Supply Reduction in the Andes
The U.S. has a staunch ally in Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in our Global War on Terrorism. President Uribe understands that drug money finances the most powerful terrorist organizations in his country. He has courageously led a broad attack against every vulnerable node in the illegal drug production and trafficking business: elimination of terrorist-controlled safehavens for cultivation and production; massive aerial coca fumigation; arrest and incarceration of major traffickers; interdiction at clandestine lab-sites on the rivers, roads, and in coastal waters; seizure and confiscation of drug assets; investigation and arrest of money launderers; and extradition of fugitives. As we approach the conclusion of the six-year time frame originally envisioned for Plan Colombia, many of the necessary elements to destroy the capacity of major drug traffickers to deliver multi-ton loads of cocaine to the United States, are in place. Coca plant eradication is proceeding vigorously and concurrently opium poppy eradication in Colombia and Mexico has destroyed the greater part of the potential crop. Interdiction at sea is removing hundreds of tons of cocaine from the market and hurting traffickers financially as they are forced to write-off multi-million dollar investments in cocaine.
At the core of our accomplishments, we have helped Colombia reverse the growth of terrorist organizations and put the country on course to end decades of rural banditry, intimidation, and shocking cruelty perpetrated by the FARC, AUC, and ELN. That central accomplishment is closely linked with our success in disrupting drug production and trafficking that for more than a decade has generated most of the money necessary to underwrite the terrorist organizations. We are uprooting narco-terrorist organizations from their former safehavens, causing them to switch to defensive tactics and a strategy of attempting to survive militarily while focusing their energies on seeking to undercut the government's political will. The integrated U.S. military, police, counterdrug, USAID, and intelligence support to Colombia has been crucial in achieving these results.
There exists an opportunity to institutionalize a reduction in the capacity in our hemisphere for large international criminal and terrorist organizations to manufacture and transport multi-ton quantities of cocaine to wholesale distributors in the United States. To accomplish this, we need to support programs that have been successful to realize the impact of our efforts throughout the drug production and distribution system. Key programs in the region have been the implementation of the Uribe extradition policy, aerial coca eradication in Colombia and intelligence-driven maritime interdiction in the transit zone.
Last Updated: May 12, 2005
