As a result, these groups are well funded and well armed. In order for our counternarcotics programs ultimately to be successful, we cannot allow certain areas of the country, like Putumayo, to be off-limits for counternarcotics operations. There is a need to re-establish government order in Colombia for human rights purposes. According to the Colombian NGO Pais Libre, guerrilla, paramilitary, and other criminal groups kidnapped 2,945 people last year, including 51 foreigners. This is a 33 percent increase from 1998, with the two busiest groups, the FARC and the ELN, combining for half of the abductions.
Kidnapping is neither an insurgent nor a political statement.
It is a crime. Colombia must disrupt the narco-financing of these groups, regardless of any political orientation they may claim, if any comprehensive solution to Colombia's problems is going to succeed. The Government of Colombia has risen to this challenge and is confronting these threats. The strategy combines existing Colombian policies with ambitious new initiatives in forging an integrated approach to that nation's most pressing challenges by strengthening government institutions, promoting economic recovery, carrying out social reform and boosting counternarcotic efforts. The United States did consult with the Colombian leadership throughout the plan's development.