During the last ten years in Colombia, five guerrilla groups have been disbanded following a series of discussions and negotiations with the government. More recently, President Andres Pastrana has initiated a new peace process with the two major guerrilla groups now operating in the country. This has met with much success. During the last five years, over twenty-five thousand land mines have been located and destroyed and the Central American countries have pledged to try to rid their countries of this scourge by the next few years. But the threats to peace and democracy remain.
Drug traffickers wreak havoc on the political and economic development of our countries.
Corruption threatens to undermine the legitimacy of governments. Common criminality and an urban arms race in our streets threaten security. The member states are making public commitment to stave off these pernicious threats to democracy. In 1995, in Buenos Aires, the Ministers of Interior passed a declaration that called for the criminalization and measures to prevent money laundering. In march 1996, the member states ratified a convention on corruption that defined the nature of corruption, called for a standard of conduct for public officials and advocated the prohibition of bribes.