Colombia during World War II The history of Colombia during World War II begins in 1939 . Although geographically distant from the main theaters of war , Colombia played an important role in World War II because of its strategic location near the Panama Canal , and its access to both the $ 3 and Pacific Oceans . Colombia also experienced major changes to its military and society , due to an increased influence from the United States , but it was also able to maintain its sovereignty throughout the war , and avoid sending troops into battle . Colombia ceased diplomatic relations with the Axis powers in December 1941 , following the Japan ese attack on Pearl Harbor , and finally entered the war on the Allies ' side on November 26 , 1943 , after a series of German U - boat attacks on Colombian ships . Despite the declaration , Colombia did not send an army overseas , but its navy was active in countering U - boat operations in the Caribbean . History . Economics . The economic dislocation created by World War II impacted Colombia significantly . Firstly , Colombia was cut off from European and Asian markets , leaving the United States as its primary market for exports . Secondly , Colombia ' s imports were also dramatically affected , and again the United States was the sole source of many goods , such as rayon yarn , steel , machinery , graphite , and lead . One of the primary concerns was the price of coffee , Colombia ' s largest export and the main source of its foreign exchange . The American Office of Price Administration ( OPA ) attempted to have the maximum price of coffee freezed at the level existing on December 8 , 1941 , the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor . However , Colombia objected on the basis that the cost of producing and transporting coffee had increased due to wartime conditions , and , if the price was not adjusted to factor in these conditions , the economy would decline . The OPA relented , and agreed to raise prices immediately and to adjust them in the future based on increased production and transportation costs . Colombia ' s source of platinum was another important issue . Colombia was the only source of platinum for the German and Japanese war industries , and the United States moved quickly to buy out the entire supply through the Metals Reserve Company , which was an agency of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation . Since the United States also needed additional supplies of platinum for its war effort , it assisted Colombia with technical advice on increasing production through the Foreign Economic Administration . Because platinum was so valuable , even in small amounts , and Axis agents were willing to pay premium prices , smuggling became a problem . Accordingly , Colombia attempted to control the export of platinum by requiring all producers to sell their product to the Central Bank only . However , producers in remote areas were able to circumvent government control by selling their product on the black market in Argentina . The smuggling of platinum out of Colombia remained a problem for most of the war , but it was reduced to a " trickle " by late 1944 . Immigrants from Axis countries . At the beginning of the war , Colombia was home to a German colony - estimated by the United States government in December 1941 to consist of about 4 , 000 people - and a small village of Japanese farmers in Cauca . The Americans were concerned about the possibility of a " fifth column " of subversives forming in Colombia and carrying out sabotage and the like against the nearby Panama Canal Zone . However , this view , in most instances , was not shared by the Colombian government . To be sure , there were some Axis agitators , such as the businessman Emil Prufert in Barranquilla , but the Colombian government was not convinced that all immigrants from Axis countries were enemy agents . Even though the Colombian government was mostly in doubt about the presence of enemy agents operating in their country , the United States through Lend - Lease was providing the former with economic assistance to counter enemy agent activity , and constantly had to remind the Colombian government that the aid would be cut off if it did not acknowledge the threat . The benefits of American economic assistance , and threats to cut it off , were irresistible , however , and as result , Colombia monitored , interned , or deported hundreds of people from Germany , Japan , and Italy , during the war . One example of American pressure to " crack down " on immigrants from Axis countries was the SCADTA case . SCADTA was founded in 1919 by German expatriates , and by World War II was an important part of the transportation network of Colombia . In 1931 , after the American - owned Pan American World Airways acquired a controlling interest in SCADTA , it was discovered that many of the airline ' s pilots , technicians , and key administrators were German or Austrian , even though most had lived in Colombia for several years . Some of the pilots had even retained reserve commissions in the Luftwaffe . The United States was afraid that the SCADTA pilots were engaged in espionage , and could be plotting to convert civilian aircraft into bomber s , in order to attack the Panama Canal . The Colombian government was not concerned about SCADTA , though , and did not question the loyalty of the German pilots . However , in order to comply with the United States , Colombia passed laws requiring airlines to hire more Colombian citizens , and for 51 % of the stock of these companies to be Colombian - held . Restrictions were also placed on German pilots on how they could be utilized by an airline . For example , at least one pilot on every plane had to be Colombian , and positioning devices were placed on all of SCADTA ' s planes so that the government could monitor their location . The Military Forces of Colombia . In 1939 , the average numerical strength of the Colombian Army stood at 16 , 000 men . It was made up of six mixed brigade s , with each mixed brigade consisting of three battalion s , one cavalry group of three squadron s , one artillery group of three batteries , one engineer battalion , and two service battalions . The army ' s air force component consisted of one service squadron and one training squadron of fifteen aircraft . The police numbered 5 , 053 officers , and by 1944 the number had increased to 5 , 500 . Colombia nominally had a compulsory military service but it was never fully enforced . Active service lasted for a period of one year . In 1939 , the Colombian Navy had a total of approximately 1 , 850 personnel , including naval infantry . It possessed two modern destroyer s , both of which had been purchased in Portugal , four river gunboat s , one seagoing gunboat , three coastguard patrol vessels , and several customs service motor launches . In the 1930s , the Colombian Air Force was only in initial stages of development ; in 1935 the very first flight was created , but it was only during World War II that shipments of aircraft from the United States allowed for a more significant development of the air force , eventually transforming it into a separate branch of the armed forces . Three air force groups were formed in 1943 . Close cooperation between the United States military and the Military Forces of Colombia began during World War II . Prior to the beginning of the war in 1939 , Switzerland and the United Kingdom provided Colombia with military aviation and naval support . However , the Swiss aviation equipment was expensive and obsolete by 1939 , and the Colombian government recognized the possibility that the British would most likely not be able to continue their naval assistance due to their own defense needs . Conveniently , American naval and military aviation missions arrived in Colombia in January 1939 . The United States and Colombia also began a series of consultations on the defense of the Panama Canal . After the Fall of France in 1940 , the need for cooperation became more urgent . In September , the two countries began to work out agreements for a military alliance . Colombia agreed to prevent any attack on the Panama Canal or the United States from its territory , and if Colombia came under attack by a non - American power , the United States would respond accordingly , but only if requested by the Colombian government . If the United States supported another American republic in time of war , as result of an inter - American agreement , Colombia would allow the United States use of its military facilities . Other points of the agreement included the exchange of technical advisers , cooperation on coastal patrols , and the aerial photographing of strategic areas within Colombia . On the issue of aerial photography , Colombia made it clear that it would only be accomplished by Colombian aircraft and American cameramen . Colombia also made it clear that , although it was fully supportive of the fight against the Axis , it would do everything possible to limit the amount of American military activity taking place on or from its territory . The Colombians did not invite the United States to build its own military bases within their country , as Equador and other South American countries did . They felt that the defense of Colombia should be carried out by Colombians , and the United States did not object . As result of the alliance , Colombia was able to modernize both its military and society at large . In addition to the naval and aviation missions established in the early years of the war , Colombia later participated in the Lend - Lease program . On March 17 , 1942 , Colombia and the United States signed an agreement that granted the former $ 16 . 5 million in military assistance . The terms of the agreement were most favorable , because Colombia was able to purchase military equipment at half the regular cost , and also did not have to pay interest on its purchases . Other favorable loans and grants soon followed . For example , the Export - Import Bank provided $ 20 million for highway construction , $ 10 . 3 million for agricultural programs , and another $ 3 . 5 million to build a hydroelectric plant . It also issued a loan for low - cost housing construction . In addition , American private investment soared to more that $ 200 million by 1943 . German U - boats sank at least four Colombian ships during World War II , all of which were small sailing vessels . The first victim was the SS " Resolute " , a 35 - ton schooner with a crew of ten men . On June 23 , 1942 , the " Resolute " was stopped near Saint Andrews and Old Providence by 2 - cm gunfire from the U - 172 . Shortly thereafter , the Colombians abandoned ship , and the Germans boarded to sink the little schooner with hand grenade s . Six of the Colombians were killed as result , and the four survivors claimed that the Germans shot at them with machine gun s before sailing away . The Battle of the Caribbean . The SS " Roamar " was the next to be sunk . A 110 - ton schooner , the " Roamar " belonged to a Colombian diplomat , and her sinking off Saint Andrews by U - 505 on July 21 , 1942 , gave Colombia the political grounds to declare war on Germany . The Germans knew that Colombia was still neutral at this time , so they opted to sink the " Roamar " quickly , before anybody could find out . Accordingly , the Germans fired only two shots before the ship was reduced to " nothing but splintered debris . " U - 505 ' s engineer , Hans Goebeler , said the following about the incident : " We couldn ' t leave the evidence [ of attacking a neutral ship ] floating around , so we sank her with the deck gun . " This was not the last ship sunk by the Germans during Colombia ' s neutrality period . On the very next day , the U - 505 sank the 153 - ton " Urious " in the same area , killing thirteen of the Colombian sailors on board . Another Colombian ship sunk by the Germans was the SS " Ruby " , a 39 - ton schooner with a complement of eleven men . On the morning of November 18 , 1943 , " Ruby " was north of Colón and on course between Saint Andrews and Cartagena , when she was fired on by the deck gun of U - 516 . Thirty rounds later , the " Ruby " was sinking , and four men had been killed . Colombia ' s only notable engagement with Axis forces during the war was a brief incident in the Caribbean Sea between the destroyer ARC " Caldas " and the U - 154 . On the night of March 29 , 1944 , at 8 : 25 PM , a lookout aboard the " Caldas " sighted a periscope off the portside . After closing the distance , in the darkness the Colombians found the U - 154 sailing on the surface . The Germans were completely surprised by the sudden appearance of the enemy destroyer , so they were unable to get their deck gun into action in time , and instead had to dive to prevent being hit by Colombian gunfire . According to the Colombian Navy ' s report of the incident , the men aboard " Caldas " struck the U - boat twice with 105 - mm gunfire before it dived , and then finished it off with depth charge s . An oil slick and some wreckage were spotted , and it seemed to confirm the sinking . Overall , the engagement lasted no longer than three minutes , and afterward the " Caldas " sailed back to port , without looking for survivors . When the " Caldas " arrived back at port at 3 : 30 AM the next morning , news of the " victory " had already spread . However , the U - 154 escaped without damage . Using spare oil and some damaged torpedo tubes , the Germans were able to fake the oil slick and wreckage the Colombians saw the night before , and slip away unscathed . Newspapers were quick to produce inaccurate reports of the engagement . An article in " TIME " , for example , claimed that the sunken submarine was not German , but in fact an American vessel . Others spread news of how the " Caldas " avenged those who had died aboard the sunken schooners . Ultimately , U - 154 met her end off Madeira , on July 3 , 1944 , when she was sunk with all hands lost by the American destroyer escort s USS " Inch " and USS " Frost " . The Pasto Coup . In the early 1940s , politically motivated violence was again on the rise in Colombia , and was described as " intense " in the country ' s eastern plains region . Although the Liberal Party ( PL ) , under the leadership of President Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo , retained control of the government until 1946 , the party and , in particular , its rural supporters had become the targets for increasingly violent attacks by adherents of the Conservative Party ( PC ) . Much of the violence was motivated by the perceived threat posed to the minority PC and the vested interests of its members by the PL ' s reformist agenda . The situation came to a head in July 1944 when a group of disgruntled officers stationed in the southern Colombian town of Pasto , near the Ecuadoran border , attempted to end Pumarejo ' s presidency . Pumarejo , who had gone to the area to observe army exercises , was briefly held hostage , as were several cabinet ministers who had accompanied him . After the military leadership in the capital refused to support the rebels , the leader of the failed coup - Pasto garrison commander Colonel Diogenes Gil - was arrested , and the president and his ministers were freed . Although the military continued to respect its constitutional mandate to support the government , the incident suggested that the long - standing constraints against political involvement by the military were being broken down by the deteriorating national situation . Moreover , as one Colombian scholar noted in 1955 , at the time of the coup the army was beginning to be perceived by Colombians as the only national force that could " shield the nation from anarchy and blood - letting . " Even though the coup had failed , the Conservatives eventually gained control of the Colombian government in 1946 , leading to a decade of civil war known as The Violence .