ONDCP FACT SHEET
The U.S.- Colombia Initiative
Overview:
On July 13, 2000 the Congress approved a two-year funding package to assist Colombia in vital counter-drug efforts aimed at keeping illegal drugs off U.S. shores and to help Colombia promote peace, prosperity, and a stronger democracy. The aid package was one of the largest and most comprehensive efforts by the U.S. to help an ally in Latin America deal with a national drug emergency.
Plan Colombia was developed in 1999 by the Government of Colombia (GOC) with strong US Government (USG) encouragement. It focuses on five critical areas:
- Curbing narcotrafficking
- Reforming the justice system
- Fostering democratization and social development
- Stimulating economic growth
- Advancing the peace process
U.S. assistance is part of a balanced strategy developed by Colombia to deal with that country's multiple problems. A combination of law enforcement, interdiction, alternative economic development, and judicial reform has contributed to reduction in drug production in other countries, such as Peru, Bolivia and Thailand.
The Enforcement Component:
Military support for law enforcement is needed because illegal armed groups are a complicating factor in Colombia-there are three major outlaw groups totaling over 30,000 armed combatants operating in Colombia with near impunity: the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the paramilitaries (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia-AUC)
- The CNP is a police force with only 2,500 officers dedicated to the drug threat. The rest of the Colombian police force are trained and equipped for routine police work and cannot fight what are essentially illegal armies.
- The CNP will receive $115.6M to enhance its communications, logistics and aviation facilities.
- They will also receive two additional UH-60 helicopters and upgrades for their existing helicopters to improve their ability to move around Colombia.
- The support of the armed forces is needed to provide security for the law enforcement operations and to allow the Colombian government to provide basic services to the Colombian people.
- The Colombian Army will receive funds to support military reform, expand the number of counter-narcotics battalions and to improve their command/control system
- The Colombian Army received 15 more UH-1N helicopters in Jan 2001 (for a total of 33) and was to receive 14 UH-60 Blackhawks and 26 Huey II helicopters as of late 2001.
- The Colombian Navy and Air Force will also receive support for their interdiction systems, such as riverine patrol craft and upgrades for their OV-10 aircraft.
The Social Component:
Significant funds for social assistance, economic development, judicial reform, humanitarian relief and protection of human rights are key parts of U.S. programs:
- There is $106M earmarked to help Colombians in the drug-producing areas change from coca leaf to other cash-producing crops and to build roads and infrastructure to get those crops to market.
- The Government of Colombia will get over $100M to enhance its governing capacity by protecting human rights workers, training judges, establishing local judiciaries, reforming the criminal code and helping people internally displaced by the illegal armed groups and illegal coca growers.
Plan Colombia and Human Rights:
Plan Colombia has a very strong human rights element. Over $100M of the U.S.-Colombia Initiative appropriation is dedicated to human rights and judicial reform in Colombia. There are also very stringent human rights reporting requirements for the Secretary of State throughout the implementation of our assistance package.
- Colombia's human rights problems do not stem from an oppressive state or out of control security forces. Rather, the vast majority of human rights violations in Colombia are committed by illegal armed groups - guerrillas, illegal self-defense groups, and common criminals - who are able to operate because of the weakness and/or absence of the state in the remote, outlying areas of the country.
- The Armed Forces Commander and the Defense Minister have taken dramatic steps to deal with the legacy of human rights abuses that have clouded our bilateral relations in the past.
- The U.S. is working with the Colombian government and non-governmental organizations to establish human rights units within the Colombian National Police and the Fiscalia (i.e., federal prosecutor) and to train judges and prosecutors on protection of human rights. Training and support is also being provided to Colombian law enforcement personnel in anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and anti-kidnapping measures.
Additional Information/Links:
One of the most comprehensive sources of information on international drug policy is the State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs' (INL) publication, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, or INCSR. It can be found online at http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2000/. For information on Plan Colombia, consult the "Policy and Program Developments" section as well as the "South America" section.
At the State Department website other resources on Colombia can be found at:
Last updated: January, 2002
