Our Hemisphere's Most Serious Humanitarian Crisis Media coverage of Colombia and the U.S. government's interests in that country are focused almost exclusively on the war against drugs.
Little attention is given to Colombia's growing multitude of internally displaced persons.
The tragedy of the internally displaced in Colombia is unique within our hemisphere. Current estimates place the number of people displaced since 1985 at a million and a half-a figure exceeding that of those uprooted by the conflict in Kosovo. Over 308,000 Colombians were forced to leave their homes in 1998 under threat of massacres and other forms of direct violence related to the civil conflict. Large-scale efforts to eradicate drugs have also forced Colombian families to leave their lands. Preliminary figures for 1999 indicate that the rate of displacement continues apace.