These left-wing guerrillas control almost 40 percent of Colombia's territory, and their violence has reached the outskirts of Bogota. The drug-fueled violence has taken its toll, claiming more than 35,000 lives in the past decade. And Colombia is now home to one-third of all acts of terrorism worldwide, with 2,663 kidnappings in 1999 alone. The future of Latin America's oldest democracy is at stake. The conflict is spreading.
Colombian guerrillas move freely across the border into Panama, a country with no standing army.
Just recently, rebels overran a Colombian military base 15 miles from the Panamanian border, killing more than 40 Colombian law enforcement officials and soldiers. Such brazenness heightens the fear that Panama will not be able to defend itself or the canal. Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador all have moved troops to their borders with Colombia because of increased incursions into their nations by Colombia's guerrillas. Colombia supplies 80 percent of the cocaine and 60 percent of the heroin consumed in the United States. That's why the situation demands our immediate attention.