A History of Partnership: Plan Colombia and Beyond

For decades, Colombia and the United States have worked together to combat the trafficking of illegal drugs. While the policy instruments and partnership strategies have been modified over the years, since the 1980s the two nations have combined forces to achieve one important goal – disrupting the illegal drug trade and the violence that stems from it. From military efforts and security cooperation initiatives to the conduct of intelligence operations and coordination on the extradition of drug traffickers, the United States and Colombia have maintained an unwavering commitment to work as strategic allies in counter-narcotics operations.

In 2000, the United States and Colombia launched Plan Colombia, an ambitious bipartisan cooperation program aimed at combating drug trafficking and promoting alternatives to coca production, strengthening institutions and promoting peace.

Regarding the drug trafficking component, through aerial spraying and manual eradication of coca crops, Plan Colombia has significantly reduced the number of illegal drugs grown in Colombia. The effort has paid off and the proof is in the numbers.

• The United Nations reports that over the past 10 years, the number of coca crops grown in Colombia has decreased by 50 percent.

• In a 2009 report, the International Narcotics Control Board noted that Colombia’s share of worldwide cocaine manufacture fell to 51 percent, the lowest in a decade.

• The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s Crime and Narcotics Center (CNC) issued a report in 2009 estimating that potential cocaine production in Colombia dropped 39 percent and cultivation dropped 29 percent between 2007 and 2008 alone.

• Interdiction efforts between 2002 and May 2009 resulted in the  seizure of 1,245 tons of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $117 billion.

• Colombia’s national drug control agency – Dirección Nacional de Estupefacientes (DNE) – reported that  in 2008, 36 percent more clandestine drug laboratories were dismantled than in 2007.

• According to the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reports that between January 2007 and September 2009, the price per pure gram of cocaine in the United States increased 75.4 percent, while the purity decreased 31.5 percent.

• As of September 2009, alternative development programs launched in cooperation with the United States have supported the cultivation of over 1,600,000 acres of agricultural, forestry plantation and/or natural forest management activities.

• Over the last seven years, Colombia and the United States have completed approximately 1,290 social and productive infrastructure projects with communities that agree to remain illicit crop free. More than 400,000 families in 18 Colombian states have benefited from these programs.

Consolidation Plan and Institution Building

In January 2007, Colombia announced a strategy known as the National Consolidation Plan to target all State resources at the most critical areas of the country. The Consolidation Plan seeks to align the military, counter-narcotics and social efforts in a determined sequence to consolidate the gains already achieved in strategic areas of the country.

Colombia developed a voluntary program in 2007 to encourage farmers to abandon coca cultivation in exchange for funding and training to start non-drug trade farming. This pilot project in La Macarena – 150km south of Bogotá and a traditional Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC stronghold) –  has shown impressive results, including the following:

• Today, more than 1,500 families are participating in voluntary crop eradication programs and explicitly abandoned coca cultivation. These families are now included in transition programs promoted by the Government, which have proven key in the strategy’s success.

• Illicit crops decreased by 75 percent between 2007 and 2008 according to SIMCI, the UN satellite imagery service.

Providing Assistance to Other Nations

Colombia is no longer a nation that only receives aid to combat the scourge of drug trafficking, but has transformed into a regional leader that provides assistance. Over the past decade, Colombia successfully weakened drug trafficking operations by dismantling their financing structures and operational capabilities, and in the process established important best practices for other countries facing similar challenges today. Using its past experience and technical expertise, Colombia is helping Mexico, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Paraguay and many others defeat organized crime and transnational threats.

Conclusion

Colombia has continued to strengthen its anti-drug partnership with the United States through the Defense Cooperation Agreement announced in August 2009.  The agreement provides the U.S. military with access to Colombian military bases to support drug reconnaissance flights and as a base to stage other narcotics interdiction measures. 

Through robust cooperation with the United States, Colombia has achieved many successes with respect to combating drug trafficking. As long as the demand for drugs remains strong, Colombia will remain vigilant and committed to the U.S.-Colombia partnership.