Paramilitary groups also have clear ties to important narcotics traffickers and obtain much of their funding from them. Like his FARC counterparts, paramilitary leader Carlos Castano has publicly admitted taxing the drug trade. The strength of Colombia's armed insurgent groups has limited the effectiveness of joint U.S.-Colombian counternarcotics efforts. In order for our counternarcotics programs ultimately to be successful, we cannot allow certain areas of the country, like the Putumayo region, to be off-limits for counternarcotics operations. There is also a need to re-establish government order in Colombia for human rights purposes.
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. In doing this, we cannot ignore the rest of the region. For example, Bolivian and Peruvian successes against the trafficking trade are unprecedented. With U.S. assistance, both countries have been able to reduce coca production dramatically.