That plan was created “to combat drug trafficking” and has been misjudged by a bipartisan US commission.
The Drug Political Commission of the United States House of Representatives will make public this Thursday a report in which it is valued that the “Plan Colombia”, signed by Bogotá and Washington 20 years ago, “has been a failure” in the control of drug production and trafficking.
The document prepared by a bipartisan commission for the Drug Policy of the Western Hemisphere of the United States, was released in part by some media and will be presented officially this Thursday before Congress. The 117-page text specifies that for a couple of decades, the United States has allocated a total of 11.6 billion dollars to Colombia to combat drug trafficking.
The report states that 10 billion dollars have been earmarked specifically for “Plan Colombia”. According to the text, this has been “the largest and longest-lasting bilateral aid program in this hemisphere.”
In 2000, the then presidents William Clinton (USA) and Andrés Pastrana (Colombia) signed an agreement that sought to “fight against drug trafficking”, “regain security” and “consolidate social development”, according to the Colombian Presidency on its website.
In 2016, the plan was ratified by the then presidents, Juan Manuel Santos and Barack Obama. Recently, President Iván Duque announced the continuation of this cooperation, through the “Colombia Crece” program.
The authors of the text consider that Colombia made “great progress” in the objective of restoring security in the country, and that its State policy to combat armed groups was a “success from the point of view of the fight against violence. insurgency “. In fact, he goes on to say that “A state that two decades ago was on the brink of collapse is now America’s strongest ally with vibrant democracy and a stable market economy.”
However, the fight against drugs has not achieved the same approval and has been labeled a “failure.” This compared to the record number of 212.000 hectares of coca cultivated in 2019, “even when the country intensified its efforts, by eradicating more than 100 hectares,” the document says.
The report states that “Colombia cannot ensure peace and control drug trafficking without simultaneously facing the lack of security and development in vast areas of the country.” This in reference to the resurgence of violence, characterized by the assassinations of social leaders and former guerrillas in the midst of disputes by illegal armed groups and drug traffickers for territorial control.
According to the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace of the South American country (Indepaz), so far this year 262 social, indigenous, environmental and peasant leaders have been assassinated in Colombia.
The report of the US legislative commission recommends stopping the dispatch of eradicators and security forces to remote areas because it is a “waste of time and resources.”
It also suggests that they can focus on destroying laboratories and regulating the purchase of fuel and chemicals used in the production of the drug. Similarly, accelerate efforts in land titling, which allow peasants to access credit and other benefits.
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