We Sell Drugs: The Alchemy of US Empire

by Suzanna Reiss

  30. UN, CND, Report to the Economic and Social Council on the Second Session of the Commission, Held at Lake Success, New York, from 24 July to 8 August 1947 (E/575), 12 September 1947, 16.

  31. H.J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics, to Howard Fonda, c/o American Embassy, Lima, Peru October 3, 1949. Howard Fonda to Harry Anslinger, October 5, 1949. Howard Fonda to Harry Anslinger, October 30, 1949; File, Fourth Session–UN, #4; 170–74–5; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  32. UN, Report on the Second Session of the Commission, 17.

  33. UN, ECOSOC, CND, Preparatory Work for an International Conference to Consider the Possibility of Limiting and Controlling the Cultivation and Harvesting of the Coca Leaf, Second Session (E/CN.7/73) 7 July 1947, 5.

  34. Letter from Eduardo Anze Matienzo, Delegacion de Bolivia ante la Organizacion de las Naciones Unidas, to Señor Dr. D. Tomás Manuel Elío, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto, February 9, 1948; “Folder 4: Asunto Coca”; MRECB.

  35. UN, Request by the Government of Peru, 58.

  36. UN, ECOSOC, CND, Third Session, Replies from Governments to the Questionnaire on the Limitation and the Control of the Cultivation and Harvesting of the Coca Leaf (E/CN.7/110), 19 April 1948, 11.

  37. UN, Coca Leaf: Request by the Government of Peru, 54.

  38. “Para reprimir el tráfico ilícito de estupefacientes,” El Comercio, Lima, April 27, 1949; “Comisión que efectuará un estudio integral del problema de la coca,” El Comercio, Lima, September 10, 1949; “Se Efectuará un estudio a fondo de la hoja de coca,” El Diario, La Paz, November 2, 1949. Marcial Rubio Correa, Legislación Peruana Sobre Drogas: 1920–1993 (Lima: Centro de Información y Educación Para La Prevención del Abuso de Drogas, 1994), 32–36. Decreto Supremo March 26, 1949; Decreto-Ley 11005 March 28, 1949; Decreto Ley 11046 June 13, 1949; Decreto Supremo August 2, 1949.

  39. “The White Goddess,” Time, April 1949. Each decree in Peru was published in the main Lima daily newspaper, El Comercio, and generally appeared in the midst of sensational newspaper coverage recounting drug busts and successful police actions against alleged cocaine traffickers. For instance, this orchestration and use of the media was apparent with the coverage of Decreto Ley 11005 of March 28. The full text of the decree was printed in the El Comercio a full month later, one day before the spectacular coverage of the capture of operatives in a cocaine trafficking ring—a bust that actually happened on April 13.

  40. According to a contemporary “poll taken among the professional classes of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia” there was considerable hostility towards US “imperialism.” See Carleton Beals, “Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia,” in What the South Americans Think of Us, ed. Carleton Beals et al. (New York: Robert M. McBride, 1945), 10–11. During the 1940s political parties such as the MNR in Bolivia and APRA in Peru publicly embraced anti-“Yankee,” anti-imperialist party platforms.

  41. “Forma cómo se efectuó la pesquisa que permitió detener a los componentes de una banda traficantes de cocaína y la incautación de cuatro plantas de producción y refinería de este alcaloide en Trujillo,” El Comercio, Lima, April 30, 1949. Drug control was just one part of a broader strengthening of the coercive powers of the state. As just another example of this invocation of national prestige to justify increased police powers, in March 1949, Odría introduced the death penalty for murderers and “traitors” with Decreto Ley 10976. (It is worth pointing out that if determined, as alleged, that the drug traffickers had “attacked the national prestige,” their actions might have thus constituted a capital crime.) He justified this legislation by suggesting that it was used “hoy por las naciones más civilizadas del mundo que aplican reitaradamente dicha pena como un instrumento inevitable para defender la supervivencia de la sociedad y del Estado.” “El Junta Militar de Gobierno Establece la Pena de Muerte Para Los Asesinos y los Traidores de Patria,” El Comercio, Lima, March 26, 1949.

  42. Paul Gootenberg, Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008), 245.

  43. While Bolivia did not manufacture cocaine—minimizing the opportunity for such spectacular drug busts—nevertheless, the policing functions of the state here too were increasingly modeled on US policing tactics and dependent on US military supplies and training. For example, the Bolivian Coronel de Carabineros Isaac Vincenti traveled to the United States for policing training: “en misión de estudios y perfeccionamiento policiarios,” with the Washington Metropolitan police force and the FBI, and received the “Socio Honorario de la Asociación de Policía del Distrito.” Letter from Bolivian Ambassador to Señor Dr. Javier Paz Campero, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto, 7 January 1949; MRECB. Historian Kenneth Lehman has also described US involvement in Andean police and military training.

  44. For a detailed overview of the case, including newspaper clippings about the cocaine bust from the New York Times, see El Peru Y Colombia Ante La Corte Internacional de Justicia: Documentacion Pertinente Al Desarrollo Del Juicio Sentencia del 20 de Noviembre de 1950 (Lima: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, 1951). Thanks are due to Dr. Uriel Garcia for making this publication available to me. Glenn J. Dorn has written about the FBN’s pursuit of Haya de la Torre and how this became a delicate issue for the State Department when Anslinger’s proclivity to use publicity as a bulwark to policy caused an uproar in Peru over the appearance of the United States making impolitic interventions to ruin Haya’s reputation. However, ultimately the US government did align itself with Odría, and as Dorn agrees, drug control and police collaboration became a critical site for performing this alliance. See Glenn J. Dorn, “‘The American Reputation for Fair Play’: Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics,” The Historian 65, no. 5 (September 2003): 1083–101.

  45. This political capital was also tied to the receipt of economic and materials support. Licit as well as illicit drugs were critical. In Bolivia a year later, the United States would help put down a political rebellion by the Movimiento Nacionalist Revolucionario (MNR) by providing military aid, which included, along with weapons technology, thousands of pounds of pharmaceutical stocks for the Bolivian police and military. “Detalle del Material Aquirido en los Estados Unidos de America y Despacho a Bolivia. Del 27 de Agosto al 12 de Octubre de 1949”; Files of the Embajada de Bolivia en Washington; MRECB.

  46. Anslinger viewed the media as an outlet for influencing policy. Giving advice to the British representative before the UN CND on how to bring about legislative change in the face of political resistance, Anslinger explained: “In the United States, however the judiciary was not considered so sacrosanct. He had frequently explained to the judges the full meaning of this traffic and the need for rigorous punishment, otherwise the evil could grown unceasingly. The well-being of the country was affected. If his advice was not followed the press was notified and things took a turn for the better.” For a transcript of this CND session, see UN, Request by the Government of Peru, 77.

  47. For more information on the repression of trade unions and democracy in Peru and the installation of “authoritarian capitalism” during this era, see Jon V. Kofas, Foreign Debt and Underdevelopment: U.S.-Peru Economic Relations, 1930–1970 (New York: University Press of America, 1996), 117–28.

  48. Lehman, Bolivia and the United States, 138.

  49. The newspaper account describes how Soberón: “Poseía licencia del Estado; pero toda su producción debía ser para el Estado . . . pero el excedente, terriblemente voluminoso, era extraído clandestinamente de Huánuco y servía para limentar los laboratorios clandestinos de refinación.” Extracted from “Debido a las oportunas medidas dictadas por la Junta Militar de Gobierno, se efectúa una interesante investigación sobre la elaboración y el tráfico ilícito de drogas heroicas,” El Comercio, April 28, 1949. A few days later another bust was reported; in this case the cocaine originated in the North, in Trujillo, and once again was manufactured by someone who had—but in this case, no longer—possessed a license for the lega
l production (see next footnote for citation).

  50. “La Campaña Contra el Trafico Ilicito de Estupefacientes,” El Comercio, April 29, 1949. For a recent study of the burgeoning illicit trade during this time period, see Gootenberg, Andean Cocaine.

  51. Decreto Ley No. 11046, Rubio Correa, Legislación Peruana, 87

  52. I believe this impact can be seen in what appears to have been the radical limitation of domestic cocaine production within a few years of these events—which would support the argument that the Andes were being locked into the raw-material supply side of the international coca commodity circuit. The United Nations compiled lists of firms authorized to manufacture controlled substances and while in 1947, Peru reported eight such factories; by 1953 they were reporting none. See “List of Firms Authorized to Manufacture Drugs,” UN E/NF.1947/1 and E/NF.1953/1.

  53. “Llegada de la Comisión de las NU que estudiará el problema de la Coca,” El Comercio, Lima, September 11, 1949, 3–4.

  54. “Sobre el Problema de la Coca,” El Comercio, Lima, September 13, 1949. The same questions were addressed in La Cronica, September 13, 1949.

  55. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 7–8.

  56. “Investígase si la Coca es o no un Tóxico Para la Salud: Actuará la Comisión de la ONU libre de prejucios,” El Diario, November 7, 1949.

  57. For the broader historical context of these debates see Joseph Gagliano, Coca Prohibition in Peru: The Historical Debates (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994).

  58. Dr. Carlos Monge, “El Problema de la Coca en el Peru,” Anales de la Facultad de Medicina 29, no. 4 (Lima, 1946): 311–15.

  59. This interest translated into financial support from institutions such as the US National Institutes of Health, the US Public Health Service, and the US Air Force; see Marcos Cueto, “Andean Biology in Peru: Scientific Styles on the Periphery,” ISIS 80 (1989): 648, 654.

  60. “Conversando con el doctor Carlos Monge,” El Comercio, Lima, 27 September 1949.

  61. US Air Force interest in high-altitude studies had grown in part as a result of air campaigns during World War II, where all sides of the conflict used stimulants, like cocaine, to keep Air Force pilots alert on long flights. It was undoubtedly the significance of this research to the US military that ensured, as historian Marcos Cueto argues, “Peruvian high-altitude physiology played an unusually active role, compared to most other Latin American disciplines of the time, in the international scientific community.” Cueto, “Andean Biology in Peru,” 654.

  62. “Invitado por importantes insituciones científicas viaga a los Estados Unidos el Dr. C.G. Gutiérrez-Noriega,” El Comercio, Lima, 11 April, 1949.

  63. Carlos Gutierrez-Noriega and Victor Wolfgang Von Hagen, “The Strange Case of the Coca Leaf,” Scientific Monthly 70, no. 2 (February 1950): 83.

  64. Gutierrez-Noriega and Von Hagen, “Strange Case,” 87.

  65. “El Problema de la Masticación de Hojas de Coca,” El Comercio, Lima, 14 September 1949. Original in Spanish: “después de mucho ‘chacchar’ coca, se siente compensado de todas las frustraciones que ha tenido en su vida.”

  66. Decreto Ley No. 11046, Rubio Correa, Legislación Peruana, 87

  67. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 9.

  68. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 93.

  69. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 26.

  70. Letter from Howard Fonda to Harry Anslinger, Lima, Peru, Friday 16 September, 1949; File 0660, Peru #3 1945–49; 170–74–12; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  71. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 26.

  72. “What the Doctor Ordered,” Time, 60, cover, 38–44, August 18, 1952.

  73. UN, Division of Social Activities, Draft Report of Meeting of Consultant to Consider a Preliminary Programme for the Proposed Seminar on Social Problems of the Indian Population and Other Related Problems, 1 September 1949; DAG 18/4.1.2.1 “Indian Affairs,” UNANY.

  74. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 10.

  75. UN, Limitation of the Production of Raw Materials, 14.

  76. Gutierrez-Noriega and Von Hagen, “Strange Case,” 85.

  77. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 10.

  78. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 53–54.

  79. US corporations, followed by English and Canadian business, were the largest source of foreign investment in Peru and Bolivia at the time. Most US investment was in the oil and mining industries. See UN, ECOSOC, ECLA, Economic and Legal Status of Foreign Investments in Selected Countries of Latin America: Foreign Investment in Peru (E/CN.12/166/Add.11), 7 May 1951, and UN, ECOSOC, ECLA, Investment in Bolivia (E/CN.12/166/Add.10).

  80. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 58.

  81. Letter from Ministro to Señor Presidente de la Junta Militar de Gobierno, February 6, 1952; Folder Asunto Coca; MRECB.

  82. E/CN.7/SR.118 23 Feb 1951, “Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Fifth Session, Summary Record of the Hundred and Eighteenth Meeting, Held at Lake Success, NY, on Wednesday, 13 December 1950, at 10 a.m.”

  83. See Nicholas G. Barbella dn John V. Yates to Dr. Frederick J. Wampler, Chief of Field Party, ILAA, Memo, “September 1949, Progress Report on Coca Leaf Project”; File 0480–11, Drugs: Coca Leaves (1933–53); 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP; and Memo of Conversation, Re: Research Work into the Effects of Coca Leaf Chewing, Department of State, September 25, 1950; File 1230–1, 5th Session UN #3; 170–74–5; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  84. See, for example, Memo of Conversation Re: “Research Work into the Effects of Coca Leaf Chewing,” September 25, 1950, Department of State; 170–74–5; File 1230–1, 5th Session UN #3; DEA; RG 170; NACP. Also see Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 22. The report mostly cites Gutiérrez-Noriega’s work in this regard, and according to conversations with Marcos Cueto, much of this work was performed on prisoners.

  85. L.W. Hughes, “Curse of Coca,” Inter-American 5 (September 1946): 21, 42.

  86. William H. Hodge, “Coca,” Natural History 56 (February 1947): 86–93.

  87. “Report of the United Nations Delegation at the Second Inter-American Congress of Indian Affairs,” DAG 18/4.1.2.1, “Indian Affairs” Dr. Lozada, UN.

  88. E/1666/Add.1, “Narcotic Drugs: Report on the Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf,” June 1, 1951, ECOSOC Thirteenth Session: 5

  89. Report of the Commission of Enquiry, 93

  90. “Report of the United Nations Mission of Technical Assistance to Bolivia,” Comments, 13 October 1950; Assistance Technique—Bolivie—Memo II, SS-0544–0013; Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Department of Social Affairs Records, 1946–1960; UNANY.

  91. Ralph Hayes to Mr. H.J. Anslinger, July 21, 1947; File 1230–1, Second Session UN; 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  92. H.J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics to Mr. Ralph Hayes, January 2, 1951; File 0480–11, Drugs: Coca Leaves (1933–53); 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  93. Ralph Hayes to Mr. M.J. Hartung, Maywood Chemical Works, November 10, 1950; File 1230–1, Fifth Session UN #3; 170–74–5; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  94. Airgram, Ambassador Tittman to Secretary of State, October 25, 1948; File 0480–11, Drugs: Coca Leaves (1933–1953); FBN 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  95. Dr. Carlos Monge, Presidente de la Comisión Peruana para el Estudio del Problema de la Coca to Señor Ministro del Trabajo y Asuntos Indígenas, General Dr. Armando Artola, January 16, 1951; and General Armando Artola, Ministro del Trabajo y Asuntos Indígenas to Dr. Hans Moliter, Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research, January 16, 1951; Folder Coca; CMM.

  96. Hans Moliter, MD, Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research to Dr. Carlos Monge, Director, Instituto de Biologia Andina, February 28, 1951; Folder Coca; CMM.

  97. Ralph Hayes to Hon. Harry J. Anslinger, April 8, 1952; File 0480–1, Drugs and Beverages, 1947–59; 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  4. THE ALCHEMY OF EMPIRE

  1. H.T.N., Treasury Department to Miss Renfrew, July 22, 1941; File 0480–11, Drugs: Coca Leaves (19
33–1953); 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  2. Roger Adams, “Man’s Synthetic Future,” Science 115, no. 2981 (Feb. 15, 1952): 162, 157.

  3. H.J. Anslinger to Commander J.W. Macmillan, Director Human Resource Division, Office of Naval Research, October 13, 1950; File 0480–166, Drugs: Coca Chewing (1937–1963); 170–74–12; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  4. H.J. Anslinger to Dr. Robert Schwab, Massachusetts General Hospital, Electroencephalographic Laboratory, October 24, 1950; File 0480–166, Drugs: Coca Chewing (1937–1963); 170–74–12; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  5. Robert S. Schwab, MD to Commissioner Anslinger, October 10, 1950; File 0480–166, Drugs: Coca Chewing (1937–1963); 170–74–12; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  6. H.J. Anslinger to Dr. Robert Schwab, Massachusetts General Hospital, Electroencephalographic Laboratory, October 24, 1950; File 0480–166, Drugs: Coca Chewing (1937–1963); 170–74–12; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  7. UN, ECOSOC, Report of the Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf, May 1950, Fifth Year, Twelfth Session, Special Supplement 1 (Lake Success, NY: UN, July 1950): 93.

  8. UN, PCOB, Report to the Economic and Social Council on Statistics of Narcotics for 1950 and the Work of the Board in 1951, Nov. 1951 (E/OB/7), The Board, Geneva, 1951: 13.

  9. Charles B. Dyar, Narcotics Control Officer, Office of the US High Commissioner for Germany, to Mr. H.J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics, Treasury Department, January 2, 1951; File 0480–9, Drugs-Beverages 1947–59; Box 63; 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  10. H.J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics, Treasury Department, to Charles B. Dyar, Narcotics Control Officer, Office of the US High Commissioner for Germany, January 10, 1951; File 0480–9, Drugs-Beverages 1947–59; Box 63; 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  11. H.J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics to Mr. TC. Green, Home Office, Whitehall, October 2, 1958; File 0480, Drugs-Beverages 1947–59; 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.

  12. Ralph Hayes to Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger, June 25, 1954 and H.J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics to Ralph Hayes, July 13, 1954; File 0480–11 #2, Drugs: Coca Leaves, 1954–1966; 170–74–4; DEA; RG 170; NACP.