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The term Plan Colombia is most often used to refer to controversial U. S. legislation aimed at curbing drug smuggling by supporting different Drug War activities in Colombia. The War on Drugs is a prohibition campaign undertaken by the United States government with the assistance of participating countries intended to reduce the Illegal Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. [1] Plan Colombia also refers to a wider aid initiative originally proposed by Colombian President Andrés Pastrana Arango, which contemplated the above piece of legislation but was not limited to it. President is a Title leaders of Organizations companies, Trade unions universities, and countries. Andrés Pastrana Arango (born August 17, 1954) was the President of Colombia from 1998 to 2002 following in the footsteps of his father The plan was conceived between 1998 and 1999 by the administration of President Andrés Pastrana with the goals of social and economic revitalization, ending the armed conflict and creating an anti-drug strategy. The most controversial element of the anti-narcotic strategy is aerial fumigation to eradicate coca. Coca eradication is a controversial strategy strongly promoted by the United States government as part of its " War on Drugs " to eliminate the This activity has come under fire because it damages legal crops and has adverse health effects upon those exposed to the herbicides. A herbicide is used to kill unwanted Plants Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired Crop relatively unharmed Critics of the initiative also claimed that elements within the Colombian security forces, which received aid and training from it, were involved in supporting or tolerating abuses by the now largely dismantled right-wing paramilitary forces against left-wing terror organizations and their sympathizers. A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status

Contents

Original Plan Colombia

The original version of Plan Colombia was officially unveiled by President Andres Pastrana in 1999. Pastrana had first proposed the idea of a possible "Marshall Plan for Colombia" during a speech at Bogotá's Tequendama Hotel on June 8, 1998, nearly a week after the first round of that year's presidential elections. The Marshall Plan (from its enactment officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Pastrana argued that:

"[Drug crops are] a social problem whose solution must pass through the solution to the armed conflict. . . Developed countries should help us to implement some sort of 'Marshall Plan' for Colombia, which will allow us to develop great investments in the social field, in order to offer our peasants different alternatives to the illicit crops. "[2]

After Pastrana was inaugurated, one of the names given to the initiative at this early stage was "Plan for Colombia's Peace", which President Pastrana defined as "a set of alternative development projects which will channel the shared efforts of multilateral organizations and [foreign] governments towards Colombian society". [2] Pastrana's Plan Colombia, as originally presented, did not focus on drug trafficking, military aid, or fumigation,[3] but instead emphasized the manual eradication of drug crops as a better alternative. [4] According to author Doug Stokes, one of the earlier versions of the plan called for an estimated 55 per cent military aid and 45 percent developmental aid. [5]

During an August 3, 1998 meeting, President Pastrana and U. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) S. President Bill Clinton discussed the possibility of "securing an increase in U. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States S. aid for counternarcotics projects, sustainable economic development, the protection of human rights, humanitarian aid, stimulating private investment, and joining other donors and international financial institutions to promote Colombia's economic growth". Diplomatic contacts regarding this subject continued during the rest of the year and into 1999. [6]

For President Pastrana, it became necessary to create an official document that specifically "served to convene important U. S. aid, as well as that of other countries and international organizations" by adequately addressing US concerns. The Colombian government also considered that it had to patch up a bilateral relationship that had heavily deteriorated during the previous administration of President Ernesto Samper (1994-1998). Ernesto Samper Pizano also known as "El elefante" (born August 3, 1950 in Bogotá) is a Colombian politician According to Pastrana, Under Secretary of State Thomas R. Pickering eventually suggested that, initially, the U. Thomas Reeve "Tom" Pickering (born November 5 1931) is a retired United States ambassador. S. could be able to commit to providing aid over a three year period, as opposed to continuing with separate yearly packages. [7]

As a result of these contacts, US input was extensive, and meant that Plan Colombia's first formal draft was originally written in English, not Spanish, and a Spanish version was not available until "months after a revised English version was already in place". [8]

Critics and observers have referred to the differences between the earliest versions of Plan Colombia and later drafts. Originally, the focus was on achieving peace and ending violence, within the context of the ongoing peace talks that Pastrana's government was then holding with the FARC guerrillas, following the principle that the country's violence had "deep roots in the economic exclusion and. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo also known by the Acronym of . . inequality and poverty".

The final version of Plan Colombia was seen as considerably different, since its main focuses would deal with drug trafficking and strengthening the military. [8]

Ambassador Robert White stated:

"If you read the original Plan Colombia, not the one that was written in Washington but the original Plan Colombia, there's no mention of military drives against the FARC rebels. Quite the contrary. (President Pastrana) says the FARC is part of the history of Colombia and a historical phenomenon, he says, and they must be treated as Colombians. . . [Colombia] come and ask for bread and you (America) give them stones. "[9]

In the final U. S. aid package, 78. 12 percent of the funds for 2000 went to the Colombian military and police for counternarcotics and military operations. (See graph, below)

President Pastrana admitted that most of the resulting US aid to Colombia was overwhelmingly focused on the military and on counternarcotics (68%), but argued that this was only some 17% of the total amount of estimated Plan Colombia aid. The rest, focusing mostly on social development, would be provided by international organizations, Europe, Japan, Canada, Latin America, and Colombia itself. In light of this, Pastrana considered that the Plan had been unfairly labeled as "militarist" by national and international critics that focused only on the US contribution. [10]

Financing

U. S. Aid to Colombia, 1996-2006 (including non-Plan Colombia aid) [1]
Last updated 11/11/05
In millions		 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
(est)		 2006
(req)
Military/Police 54. 15 88. 56 112. 44 309. 18 765. 49 242. 97 401. 93 620. 98 555. 07 641. 60 641. 15
Economic/Social 0. 62 0. 00 0. 52 8. 75 214. 31 5. 65 120. 30 136. 70 134. 98 131. 29 138. 52
% Military 99. 88 100 99. 53 97. 42 78. 12 97. 72 76. 96 81. 95 80. 43 83. 01 82. 23

This original plan called for a budget of US$7. 5 billion, with 51% dedicated to institutional and social development, 32% for fighting the drug trade, 16% for economic and social revitalization, and 0. The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global Black market consisting of the cultivation manufacture distribution and sale of illegal Drugs 8% to support the then on-going effort to negotiate a political solution to the state's conflict with insurgent guerrilla groups. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Pastrana initially pledged US$4. 864 billion of Colombian resources (65% of the total) and called on the international community to provide the remaining US$2. 636 billion (35%). [11][12]

In 2000, the Clinton administration in the United States supported the initiative by committing $1. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the 3 billion in foreign aid and up to five hundred military personnel to train local forces. Aid (from the french word aide, also known as international aid, overseas aid, or foreign aid, especially in the United States) is A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking An additional three hundred civilian personnel were allowed to assist in the eradication of coca. A civilian under International humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her Country 's Armed forces. This aid was an addition to US$330 million of previously approved US aid to Colombia. US$818 million was earmarked for 2000, with US$256 million for 2001. These appropriations for the plan made Colombia the third largest recipient of foreign aid from the United States at the time. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

Colombia sought additional support from the European Union and other countries, with the intention of financing the mostly social component of the original plan. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Some would-be donors were reluctant to cooperate, as they considered that the US-approved aid represented an undue military slant, and additionally lacked the will to spend such amounts of money for what they considered an uncertain initiative. [13]

Initially, some of these countries donated approximately US $128. 6 million dollars (in one year), which was 2. 3% of the resulting total. Larger amounts, in some instances up to several hundred million dollars, were also donated to Colombia and continued to be provided either directly or through loans and access to credit lines, but technically fell outside the framework of Plan Colombia. "European countries provide economic and social development funds but do not consider them to be in support of Plan Colombia. "[14] In any case, the sums raised fell well short of what was originally called for. In addition, Colombia's eventual contribution was less than planned due in part to a 1999-2001 economic crisis.

The war on drugs

Colin Powell visiting Colombia in support of Plan Colombia.
Colin Powell visiting Colombia in support of Plan Colombia. Colin Luther Powell, KCB (Honorary MSC, (born April 5, 1937) is a retired General in the United States Army.

Although Plan Colombia includes components which address social aid and institutional reform, the initiative has come to be regarded by its critics as fundamentally a program of counternarcotics and military aid for the Colombian government.

In the United States Plan Colombia is seen as part of the "war on drugs". The War on Drugs is a prohibition campaign undertaken by the United States government with the assistance of participating countries intended to reduce the Illegal Plan Colombia has numerous supporters in the United States Congress. Congressional supporters assert that over 1,300 square kilometres of mature coca were sprayed and eradicated in Colombia in 2003, which would have prevented the production over 500 metric tons of cocaine, stating that it eliminated upward of $100 million of the illicit income that supports drug dealers and different illegal organizations considered as terrorist in Colombia.

Prominent in the aid package approved by former President Clinton is the "Push into Southern Colombia", an area that for decades has been a stronghold of Colombia's largest guerrilla organisation FARC, which is also a major coca-producing region. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo also known by the Acronym of Not to be confused with Cocoa. Coca is a Plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to north-western South America

This funding was earmarked for training and equipping new Colombian army counternarcotics battalions, providing them with helicopters, transport and intelligence assistance, and supplies for coca eradication.

According to a 2006 U. S. congressional report on U. S. enterprises that had signed contracts to carry out anti-narcotics activities as part of Plan Colombia, DynCorp, the largest private company involved, was among those contracted by the State Department, while others signed contracts with the Defense Department. DynCorp International is a United States -based Private military contractor (PMC and aircraft maintenance company [15]

Criticism of Plan Colombia

Research studies before Plan Colombia

The US Defense Department funded a two year study which found that the use of the armed forces to interdict drugs coming into the United States would have minimal or no effect on cocaine traffic and might, in fact, raise the profits of cocaine cartels and manufacturers. The 175-page study, "Sealing the Borders: The Effects of Increased Military Participation in Drug Interdiction," was prepared by seven economists, mathematicians and researchers at the National Defense Research Institute, a branch of the RAND corporation and released in 1988. The RAND Corporation ( R esearch AN d D evelopment is a Nonprofit global policy Think tank first formed to offer research and analysis The study noted that seven previous studies in the past nine years, including ones by the Center for Naval Research and the Office of Technology Assessment, had come to similar conclusions. Interdiction efforts, using current armed forces resources, would have almost no effect on cocaine importation into the United States, the report concluded. [16]

During the early to mid-1990s, the Clinton administration ordered and funded a major cocaine policy study again by RAND. The RAND Corporation ( R esearch AN d D evelopment is a Nonprofit global policy Think tank first formed to offer research and analysis The Rand Drug Policy Research Center study concluded that $ 3 billion should be switched from federal and local law enforcement to treatment. The report said that treatment is the cheapest way to cut drug use. President Clinton's drug czar's office rejected slashing law enforcement spending. [17]

Plan Colombia itself didn't exist at the time of the second RAND study, but the U. S. aid package has been criticized as a manifestation of the predominant law enforcement approach to the drug trade as a whole.

Guerrillas and Oil

Attacks on Oil Pipelines, 2001-2004[14]
2001 2002 2003 2004
All pipelines 263 74 179 103
Caño Limón Coveñas 170 41 34 17
Source: Ministry of Defense, Government of Colombia. Caño Limón is an Oil field in the municipalities of Arauca and Arauquita in Arauca Department, Colombia, on the border of Venezuela.

Critics of Plan Colombia, such as authors Doug Stokes and Francisco Ramirez Cuellar, argue that the main intent of the program is not drug eradication but to fight leftist guerrillas supported by part of the lower rural class in Colombia. They argue that these Colombian peasants are also a target because they are calling for social reform and hindering international plans to exploit Colombia's valuable resources, including oil and other natural resources. [18] As of 2004, Colombia is the fifteenth largest supplier of oil to the United States[19] and could potentially rise in that ranking if petroleum extraction could be conducted in a more secure environment. From 1986 to 1997 there were nearly 79 million barrels (12,600,000 m³) of crude oil spilled in pipeline attacks. Damage and lost revenue were estimated at $1. 5 billion, while the oil spills seriously damaged the ecology. [20]

While the assistance is defined as counternarcotics assistance, critics such as filmmaker Gerard Ungeman argues it will be used primarily against the FARC. [21] Supporters of the Plan such as the U. S. embassy in Bogotá and U. S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman argue that the distinction between guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug dealers may have increasingly become irrelevant, seeing as they could be considered as part of the same productive chain. In 2005 Ambassador Marc Grossman completed 29 years of public service when he retired from the State Department as the Under Secretary of State for Political As a result, counternarcotics assistance and equipment should also be available for use against any of these irregular armed groups when necessary. [22]

Human Rights Conditions

In June 2000, Amnesty International issued a press release in which it criticized the implemented Plan Colombia initiative:

Plan Colombia is based on a drug-focused analysis of the roots of the conflict and the human rights crisis which completely ignores the Colombian state's own historical and current responsibility. Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a Western based international Non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to It also ignores deep-rooted causes of the conflict and the human rights crisis. The Plan proposes a principally military strategy (in the US component of Plan Colombia) to tackle illicit drug cultivation and trafficking through substantial military assistance to the Colombian armed forces and police. Social development and humanitarian assistance programs included in the Plan cannot disguise its essentially military character. Furthermore, it is apparent that Plan Colombia is not the result of a genuine process of consultation either with the national and international non-governmental organizations which are expected to implement the projects nor with the beneficiaries of the humanitarian, human rights or social development projects. As a consequence, the human rights component of Plan Colombia is seriously flawed. [23]

During the late 1990s, Colombia was the leading recipient of US military aid in the Western Hemisphere, and due to its continuing internal conflict has the worst human rights record, with the majority of atrocities attributed (from most directly responsible to least directly responsible) to paramilitary forces, insurgent guerrilla groups and elements within the police and armed forces. The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies West Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status An insurgency is a violent internal uprising against a sovereign government that lacks the organization of a revolution

A United Nations study reported that elements within the Colombian security forces, which have been strengthened due to Plan Colombia and U. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security S. aid, do continue to maintain intimate relationships with right-wing death squads, help organize paramilitary forces, and either participate in abuses and massacres directly or, as it is usually argued to be more often the case, deliberately fail to take action to prevent them. A death squad is an armed Squad that kills civilians terrorists or guerillas Critics of the Plan and of other initiatives to aid Colombian armed forces point to these continuing accusations of serious abuse, and argue that the Colombian state and military should sever any persisting relationship with these illegal forces and need to prosecute past offenses by paramilitary forces or its own personnel. Supporters of the Plan assert that the number and scale of abuses directly attributable to the government's forces have been slowly but increasingly reduced.

Some paramilitary commanders openly expressed their support for Plan Colombia. In May 2000, paramilitary commander "Yair" from the Putumayo Southern Bloc, himself a former Colombian special forces sergeant, said that the AUC supported the plan and he offered to assist U. The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia ( Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, in Spanish) were formed in April 1997 as an umbrella S. -trained counternarcotics battalions in their operations against the FARC in the coca-growing department of Putumayo. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo also known by the Acronym of Paramilitaries and FARC fought it out in the region one month before a Plan Colombia mandated military offensive began later that year. AUC fighters would have passed through checkpoints manned by the army's 24th Brigade in the area during the fighting. [24][25]

SOA and human rights

According to Livingstone, more Colombian School of the Americas (SOA) graduates have been implicated in human rights abuses than SOA graduates from any other country. The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation ( WHISC or WHINSEC) formerly the School of the Americas ( SOA; Spanish: All of the commanders of the brigades highlighted in the 2001 Human Rights Watch report were graduates of the SOA, including the III brigade in Valle del Cauca, where the 2001 Alto Naya massacre occurred. US-trained officers have been accused of being directly or indirectly involved in many atrocities during the 1990s, including the Trujillo massacres and the 1997 Mapiripan massacre. The Mapiripán Massacre was a massacre of Civilians that took place in Mapiripán, Meta Department, Colombia. [26][27]

In addition, Livingstone also argues that the Colombian paramilitaries employ counter insurgency methods that US military schools and manuals have been teaching Latin American officers in Colombia and in the region at large since the 1960s, and that these manuals teach students to target civilian supporters of the guerrillas, because without such support the guerrillas cannot survive. [28]

The Pastrana administration replied to critics by stating that it had publicly denounced military-paramilitary links, as well as increased efforts against paramilitaries and acted against questionable military personnel. President Pastrana argues that he implemented new training courses on human rights and on international law for military and police officers, as well as new reforms to limit the jurisdiction of military courts in cases of grave human rights abuses such as torture, genocide or forced disappearances. [29]

Pastrana claims that some 1300 paramilitaries were killed, captured or surrendered during his term, and that hundreds of members of the armed forces, including up to a hundred officers, were dismissed due to the existence of what it considered as sufficient allegations of involvement in abuses or suspected paramilitary activities, in use of a new presidential discretional faculty. [29] These would include some 388 discharges in 2000 and a further 70 in 2001. Human Rights Watch recognized these events, but questioned the fact that the reasons for such discharges were not always made clear nor followed by formal prosecutions, and claimed that Pastrana's administration cut funds for the Attorney General's Human Rights Unit. [30]

Leahy Provision
Main article: Leahy Law

In 1997 the US Congress approved an Amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act which banned the US from giving anti-narcotics aid to any foreign military unit whose members have violated human rights. The Leahy Law or Leahy provision is a human rights stipulation in U The Amendment was called the "Leahy Provision" or "Leahy Law" (named after Senator Patrick Leahy who proposed it). The Leahy Law or Leahy provision is a human rights stipulation in U The Leahy Law or Leahy provision is a human rights stipulation in U Patrick Joseph Leahy (born March 31, 1940) is the senior United States Senator from Vermont. Partially due to this measure and the reasoning behind it, anti-narcotics aid was initially only provided to Police units, and not to the military during much of the 1990s.

According to author Grace Livingstone and other critics, the problem is there have been very few military units free of members that have not been implicated in any kind of human rights abuses at all, so they consider that the policy has been usually ignored, downplayed or occasionally implemented in a patchy way. [31] In 2000, Human Rights Watch, together with several Colombian human rights investigators, published a study in which it concluded that half of Colombia's eighteen brigade-level army units had extensive links to paramilitaries at the time, citing numerous cases which directly or indirectly implicated army personnel. [32]

The State Department certified that Colombia would have complied with one of the human rights conditions (Sec. 3201) attached to Plan Colombia aid, due to President Pastrana's directing "in writing that Colombian Armed Forces personnel who are credibly alleged to have committed gross violations of human rights will be brought to justice in Colombia's civilian courts. . . ". In August 2000 President Clinton used his presidential waiver to override the remaining human rights conditions, on the grounds that it was necessary for the interests of U. S. national security. Livingstone argues that if the US government funds military units guilty of human rights abuses, it is acting illegally. [33][34][32]

Expansion under Bush

In 2001, the administration of U. S. President George W. Bush expanded the program with the appropriation of $676 million for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative. President is a Title leaders of Organizations companies, Trade unions universities, and countries. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. Of this appropriation, approximately $380 million was targeted at Colombia. The rest went towards other South American countries covered by the Andean Counterdrug Initiative. The 2001 initiative reduced the limitations on the numbers and the activities of civilian contractors, allowing them to carry and use military weapons which, according to the U. S. government, would be necessary to ensure the safety of personnel and equipment during spray missions. The United States Congress rejected amendments to the Andean initiative that would have redirected some of the money to demand reduction programs in the United States, primarily through funding of drug treatment services. Some critics have opposed the rejection of these modifications, claiming that the drug problem and its multiple repercussions would be structurally addressed by curbing the demand, and not the production, of illicit drugs, since drug crops can always be regrown and transplanted elsewhere, inside or outside Colombia and its neighboring countries, as long as there is a commercially viable market.

In 2004, the United States appropriated approximately $727 million for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative, $463 million of which was targeted at Colombia.

In October 2004, the compromise version of two U. S. House-Senate bills was approved, increasing the number of U. S. military advisors that operate in the country as part of Plan Colombia to 800 (from 400) and that of private contractors to 600 (from 400). [35]

In a November 22, 2004 visit to Cartagena, President Bush stood by Colombian president Uribe's security policies and declared his support for continuing to provide Plan Colombia aid in the future. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Cartagena de Indias (kaɾtaˈhena ð̞e ˈin̪d̪jas in Spanish; the usual English pronunciation is ˌkɑrtəˈheɪnə deɪ ˈɪndiəs is a large city Bush claimed the initiative enjoys "wide bipartisan support" in the US and in the coming year he would ask Congress to renew its support. [36]

Results

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007(estimated)

Herbicide fumigation (sq. kilometers)
Table one from U.S. government pdf file

 432 473 842 1,226 1,328 1,365 x x
Coca left over (sq. kilometers)
Table two from U.S. government pdf file		 1,225 1,362 1,698 1,444 1,138 1,140 x x
Total coca cultivation
(Herbicide fumigation + Coca left over)		 1,657 1,835 2,540 2,671 2,466 2,505 860 360

U. S. 2005 Estimate

On April 14, 2006, the U. Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. S. Drug Czar's office announced that its Colombian coca cultivation estimate for 2005 was significantly greater than that of any year since 2002. [37][38] The press release from the U. S. Office of National Drug Control Policy stated that "coca cultivation declined by 8 percent, from 114,100 to 105,400 hectares, when those areas surveyed by the US government in 2004 were compared with the same areas in 2005". However, "the survey also found 144,000 hectares of coca under cultivation in 2005 in a search area that was 81 percent larger than that used in 2004. . . newly imaged areas show about 39,000 additional hectares of coca. Because these areas were not previously surveyed, it is impossible to determine for how long they have been under coca cultivation. "[37]

Critics of Plan Colombia and of ongoing fumigation programs considered this new information as a sign of the failure of current U. S. drug policy. The Center for International Policy stated that "even if we accept the U. S. government’s argument that the high 2005 estimate owes to measurement in new areas, it is impossible to claim that Plan Colombia has brought a 50 percent reduction in coca-growing in six years. . . Either Colombia has returned to [the 2002] level of cultivation, or the 'reductions' reported in 2002 and 2003 were false due to poor measurement. "[39]

UN 2005 Estimate

On June 20, 2006, the United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) presented its own survey on Andean coca cultivation, reporting a smaller increase of about 8% and confirming a rising trend shown by the earlier U. Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security S. findings. [40] UN surveys employ a different methodology and are part of the ongoing "Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme" (ICMP) and its "Integrated Illicit Crop Monitoring System" (SIMCI) project. [41] The UNODC press release stated that during 2005 the "area under coca cultivation in Colombia rose by 6,000 hectares to 86,000 after four consecutive years of decline despite the continued efforts of the Government to eradicate coca crops". This represents a small increase above the lowest figure recorded by UNODC's surveys, which was 80,000 hectares in 2004. [40] For UNODC, current cultivation remained "still well below the peak of 163,300 hectares recorded in 2000", as "significant reductions [. . . ] have been made in the past five years and overall figures remain nearly a third below their peak of 2000". [42]

UNODC concluded that "substantial international assistance" is needed by Colombia and the other Andean countries "so they can provide poor coca farmers with sustainable alternative livelihoods" and that "aid efforts need to be multiplied at least tenfold in order to reach all impoverished farmers who need support". [42]

Analysis

The results of Plan Colombia have been mixed. From the perspective of the U. S. and Colombian governments, the results of Plan Colombia have been positive. U. S. government statistics would show that a significant reduction in leftover coca (total cultivation minus eradicated coca) has been observed from peak 2001 levels of 1,698 square kilometres to an estimated 1,140 square kilometres in 2004. It is said that a record high aerial herbicide fumigation campaign of 1,366 square kilometres in 2004 has reduced the total area of surviving coca, even as newer areas are planted. Despite this, effective reductions may appear to have reached their limits as in 2004, despite a record high aerial herbicide fumigation campaign of 1,366 square kilometres, the total area of surviving coca has remained constant, as an estimated 1,139 square kilometres in 2003 were followed by about 1,140 square kilometres in 2004.

Additionally, recent poppy seed cultivation has decreased while coca cultivation actually has not. Overall attempted coca cultivation by growers (total planted coca without taking eradication into account) increased somewhat, from 2,467 square kilometres in 2003 to 2,506 square kilometres in 2004. Coca cultivation reached it's highest point during the program in 2002 at 2,671 square kilometres. [43][44][14]

The U. S. and Colombian governments interpret this data to show a decline in potential production of cocaine, from a peak of 700 metric tons in 2001 to 460 in 2003 and 430 in 2004, as result of an increase in "newly planted [coca fields] in response to eradication," which should be less productive than mature coca.

U. S. government officials admitted in late 2005 that the market price of cocaine has yet to rise significantly, as would be expected from the above reductions in supply. They pointed to possible hidden stashes and other methods of circumventing the immediate effect of eradication efforts which allow for a relatively constant flow of drugs able to enter into the market, delaying the consequences of drug eradication. U. S. Drug Czar John Walters stated that "the reason for [reductions in supply not immediately driving prices up] is that you are not seizing and consuming coca leaves that were grown in 2004 in 2004. You are seizing and consuming coca leaves that were probably grown and processed in 2003 and 2002. "[45]

Other observers say this points to the ultimate ineffectiveness of the Plan in stopping the flow of drugs and addressing more important or underlying issues like providing a viable alternative for landless and other peasants, who turn to coca cultivation due to a lack of other economic possibilities, in addition to having to deal with the tumultuous civil conflict between the state, guerrillas and paramilitaries. They also say that simply making coca difficult to grow and transport in one area will lead to the movement of the drug cultivation processes to other areas, both inside and outside Colombia, a consequence also known as the balloon effect. The balloon effect is an often cited criticism of United States drug policy. [43]

As an example of the above, it is claimed by critics that Peru and Bolivia, as countries which had earlier monopolized coca cultivations until local eradication efforts later led to the eventual transfer of that part of the illegal business to Colombia, have recently had small increases in coca production despite record eradication in Colombia, which some years ago accounted for about 80% of the coca base produced in South America. Supporters of the Plan and of drug prohibition in general consider that the increase has, as of yet, been significant to be a sign of the above "balloon effect".

The Colombian government announced that it eradicated around 73,000 coca hectares during 2006 which, according to it, would be above all local records in coca plant destruction. The Colombian government said that it plans to destroy an additional 50,000 hectares of coca in 2007. [2].

Quotes

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Helping Colombia Fix Its Plan to Curb Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Insurgency (HTML). The Leahy Law or Leahy provision is a human rights stipulation in U The Mérida Initiative (also called Plan Mexico by critics is a security cooperation between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries The United States has always had a special conception of its relationship with the nations of Latin America. The Heritage Foundation (April 26, 2001). Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Pastrana, Andrés; Camilo Gómez (2005). La Palabra bajo Fuego. Bogotá: Editorial Planeta Colombiana S. A. , 48-51.  
  3. ^ Livingstone, Grace; (Forward by Pearce,Jenny) (2004). Inside Colombia: Drugs, Democracy, and War. Rutgers University Press, 123-130. 0813534437.  
  4. ^ Pastrana, p. 116
  5. ^ Stokes, Doug (2005). America's Other War: Terrorizing Colombia. Zed Books. ISBN 1-84277-547-2.   p. 96
  6. ^ Pastrana, p. 115-116; 120-122
  7. ^ Pastrana, p. 203
  8. ^ a b Livingstone, Grace; (Forward by Pearce,Jenny) (2004). Inside Colombia: Drugs, Democracy, and War. Rutgers University Press, 123-126. 0813534437.  
    *Cooper, Marc (March 19 2001). "Plan Colombia". The Nation: 3.  
    *Crandall, Russell (February 6, 2003) From Drugs to Guerrillas? US Policy Toward Colombia / The Samper Scandal Erupts. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Wake Forest University. Retrieved on February 23, 2006. p. 9 [Word document] In fact, a Spanish language version of the plan in Spanish did not exist until months after a copy in English was available. --Author interview with US Department of State official. Washington, DC. November 2000.
    *Crandall, Russell (April 2002). Driven by Drugs: United States Policy Toward Colombia. Lynne Rienner Publishers. 158826064X.  
    *Prospects for Peace: The Projected Impact of Plan Colombia. Trina Zahller McNair Scholars Project University of Montana 2002. Retrieved on February 23, 2006. p. 15 [PDF file] The original format of Plan Colombia (written by President Pastrana) was focused primarily on economic development, human rights and judicial reform. It was a prospect of change for Colombian civil society and an ambitious attempt to dig to the root of Colombian’s strife.
    *Nagle, Luz Estella The Search for Accountability and Transparency in Plan Colombia: Reforming Judicial Institutions- Again. U. S. Strategic Studies Institute 2001. Retrieved on February 23, 2006. p. 17. Nagle quotes Ambassador Robert White.
    *Chomsky, Naom (Spring 2001). "Plan Colombia". Alternative Press Review 6 (1).  
    *Hodgson, Martin (May/June 2000). "The coca leaf war A report from Colombia--the front line in Washington's war on drugs.". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 56 (3).   p. 36-45
  9. ^ DrugSense. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved on February 23, 2006. White is the president of the Center for International Policy and former American ambassador to Paraguay and El Salvador, and former No. 2 man with the U. S. Embassy in Bogota.
  10. ^ Pastrana, p. 256-257
  11. ^ El Plan Colombia (PDF). Colombia Embassy. Retrieved on April 26, 2006. (Spanish)
  12. ^ Financiancion Plan Colombia (PDF). Colombia Embassy. Retrieved on April 26, 2006. (Spanish)
  13. ^ Paul-Emile Dupret (February 1, 2001). European Parliament resolution on Plan Colombia and support for the peace process in Colombia (HTML). European Parliament Development and Cooperation, and External Trade. Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  14. ^ a b c Connie Veillette (June 22, 2005). Plan Colombia: A Progress Report (PDF). Latin American Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division. Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  15. ^ Private Security Transnational Enterprises in Colombia José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective February, 2008.
  16. ^ Reuter, Peter H. ; Gordon Crawford, Jonathan Cave, Patrick Murphy, Don Henry, William Lisowski, Eleanor Sullivan Wainstein (1988). "Sealing the borders: the effects of increased military participation in drug interdiction". RAND.  
    * Kessler, Robert E. (May 23 1988). "Study: Military Can't Curb Drugs". Newsday (New York).  
    *Author, Unknown (March 4 1988). "Military support would have little effect on drug smuggling, study says". United Press International.  
  17. ^ Rydell, C. Peter; Susan S. Everingham (1994). "Controlling Cocaine: Supply Versus Demand Programs". Rand Drug Policy Research Center.  
    *Cauchon, Dennis (June 14 1994). "White House balks at study urging more drug treatment". USA TODAY: 2A.  
    *Stokes, Doug; Noam Chomsky (Introduction). America's Other War: Terrorizing Colombia. Zed Books. ISBN 1-84277-547-2.   p. xii, 87
    *Donnelly, John (April 1 2000). "Narcotics Bill Reopens Drug War Debate Colombia Measure Spurs New Look At Us Policy". The Boston Globe.  
    *Cochran, John; Peter Jennings (September 22 1999). ""A Closer Look"". ABC News.  
    *Douglas, William (June 14 1994). "Best Weapon In Drug War Is Treatment". Newsday: A15.  
    *Douglas, William (June 14 1994). "U.S. Should Boost Therapy Of Coke Addicts, Study Urges". The Times Union.  
  18. ^ Stokes, Doug (2005). America's Other War: Terrorizing Colombia. Zed Books. ISBN 1-84277-547-2.  ;
    *Cuellar, Francisco Ramirez (2005). The Profits of Extermination: How U. S. Corporate Power is Destroying Colombia. Common Courage Press. ISBN 1-56751-322-0.  
  19. ^ Top Suppliers of U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum, 2004 (HTML). US Energy Information Administration (EIA) (April 2006). Retrieved on February 26, 2006.
  20. ^ The United States and Colombia: The Journey from Ambiguity to Strategic Clarity. Strategic Studies Institute of the U. S. Army War College. Retrieved on February 26, 2006. [PDF file]
  21. ^ Gerard Ungerman. (2005) Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure [DVD]. Cinema Libre. Downloadable on Google video
  22. ^ Marc Grossman Subsecretario de Estado para Asuntos Políticos Universidad de Georgetown Conferencia Uniendo esfuerzos por Colombia (HTML). US Embassy of Colombia (September 2, 2002). Retrieved on March 27, 2006. (Spanish) (English version available)
  23. ^ Amnesty International's position on Plan Colombia (HTML). Amnesty International USA (June 21,2000). Retrieved on April 9, 2006.
  24. ^ Delacour, Justin (December 22 2000). "Plan Colombia: Rhetoric, Reality, and the Press. ". Social Justice 27 (4): 63. ISSN 1043-1578.   One paramilitary leader who supports Plan Colombia is the commander of the 800 right-wing shock troops of the paramilitaries' Putumayo Southern Bloc. He is a former Colombian special forces sergeant who frequently trained alongside U. S. Special Forces Rangers and Navy SEALs during his eight years in the military
  25. ^ Leech, Garry (November 20 2000). The Paramilitary Spearhead of Plan Colombia (HTML). Colombia Journal. Retrieved on April 24, 2006.
  26. ^ Notorious Graduates from Colombia (HTML). SOA Watch. Retrieved on April 9, 2006.
  27. ^ Livingstone, p. 169
    School of the America's Watch www. soaw. org
    Livingstone notes: The relatively high number of Colombian officers is partly due to the fact that more research has been done into the names of abusers in Colombia, whereas the names of officers who committed offences in other countries--particularly in Central America--are not known.
  28. ^ Livingstone, p. 171
  29. ^ a b Pastrana, p. 87-88; 351-353
  30. ^ "Sixth Division" Fast Facts. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved on April 9, 2006.
  31. ^ Livingstone, p. 168-169
  32. ^ a b Stokes, Doug Why the End of the Cold War Doesn't Matter: the US War of Terror in Colombia. Bristol University Politics Department. Retrieved on February 27, 2006. ;
    *Citing Colombia Human Rights Developments. Human Rights Watch (2000). Retrieved on March 27, 2006.
  33. ^ Clinton aprueba entrega de ayuda de EE.UU. a Colombia (HTML). US Embassy of Colombia (August 24, 2000). Retrieved on March 27, 2006. (Spanish)
  34. ^ Human Rights Certification in Plan Colombia (HTML). Retrieved on March 27, 2006.
  35. ^ Adam Isacson (October 8, 2004). Congress Doubles the Limit on U.S. Troops in Colombia. HTML. The Center for International Policy. Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  36. ^ Bush, Uribe Applaud Strength of U.S.-Colombia Partnership (HTML). US Department of State (November 22, 2004). Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  37. ^ a b 2005 Coca Estimates for Colombia. HTML. Office of National Drug Control Policy (April 14, 2006). Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  38. ^ Coca Cultivation in the Andes. HTML. The Center for International Policy (April 14, 2006). Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  39. ^ Colombian coca cultivation in 2005 (PDF). Center for International Policy (April 15, 2006). Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  40. ^ a b Coca Cultivation in the Andean Region. A Survey of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. June 2006 (PDF). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (June 20, 2006). Retrieved on June 20, 2006.
  41. ^ Proyecto SIMCI II. Sistema Integrado de Monitoreo de Cultivos Ilicitos. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (June 20, 2006). Retrieved on June 20, 2006.
  42. ^ a b Coca cultivation in Andes stabilizes in 2005, farmers need help to find alternative livelihoods. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (June 20, 2006). Retrieved on June 20, 2006.
  43. ^ a b The State Department's new coca data (HTML). Plan Colombia and Beyond CIP's running commentary about U. S. policy toward Colombia and Latin America, with a focus on peace, security and military issues. . The Center for International Policy (March 30, 2005). Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  44. ^ 2004 Coca and Opium Poppy Estimates for Colombia and the Andes (HTML). whitehousedrugpolicy. gov (March 25, 2005). Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
  45. ^ Progress Report on Anti-Drug Efforts in Colombia. HTML. Office of National Drug Control Policy (November 17, 2005). Retrieved on April 23, 2006.
  46. ^ Livingstone, p. 141
  47. ^ Fact Sheet. Plan Colombia and Human Rights. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Fact Sheet. Retrieved on 2006-08-19. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 43 BC - Octavian, later known as Augustus compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.
  48. ^ Leech, Garry M. (April 2002). Killing Peace: Colombia's Conflict and the Failure of U. S. Intervention. Information Network of Americas (Inota). ISBN 0-9720384-0-X.   p. 61
    *Bacon, David (July 2001). "The Colombian Connection: U.S. Aid Fuels a Dirty War Against Unions". In These Times: 13.  
  49. ^ Contreras, Joseph (August 29, 2005). "Failed 'Plan'. After five years and billions of U.S. aid in the drug war, cocaine production still thrives.". Newsweek International.  

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