The Colombia Plan: Both Sides of the Issue

Plan Colombia - Both sides of the issue.

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The Colombia Plan: Both sides of the issue.

Colombia Plan, Also called Plan for Peace and the Strengthening of the State or Colombia Plan for peace, is a bilateral agreement made between the governments of Colombia and the United States. It was conceived in 1999 during the government of Colombian President Andres Pastrana Arango and the American Bill Clinton with the specific objectives of creating a social and economic revitalization, end the armed conflict in Colombia and create an anti-drug strategy.

President Pastrana traveled to the United States and presented the plan for four years as president and renamed his project of "Plan Colombia". Good image to the government of the United States, led to extensive collaboration between the two countries after friction with the previous administration of Ernesto Samper in the 8000 process. The political platform of President Pastrana became largely to the creation and activation of the peace process with the FARC and the ELN and counternarcotics.

The exchange in the military field between Colombia and the United States increased thereafter from the exclusive cooperation that was given to the National Police of Colombia to the components of the Military Forces of Colombia. In December 1999, the United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Minister of Defense of Colombia, Rodrigo Lloreda, signed an agreement to increase military cooperation between the two countries.

(Plan colombia: cashing in on the drug war failure 2003)

Although Colombia has sought additional support from the European Union and other countries, with the intention of financing the social component of the original plan, initially found little cooperation from potential donors of aid because they have little intention of investing money initiatives they regard as uncertain, and further considers that the military aid that the United States has provided is unduly biased. Some countries have sent aid of a few hundred million dollars (approximately $ 128.6 million, 2.3% of the total) but most avoid being publicly associated with Plan Colombia, thereby collecting the amounts were much lower than which he had originally proposed.

But there have been many points of view about the cocaine issue in Colombia and it’s important to understand why is it so difficult to create conscience of stopping the agriculture of coca or opium poppies around the country.

As the US government presents it, The Plan Colombia is an integral strategy to try to reduce production of cocaine and trafficking from colombia and give growers a genuine (small) economic alternative.

''if you continue to grow coca or opium poppy you risk to go to jail but if you make a pact with col gov. and principal implementing PLANTE we can give you support assistance to live a decent life and maintain your family.’’ william brownfield (us state department)

-”2M pesos(950 $) are not enough for a 5-7 members family for a year.” (colombian farmer and agricultor)

But the price that cartels offer for the coca paste is more than satisfactory for most families in this regions where if agricultors change their production, they should transport their own products to where it has to be sold with transports which they don’t have through roads which never existed and inefficient boats. and all this plus the competition against global agrobusiness competency.

In the 2000s the US government starts using aerial fumigation which resulted with an increase of 11% in the next months in the coca productions.

“is just a way to feel like you are doing something. To keep clear conscience.” said ingrid Betancourt. The green party presidential candidate once kidnaped by FARC. “The center of gravity of the problem are the traffickers not the agricultors. The true problem is not being attacked.

The governments are in a pact but really the people of colombia is not with the USA. They have the same right to fumigate coca plants as the world to fumigate tobacco plantations in the USA which is a drug that kills more than 25 times the people that any other drug does. (noam chomsky - historian philosopher.)

Dr. Theo Clobber, wff representing affirms chloride

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