United States-Colombian Relations Pertaining to Kidnapping
From WolfWikis
US perspectives on the Colombian domestic situation have changed as international conditions have changed. During the Cold War, the United States focused its attention on Latin America with respect to stability. The United States' primary interest revolved around keeping communism from taking hold in the down-trodden nations of Latin America. Once the Cold War ended, US priorities in Latin America, specifically concerning Colombia, center on the reduction of the coca crop and the production of cocaine and its trafficking. The US commits to anti-narcotics campaigns in the 1980's and 1990's, committing to Andres Pastrana's Plan Colombia. But after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City, the US perceived Colombia as a possible center for terrorist activity. The US State Department included the guerrilla groups, FARC and ELN, along with the paramilitary wing AUC, on its list of terrorist threats in 2003. As a result, the United States has committed more military and financial support to Colombia in an attempt to disband these radical groups.
Former Colombian President Andres Pastrana with FARC leader Manuel Marulanda.
During the Clinton administration, Colombian President Andres Pastrana, proposed Plan Colombia, asking the United States for financial aid to help stabilize Colombia. The United States originally supported a seven billion dollar campaign and peaceful negotiations between the rebels and Colombian government, but in 1999, when FARC assassinated three American indigenous-rights activists, the Clinton administration accepted a lesser agreement. The US Congress appropriated $1.3 billion dollars for a Plan Colombia that would be more aggressive in nature in dealing with drug producers and guerrilla groups. The revised Plan Colombia "included provisions for more aggressive eradication and interdiction efforts, encouraging rural guerrillas to disarm through peace talks, replacing coca farmers' lost income with alternative crop and employment programs, and strengthening the country's historically weak government.” (Johnson)The new plan “focused on the provision of military assistance and helicopters to eradicate coca production in FARC territory.” (Sweig)
Fumigation remains a popular method of combating the drug trade today. The White House believes the campaign to fumigate coca plantations successful. In 2005, the White House issued a press release that, in Colombia, “the potential production of cocaine continued the decline of the last three years, falling 7 percent in 2004 to 430 metric tons of pure cocaine, down from 460 metric tons for 2003 (and down dramatically from the peak of 700 metric tons estimated for 2001).” (March 25 Press Release) Much controversy surrounds the fumigation program to destroy coca crops. Many critics of the program believe that the program injures the poor coca farmer, that the aid to displaced farmers is too littler, and often displaced farmers are deforesting rural areas to make room for new coca plantations.(UN Drug Report 2005) Reducing the drug trade remains a primary concern for the United States, but after the terrorist attacks in 2001, the United States considered Colombian leftist guerrillas as possible terrorist threats.
George W. Bush and Alvaro Uribe. The Colombian army is an ally in the war on terror.
Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the United States has focused more attention on defeating the counterinsurgency groups in Colombia and further pursuing militaristic tactics against the drug lands that the guerrilla groups are thought to control. All three groups, the FARC, ELN and AUC, appear on the State Departments list of terrorist threats. After 9/11, the nature of "U.S. military intervention in Colombia quickly evolved from combating illicit drugs to fighting a war on terror... it soon became apparent that the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would be the Bush administration’s principal target." (Leech) The US has teamed with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who originally ran on a hard-line platform, as he promised “to provide Colombians with "democratic security" -- meaning a frontal assault on the country's two leftist guerrilla groups and, perhaps, its right-wing paramilitaries as well.” (Sweig) In a speech in Colombia in November 2004, President Bush said that "Defeating them is vital to the safety of our peoples and to the stability of this hemisphere." He continued to say that Colombia would continue to receive US support.
Recently, a government sponsored demobilization of paramilitaries began. Since the government passed the Justice and Peace Law and Decree 128 in 2003, “paramilitary groups, responsible for the vast majority of human rights violations in Colombia for over a decade, have been involved in a government-sponsored "demobilization" process. More than 25,000 paramilitaries have supposedly demobilized.” (I Report) The report continues, though, to assert that the demobilization process is not satisfactorily stopping the human rights violations by paramilitary forces. (See AI’s humorous video about paramilitary demobilization in Colombia.) However, statistics provided by the Colombian and US governments point to decreased kidnappings as guerrilla groups are disbanded.
Plan Colombia allots many resources to the dismantling of FARC, ELN and AUC. A report from the Embassy of Colombia in 2003, said that in the previous year, “A total of 4,602 guerrillas and 1,986 members of self-defense groups were captured … [and that] 385 members of illegal groups have turned themselves in, more than twice the total number of surrenders recorded during 2002.” (Colombian Embassy) With the largest guerrilla organization, FARC, boasting 18,000 members, the number of captured guerrillas is substantial. As a result of the reduced number of violent activists, the Colombian Government states that “The number of terrorist attacks has diminished in the last year. . . there have been nearly 40% fewer attacks during the first quarter of 2003 as compared to last year.” (Colombian Embassy) Many terrorist attacks in Colombia target electrical grids and the oil pipelines. Since Uribe and Bush have allotted more and more money to the Colombian security program, strengthening the national police force and the Colombian army, there has been marked reduction in violence in Colombia. An article in The Economist says that "under Alvaro Uribe, Colombia's president since 2002, violence has fallen steadily and many parts of the country have become safe." (Economist)
The Colombian Government says that American involvement includes the supply of "14 Black Hawks and 45 Huey transport helicopters [that] will provide the necessary protection and transportation requirements for three battalions of 900 men each. That is all the U.S. trained and funded counter-narcotics units are and will be doing." (Embassy) The Colombian national forces require military strength to counter the attacks of the FARC when they attack coca fumigating planes with anti-aircraft weapons or retaliate against the national police force for destroying drug processing plants. President Bush continues to stand by Plan Colombia and the program he introduced for additional support to Plan Colombia, the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI). In 2001, under the ARI, the President appropriated 800 million dollars to counter narcotics in the Andean Region. Colombia received nearly half of the funds. The United States' battle against drug trafficking and Colombian insurgents has become the same fight.