Why Americans should care about this country in South America?
Did you know: That Colombia is the world’s leading producer of emeralds?
That Colombian author and novelist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is the most widely read living author in the world?
Or that Shakira, a Colombian pop-star, won this year’s Grammy for Latin music?
Or that Juan Montoya won the Indianapolis 500 auto race in 2000?
Or that Fernando Botero, a Colombian whose sculptures have graced Fifth Avenue in New York and the Champs Elysee in Paris, is one of the world’s most accomplished artists?
Or that Niños para la Paz, a group of Colombian children, have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998, 1999 and 2000 – the youngest persons ever nominated for a Nobel?
Did you know that the most promising research on malaria was developed by scientists in Colombia, and that this research has been donated to the World Health Organization?
Many Americans only know one or two things about Colombia. It’s the country that produces cocaine and coffee. And there is some kind of civil war going on down there. That’s what they read and hear about daily through the media. But Colombia is a complex and astonishing country and people – one that is far too often stereotyped and misunderstood.
For example, Colombia is:
A gateway to Latin America. Colombia is located in the middle of the hemisphere, on the northern coast of the South American continent. Colombia’s Caribbean coast is closer to Miami than Miami is to New York.
A large country. Colombia is the size of Texas and California combined. Its 42 million people make it the third most populous country in Latin America.
Home to a diverse geography and environment. Colombia is the only country in South America to have both a Pacific and Caribbean coast. The rugged Andes mountains form a geographic spine down the center of Colombia, dividing the country from north to south. To the west and east of the Andes are fertile plains where most of the population (95%) live and work. Colombia is a very urban country – in fact, more than 70% of Colombians live in just 10 cities. The eastern and southern portions of the country are covered with the dense, tropical forests of the Amazon. These forests are among the world’s most valuable natural resources. They are home to 10% of the world’s biodiversity (second only to that of neighboring Brazil). Only 5% of the country’s population live in the Amazon region, where there is very little economic infrastructure. A total of 58% of the territory is located in the Amazon region.
A diverse ethnic population. Colombia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Western Hemisphere. The country has 85 different ethnic groups, creating a true melting pot of European, indigenous and Afro-Caribbean populations. Colombia’s indigenous population of 700,000 persons (less than 2% of the total population) has been granted control by Colombia’s Constitution of nearly one fourth of the country’s land mass.
A source of energy for the world. Colombia has vast mineral and energy resources, which are being explored and developed for economic benefit. Colombia has over 37 billion barrels of oil potential and is currently the largest foreign provider of coal to the U.S. Colombia is the fifth largest supplier of foreign oil to the United States.
A stable democracy. Colombia is Latin America’s oldest and most stable democracy. It has experienced peaceful changes of government every four years over the last half century. Government leaders have been elected by the people through free, fair and competitive elections. Colombia has a free, competitive press.
A strong and stable economy. Colombia was Latin America’s strongest and most stable economy during the 20th century. It did not experience a year of negative growth for over 70 years, between the 1930s and the late 1990s. Moreover, it has never experienced hyper-inflation and nor has it ever defaulted on its international debts or financial obligations.
So why are most things you hear about Colombia negative?
The truth is that Colombia has "two faces." One is a country of extraordinary natural beauty and hard-working, warm and industrious people. People who succeed at growing some of the world’s finest coffee and fresh flowers, who are renown artists, writers and musicians. People who have created a stable democracy and a strong, growing economy. People who have courageously stood up to the violence and terrorism of guerrilla groups and drug traffickers.
But Colombia is also a country with many problems – problems stemming from a complex and difficult history of violence. Colombia’s troubles can begin to be explained by the vast, underpopulated "frontier land" that characterizes the eastern and southern regions of the country. These are difficult to access and have historically had very little, if any, State or Government presence in the form of public institutions, roads, schools and basic utilities. This created a breeding ground for the international illegal drug trade that fuels Colombia’s situation today.
Many people define Colombia’s problem as a "civil war." This is incorrect. The population is not divided into armed camps, each fighting for a competing political and social agendas. What exists in Colombia is a history of violence and armed conflict between guerrilla organizations, narco-traffickers and the Government. These violent actors number less than 30,000 people in a nation of 42 million.
The factors in the history of Colombia’s troubles include:
Guerrilla groups. These were born as left wing organizations during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Over the years, they have abandoned any political or social agenda. Today, they are well-organized and sophisticated criminal organizations – nothing more. They are heavily armed and well-financed through illegal drug trafficking activities and kidnapping-for-ransom. They terrorize the civilian population through violence, bombing and kidnapping. Their tactics are classic guerilla – hit and run, strike and hide. The largest guerrilla group, known as the "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia," or FARC, has 16,500 armed men and women. Another group, the ELN, has less than 5,000 members. Both are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars every year by protecting illegal coca crops and through ransom payments on kidnappings. They routinely destroy economic infrastructure, including bridges, roads, oil pipelines and power stations. They have almost no support among the civilian population. However, they represent a direct attack on Colombia’s democracy.
Illegal self-defense groups. In response to years of guerrilla and narco-trafficking violence in Colombia, another violent group emerged – illegal self-defense groups. These are commonly referred to in the international press as "paramilitary" groups. These organizations were a way for people in rural areas of Colombia – where Government resources were limited – to defend themselves from the guerrillas and drug traffickers and to protect their lives and property.
Today, these groups have become one of the major perpetrators of human rights violations against the civilian population. They attack or kill anyone they believe is sympathizing with or helping the guerrillas. They also admit they are partially funded with revenue from the drug trade. These so-called "paramilitaries" have brought about numerous massacres of civilians. They have terrorized entire towns and villages in remote areas of the country.
The drug-traffickers. In the 1980s, Colombia initiated itself in the international coca drug trade as an intermediary production and distribution center. Coca leaf was grown and brought in from neighboring Peru and Bolivia. It was processed with chemicals smuggled in from the rest of the world and then shipped as cocaine to the United States and Europe for consumption. This was the business of the Cali and Medellin cartels, the later headed by Pablo Escobar, who was captured and killed in 1993. The Colombian Government destroyed these cartels in the 1990s, at a great cost to human life. Many thousands of Colombians – from political leaders, presidential candidates, judges, journalists, to prosecutors and soldiers and policeman – lost their lives.
The nature of the drug business has changed since the fall of the large, high-profile drug cartels. They have replaced by a new generation smaller, more mobile and more international groups. In addition, as Peru and Bolivia achieved some success at eliminating illegal coca within their countries, much of the coca production shifted to Colombia’s Amazon region. This area offered remoteness and little interference from law enforcement or the Government.
Coca peasants. Fighting drugs in Colombia today means that the Government must have the resources to combat both sophisticated coca "entrepreneurs" and, at the same time, help thousands of ordinary peasants who are engaged in coca farming to move into legal crops. The Government is fighting drug trafficking not just through aerial spraying, but through a program of providing alternative development to farmers and their communities to move from coca to legal crops.
Why should Americans care about Colombia?
Illegal drugs. Colombia produces 80% of the cocaine and most of the heroin used in the United States. These drugs contribute to an estimated 52,000 deaths in the United States and more than $110 billion a year on anti-drug law enforcement, education and treatment efforts. Reducing the supply of illegal drugs at their source gives U.S. domestic law enforcement, and drug education and treatment programs a better chance of succeeding..
Colombia is not an island. Colombia’s guerilla and illegal self-defense groups, primarily funded by drug trafficking activities, are a source of potential instability for neighboring Latin America, particularly in the Andean region. This is a region where the United States has significant political, economic and security interests. It is also a region with which the United States is becoming increasing integrated in a number of areas – culture, language, the arts and commerce. The illegal drug business damages political institutions, creates human rights violations and retards social and economic development. It is an industry that knows no geographic or cultural borders.
Strong economic ties. Colombia is an important economic market and a valuable trade partner of the United States. Bilateral trade exceeded $11 billion in 2000. Colombia is a diverse economy with very developed manufacturing and agricultural sectors, a modern infrastructure and extensive natural resources, including oil, coal and minerals. Colombia and its Andean neighbors have benefited from the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA) and nearly doubled their trade with the U.S. in the last 10 years. Tens of thousands of jobs in the United States depend on this economic and trade relationship. In addition, Colombia is home to more than $4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) from the United States. More than 200 U.S. companies have a presence in Colombia, and have become partners in the country’s development. The Pastrana Administration is seeking to further expand trade and commercial ties with the United States and other world markets, to create new employment and opportunities for Colombians in today’s increasingly global economy.
Energy. Colombia is mentioned in the Bush Administration’s National Energy Report as having "become an important supplier of oil to the United States." About 80% of Colombia’s oil is exported to the United States. In fact more than 20% of all U.S. oil comes from Colombia and its Andean neighbors. But Colombia’s importance in terms of energy for the U.S. goes beyond oil. Colombia has also become the main provider of coal to the United States. Colombia produces low-sulfur coal that meets high environmental standards, and these coal exports are helping to fuel power plants across the United States. Colombia’s potential for oil, gas and coal in the future is enormous.
Human rights. The drug trade has strengthened both guerrilla and illegal self-defense groups. They extort, kidnap and kill civilians. Children are also recruited and used in combat by both groups. The armed conflict has had a huge toll in terms of human lives, including women and children. Hundreds of thousands of Colombians have had to leave their homes due to harassment and violence by the guerrillas and self-defense groups.
The environment. One seldom mentioned fact is the damage the international drug trade has had on Colombia’s environment. In the past 15 years, narco-traffickers have destroyed more than a 2.5 million acres of Colombia’s tropical forests to grow illegal coca. This is in area larger than Yellowstone National Park. Colombia’s Amazon forests have one of the highest carbon dioxide absorption rates in the world, making them a particularly invaluable resource for addressing global climate change. These forests are also threatened by the millions of gallons of toxic chemicals, which are necessary for the production of cocaine, and which are dumped into the Amazon region’s river systems by traffickers. The amount of pesticides used and precursor chemicals (in gallons) spilled into the Amazon every year is equal to three Exxon Valdez spills.
The illegal drug trade is a global problem
While much of the raw material for the drug business – such as coca leaves – originates in Colombia, nearly every other aspect of the drug business resides in the international arena. Drug trafficking is not a uniquely Colombian enterprise. It is global. The demand for drugs in rich industrialized countries is a big part of the story. But so are the precursor chemicals used by traffickers to turn coca leaves into cocaine – these smuggled into Colombia from around the world, including from the United States, Europe and China. The arms and weapons used by drug traffickers for their criminal activities are also smuggled into Colombia from around the world. The huge profits earned by drug traffickers are "laundered" and invested in financial institutions around the globe, and are used to purchase the arms and weapons used by both traffickers and guerrilla organizations.
Colombia has proved to be a dedicated, committed partner in the fight against illegal drugs. This has resulted in an enormous cost both in terms of human lives and government spending. Colombia spends over $1 billion a year in anti-trafficking activities – a huge amount in a poor country that could otherwise use these resources to improve health care, education and housing for its people. Despite the fact that the drug industry is a global business, no other country in the world spends as much per capita as does Colombia combating drugs.
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