NCJ Number
191376
Date Published
2001
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the status of the impact of insurgency groups in Colombia.
Abstract
Colombia is currently plagued with leftist insurgency, right-leaning paramilitary violence, narcotics-related fighting, widespread criminal violence not related necessarily to drugs, and multiple actors competing for the strategic control of local territories. There has been little discussion of the possibility of victory for the insurgents in more than 3 decades. In recent months this has changed. The middle and upper classes, protected by the security services and the Baccalaureate Law, which effectively means that the sons of the aristocracy and the upper classes are rarely called upon to fight and die, have until recently felt relatively little of the more direct impact of the war. There is little doubt that the war is now having some significant negative impact on the economy. The survival of democratic governance is also at stake. The problems in Colombia are spilling over into neighboring countries. Venezuela, for example, is frustrated at Colombia's inability to control the border, and not only where guerrilla crossings are concerned, but the drug trade as well. Brazil is also concerned about Colombian and other coca producers crossing its border to carry on production and related activities; insurgents have followed them, and police patrols have had to combat both, sometimes in major engagements. Although not a direct neighbor, the United States is the country most affected by the security situation in Colombia because the drug problem is defined as the primary security threat to the United States. There is no obvious indication that the international community has been effective in assisting Colombia in finding a positive strategy for addressing the insurgency.