US-Colombia international relations: the case of Plan Colombia

Abstract

In the second half of the 20th century, the Colombian state was concerned with containing the guerrilla insurgency, promoting internal peace and restructuring its power. The weakening of the state, maximized by drug trafficking led by guerrilla and paramilitary groups, sparked discussions about the establishment of a security plan involving the United States and Colombia, entitled Plan Colombia in 1999. Bill Clinton's US policy, inserted in a conjuncture of war on illicit activities, aimed at interrupting the institutionalization of violence in the Colombian State, as well as containing the impacts of drug sales in adjacent territories. The majority of investments came from the US government, which would remain maximized due to the episodes of 2001 – when the “war on terrorism” converted the plan into a fight against narcoterrorism. This article aims to analyze Plan Colombia in the dynamics of International Relations between the US and Latin America.