A smugglers paradise: Cocaine trafficking through the Bahamas

During the last two decades The Bahamas have come to assume a central role in the transhipment of illicit drugs into the United States. This has occurred concomitantly with the dramatic development and escalation of the War on Drugs by the U.S. government. The author investigates the reasons why the United States has done so little to curb the blatant participation of this tiny island nation in these drug activities, while going so far as to invade Panama in order to remove Manuel Noriega from power, allegedly over his drug-related actions. The answers may be found, it is argued, in traditional fears of communist expansion in the Western Hemisphere, leading to the militarization of the region in the name of the War on Drugs.