Plan Colombia: U.S. Strategy Against Drugs and FARC

Introduction: Colombia's Complex Legacy

The Republic of Colombia is one of the most important countries on the South American continent for a variety of reasons. It ranks as the third most populous country in Latin America and possesses remarkable biodiversity. However, the country is not renowned only for its positive attributes. Colombia is also known worldwide as one of the largest drug producers on the planet. Despite its considerable potential, its inhabitants are among the poorest people in the world, a condition directly tied to a civil war that stands as one of the longest in recorded history. That conflict began during the 1940s as a result of deep ideological divisions between the Liberal and Conservative parties.

Origins of the Civil Conflict and Drug Trade

There was a steady decline in personal incomes as most of the country's financial resources were redirected to support the war effort, prompting ordinary Colombians to search for alternative means of survival. Many began joining the FARC — a national faction created by armed Colombians as an opposition movement against the government. One of the most profitable methods available seemed to be the cultivation and sale of coca plants, which were used in the production of cocaine.

The guerrilla forces took advantage of the situation and became involved in the drug business alongside the cartels. That alliance proved short-lived, as the cartels eventually chose to sever ties with the guerrillas and instead invested in land on which coca crops could be grown independently. This rupture sparked yet another Colombian conflict — this time between the guerrillas and the drug traffickers themselves.

U.S. Involvement and Early Interventions

The chaotic situation in Colombia began attracting international attention, and the United States acted, beginning under Presidents Reagan and Bush. The U.S. government launched numerous campaigns against both the guerrillas and the drug traffickers. As one analyst noted, "Colombia, which is roughly the size of Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma combined, supplies the U.S. with as much as ninety percent of its cocaine and seventy percent of its heroin" (Herwig). The United States intensified its campaigns in response to the unrelenting growth in the volume of drugs entering the country from Colombia.

The Andean Initiative represented a significant early step in the U.S. effort against drugs and Colombian counterinsurgency, undertaken under President Bush. The initiative involved the allocation of "$2.2 billion of economic and military aid to Colombia, Peru and Bolivia" (Leech, 1999). Despite this continuous effort, drug trafficking did not stop or decrease — it continued to grow year after year.

Plan Colombia: Goals and Implementation

As an ultimate response to the deteriorating situation, the United States introduced Plan Colombia, also known as Plan Patriota, which committed a far greater amount of money and resources to addressing Colombian drug trafficking. The core principle of the plan was to eradicate coca crops and to restore the Colombian government's control over the entire national territory, approximately 40% of which had been under the control of FARC guerrilla forces (Leech). Farmers who grew coca as their only means of survival would also benefit, as the plan offered assistance in transitioning to alternative crops.

The Colombian government solicited aid from around the world to support the drug-fighting program. The European Union, however, remained reluctant to provide financial assistance, on the grounds that Europeans believed the plan would not achieve its intended results (Leech, 1999). The U.S. government's primary concern in Colombia was to dismantle the FARC guerrilla movement and to bring the country's drug affairs under control. Violence in Colombia had been a persistent feature since the nineteenth century, and the drug trade that emerged in the 1970s had severely worsened the situation.

Conclusion

A more secure and efficient method for stopping drug traffic would be for both the U.S. and Colombian governments to seal off and quarantine the southern regions of Colombia, where most drugs are produced and where FARC guerrilla forces have historically been based. Furthermore, Plan Colombia should be extended as a worldwide framework for decreasing drug production and dismantling the guerrilla forces that depend on it, so that the Colombian situation does not replicate itself in other parts of the world.

Plan Colombia is, in essence, a strategy for strengthening the Colombian government and establishing lasting peace within the country's borders. If its principles are applied consistently — combining crop eradication, economic development, and the restoration of state authority — it holds the potential to address both the immediate symptoms and the deeper structural causes of Colombia's prolonged crisis.

Acevedo, B., Bewley-Taylor, D., & Youngers, C. (2008). Ten Years of Plan Colombia: An Analytic Assessment. International Drug Policy Consortium.

Cooper, M. (2001, March). Plan Colombia. The Nation.

Evans, M. (2002). War in Colombia. National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 69.

Herwig, K. A. (2001). The Environment, Plan Colombia, and U.S. Aid. Macalester College.

Leech, G. (1999). Fifty years of violence. Colombia Journal.

Leech, G. (2000). Plan Colombia: A closer look. Colombia Journal.

Stokes, D. Assessing the competing narratives of the U.S.'s 21st century war on drugs: "Plan Colombia." From the Wilderness Publications.

Plan Colombia: Plan for Peace, Prosperity, and the Strengthening of the State. (1999). United States Institute of Peace.