January, 2003

The Colombia Plan: Repeated Mistakes

Yousra Al-Sharqawi

The US Congress approved an aid programme for Colombia with a 2003 budget of $539 million. Such a sum, which places Colombia third in the list of receivers of US aid - after Israel and Egypt - can be seen as an indication of the importance the US attaches to Colombia, which it considers its prime ally in Latin America.

The annual aid for Bogota increased within the framework of the Colombia Plan, which aims at combating the growing and trade in narcotics, since drug exports from Colombia account for around 80 per cent of drugs consumed in the United States and Europe. In an unprecedented move, Washington provided the Colombian government with US military, technical and intelligence assistance in its conflict with leftist militias that appear on the US list of terrorist organisations. Congress had previously banned the use of this kind of support in the 38-year-long war.

This shift has raised reservations and criticism concerning the management by Washington and Bogota of the aid programme and the Colombia Plan in general. Directing more dollars in support of the administration of new Colombian president-elect Alvaro Uribe is expected to increase domestic problems. Uribe is known for his intransigent policies and his preference for the military option to put an end to the conflict with leftist forces, spearheaded by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -FARC-. The involvement of Washington in Colombia's internal affairs is also sure to provoke the leftist militias, which have entered a critical stage following the failure of three years of peace talks initiated by Uribe's predecessor. The FARC has already declared a shift in its operating arena to cities, while other leftist groups have demanded the removal of US training teams and experts and declared US interests and citizens legitimate targets for attack.

Leftist groups in Colombia see US aid as a means by which Washington can tighten its grasp over the oil and wealth of the country. They also view US support for Uribe's government as indirect support for the rightist militias which, with undercover support from the army, aim to rid the FARC and its counterparts of their sources of power. Despite the efforts of Uribe to restore stability, destroy the authority of drugs cartels, eliminate corruption in governmental authorities and clean up the army, his harsh policies are drawing strong criticism from human rights groups, which view the steps he has taken up till now as dangerous.

The new aid programme mirrors the changes taking place in US policy since 11 September 2001. Colombia has become a new arena for the US in its international war against the powers of evil and terrorism. However, given Colombia's current domestic situation and the results of former US experience in the country, this shift is more likely than not to end in the repetition of past mistakes, without succeeding to resolve the narcotics crisis or even to end the ongoing conflict. What both the US and Colombian governments are overlooking are the main reasons for the problem: an increase in unemployment to more than 16 per cent and the loss of the rights of nearly 1.9 million Colombians displaced by armed groups and government forces.