Global South.

Security is important, she noted, but problems cannot be solved without considering the wellbeing of communities in coca-growing regions and foregrounding how interventions can genuinely benefit their lives. 

“Drug policy is critical to thinking about Colombia’s public policies,” said Alex Cañas, MPA ’25, who attended the event. “I worked in the energy sector there, but all the problems associated with drugs, including poverty, affect the government’s ability to execute policies in other areas like energy.” Cañas plans to return after SIPA to work as a policymaker in Colombia, “where drug policy intersects with so many other issues.”