Overview
Following only Brazil and Mexico in population, Colombia’s
43.3 million people live amidst one of Latin America’s
true paradoxes.
Home to one of South America’s richest sources
of natural resources (including petroleum, coal, coffee,
flowers, fruits, gold, and emeralds), Colombia is also
home to decades of political-criminal insurrection that
has thwarted the country’s attempt to claim its
position in global affairs.
For over 40 years, several terrorist organized organizations
(FARC, AUC and ELN are the largest three) have taken
advantage of a lack of state presence in outlying rural
areas to wage extremely violent campaigns for control
of parts of the country. Drug trafficking has replaced
leftist and rightist ideologies as the prime motivators
to control the specific regions. As a result, the drug
trade (coca, opium poppy and some marijuana) and kidnappings
are major income streams. An estimated 3,000-4,000 civilians
are reportedly killed each year as a result of the conflict.
With the election of President Alvaro Uribe and Vice
President Francisco Santos (both themselves victims
of narco-terrorists) in 2002, their pledge to re-establish
state control throughout the country may be making inroads.
• Coca crop was reduced 37.5 percent between
2000 and 2002 and an additional 43 percent between 2002-2003.
• The national homicide rate fell in 2003 by 27
percent over the previous year and likewise kidnappings
fell by 27 percent over the same time period.
• In 2003 the Colombian economy grew at an estimated
three percent per quarter, and the government predicts
a four percent growth in 2004.
• Among rankings in a Transparency International
Corruption index, Colombia demonstrated the highest
improvement among more than 40 medium and low income
countries surveyed.
These successes may serve to explain why a move is
underway in the Colombian legislature to amend the constitution
to allow President Uribe, who currently has an 80 percent
approval rating, to serve a second term.
Still challenges remain. Coca and poppy cultivation
continue to sprout in new regions, democratic institutions
(especially in rural areas) remain fragile, and thousands
of rural Colombians are forced to abandon their homes
to escape narco-terrorist or paramilitary violence.
The USAID Program: USAID plans to
fund $122 million of programs in 2004 that include helping
to improve the efficiency and transparency of the justice
system, continue eradication of coca and poppy cultivation,
assist in growing alternative legal crops and livestock
production, and support more than 1.4 million Colombians
displaced from the violence. USAID is also strengthening
a center to support an estimated 3,000 to 7,000 children
who are forced to serve as child combatants and is investigating
whether to assist in the demobilization and reintegration
of adult combatants.
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