{ "id": "R44779", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44779", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 585801, "date": "2017-11-30", "retrieved": "2020-01-02T13:50:25.217346", "title": "Colombia\u2019s Changing Approach to Drug Policy", "summary": "Colombia is one of the largest producers of cocaine globally, and it also produces heroin bound for the United States. Counternarcotics policy has long been a key component of the U.S.-Colombian relationship, which some analysts have described as \u201cdriven by drugs.\u201d In recent years, Colombia revised its approach to counternarcotics policy, which may have implications for the U.S.-Colombian relationship going forward. On September 13, 2017, President Trump cited the recent spike in Colombia\u2019s cocaine production as the reason he was reserving the option to decertify Colombia as a cooperating partner in fighting illegal drugs, an unexpected development given the close counternarcotics partnership between the United States and Colombia.\nU.S. concerns about illicit drug production and trafficking in Colombia arose in the 1970s and grew significantly when Colombia became the dominant producer of cocaine in the Andean region in the mid-to-late 1990s. The United States has worked closely with Colombia to eradicate drug crops and combat trafficking. Simultaneously, since 2000, the United States has forged a partnership with Colombia\u2014perhaps its closest bilateral relationship in Latin America\u2014centered on helping Colombia recover its stability following a decades-long internal conflict with insurgencies of left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries, whose longevity has been attributed, in part, to their role in the country\u2019s illicit drug trade. Between FY2000 and FY2016, the U.S. Congress appropriated more than $10 billion of bilateral foreign assistance to support a Colombian-written strategy known as Plan Colombia and its successor programs. In addition to counternarcotics, the United States helped support security and development programs designed to stabilize Colombia\u2019s security situation and strengthen its democracy. \nA peace accord between the government of Colombia and the country\u2019s main leftist insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was signed in November 2016 after four years of formal peace talks. During protracted peace negotiations with the FARC, the Colombian government altered its approach to drug policy. A major change was the decision to end aerial spraying to eradicate coca crops, which had been a central\u2014albeit controversial\u2014feature of U.S.-Colombian counterdrug cooperation for more than two decades. \nIn addition, Colombia\u2019s counternarcotics policies also shifted in 2015 to a public health approach. The shift was influenced by broader hemispheric trends to reform traditional antidrug practices in ways that proponents claim can reduce human rights violations. On the supply side, Colombia\u2019s new drug policy gives significant attention to expanding alternative development and licit crop substitution while intensifying interdiction efforts. The revised drug policy approach promotes drug-use prevention and treatment for drug users. According to Colombian officials, the public health and prevention dimensions of the revised strategy will be led by Colombia\u2019s Health Ministry, in coordination with other agencies. \nIn November 2016, Colombia\u2019s Congress unanimously ratified the FARC-government peace accord, although some opponents boycotted that vote. The final accord was a revision following the narrow defeat of an earlier version of the accord in an October 2, 2016 referendum. The final peace agreement addresses important issues, such as illicit crop cultivation\u2014a major source of FARC income\u2014and rural development. According to President Juan Manuel Santos, the peace accord will draw former FARC members into efforts to counter illicit drug production and trafficking. In 2017, as Colombia began to implement the final peace accord and demobilize the FARC, the country is facing a large increase in cocaine production. \nThis report examines how Colombia\u2019s drug policies have evolved in light of Colombia\u2019s peace agreement with the FARC and its changing counternarcotics policy. It explores both policy and oversight concerns, such as\nprospects for reducing coca and poppy cultivation under Colombia\u2019s new drug policy and the peace accord with the FARC;\nthe role of Colombian drug trafficking organizations, including powerful criminal groups containing former paramilitaries, in a post-peace accord environment;\nU.S.-Colombian cooperation on counternarcotics and Colombia\u2019s future role in regional antidrug efforts; and\nshifts in U.S. government assistance to support Colombia\u2019s revised drug policy and how Colombia\u2019s new policy converges with traditional U.S. priorities.\nFor additional background, see CRS Report RL34543, International Drug Control Policy: Background and U.S. Responses, by Liana W. Rosen; CRS Report R43813, Colombia: Background and U.S. Relations, by June S. Beittel.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44779", "sha1": "24e5c8362dd9b2dd7b07ff75b66ff2609477f993", "filename": "files/20171130_R44779_24e5c8362dd9b2dd7b07ff75b66ff2609477f993.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44779_files&id=/1.png": "files/20171130_R44779_images_701b5167089bb4651b16ea4bc02b58d6ab373d38.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44779_files&id=/2.png": "files/20171130_R44779_images_0207f412a0f9fa7207c568781207027d3f32d8ee.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R44779_files&id=/0.png": "files/20171130_R44779_images_9d2088f17d9123e0c5d9e93458ac6b3ea5ea7258.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44779", "sha1": "495fb6cf9e7326c20daf3a246cbe8b9cfdaedc8e", "filename": "files/20171130_R44779_495fb6cf9e7326c20daf3a246cbe8b9cfdaedc8e.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4847, "name": "Latin America, Caribbean, & Canada" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4878, "name": "International Terrorism, Trafficking, & Crime" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 459558, "date": "2017-03-10", "retrieved": "2017-03-10T20:30:10.346146", "title": "Colombia\u2019s Changing Approach to Drug Policy", "summary": "Colombia is one of the largest producers of cocaine globally, and it also produces heroin bound for the United States. Counternarcotics policy has long been a key component of the U.S.-Colombian relationship, which some analysts have described as \u201cdriven by drugs.\u201d Now, Colombia is changing its approach to counternarcotics policy, which may have implications for the U.S.-Colombian relationship.\nU.S. concerns about illicit drug production and trafficking in Colombia arose in the 1970s but grew significantly when Colombia became the dominant producer of cocaine in the Andean region in the mid-to-late 1990s. The United States has worked closely with Colombia to eradicate drug crops and combat trafficking. Simultaneously, over the past 17 years, the United States has forged a partnership with Colombia\u2014perhaps its closest bilateral relationship in Latin America\u2014centered on helping Colombia recover its stability following a decades-long internal conflict with insurgencies of left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries, whose longevity has been attributed, in part, to their role in the country\u2019s illicit drug trade. Between FY2000 and FY2016, the U.S. Congress appropriated more than $10 billion of bilateral foreign assistance to support a Colombian-written strategy known as Plan Colombia and its successor programs. In addition to counternarcotics, the United States helped support security and development programs designed to stabilize Colombia\u2019s security situation and strengthen its democracy. \nA peace accord between the government of Colombia and the country\u2019s main leftist insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was signed in late November 2016 after four years of formal peace talks. The Colombian Congress unanimously ratified the peace accord, which had been revised following the narrow rejection of an earlier accord in a national referendum in October 2016. The final peace agreement addresses important issues, such as illicit crop cultivation\u2014a major source of FARC income\u2014and rural development. According to President Juan Manuel Santos, the peace accord will draw former FARC members into efforts to counter illicit drug production and trafficking. \nIn 2017, as Colombia begins to implement the final peace accord and demobilize the FARC, the country is facing a large increase in cocaine production. During the protracted peace negotiations with the FARC, the Colombian government altered its approach to drug policy. A major change was the decision to end aerial spraying to eradicate coca crops, which had been a central\u2014albeit controversial\u2014feature of U.S.-Colombian counterdrug cooperation for more than two decades. \nIn addition, Colombia\u2019s counternarcotics policies shifted in 2015 to a public health approach under President Santos. The shift was influenced by broader hemispheric trends to reform traditional antidrug practices in ways that proponents claim can reduce human rights violations. On the supply side, Colombia\u2019s new drug policy gives significant attention to expanding alternative development and licit crop substitution while intensifying interdiction efforts. The revised drug policy approach promotes drug-use prevention and treatment for drug users. According to Colombian officials, the public health and prevention dimensions of the revised strategy will be led by Colombia\u2019s Health Ministry, in coordination with other agencies. \nThis report examines how Colombia\u2019s drug policies have evolved in light of Colombia\u2019s peace agreement with the FARC and its changing counternarcotics policy. It explores both policy and oversight concerns, such as\nprospects for reducing coca and poppy cultivation under Colombia\u2019s new drug policy and the peace accord with the FARC;\nthe role of Colombian drug trafficking organizations, including powerful criminal groups containing former paramilitaries, in a post-peace accord environment;\nU.S.-Colombian cooperation on counternarcotics and Colombia\u2019s future role in regional antidrug efforts; and\nshifts in U.S. government assistance to support Colombia\u2019s revised drug policy and how Colombia\u2019s new policy converges with traditional U.S. priorities.\nFor additional background, see CRS Report RL34543, International Drug Control Policy: Background and U.S. Responses, by Liana W. Rosen; CRS Report R43813, Colombia: Background and U.S. Relations, by June S. Beittel; and CRS Report R42982, Colombia\u2019s Peace Process Through 2016, by June S. Beittel.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44779", "sha1": "4f215e83d15b0afdfbed5739b12f9931d4df349d", "filename": "files/20170310_R44779_4f215e83d15b0afdfbed5739b12f9931d4df349d.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44779", "sha1": "32a7f23b970d2ff472d1bf8de0f98bcf32da88dd", "filename": "files/20170310_R44779_32a7f23b970d2ff472d1bf8de0f98bcf32da88dd.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Foreign Affairs", "Intelligence and National Security", "Latin American Affairs", "National Defense" ] }