The five countries in the Andean region—Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela—represent primary sources of or transit routes for cocaine entering the United States.  Bolivia. Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of cocaine as well as a transit zone for cocaine products from Peru, primarily to neighboring countries in South America and to Europe. Although cocaine production is illegal in Bolivia, coca farming is permitted in some parts of the country.  Colombia. Colombia, within 3 hours flying time from Florida, produces 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States and much of the heroin in the eastern United States. Several terrorist organizations in Colombia, which commit wide-scale violence and human rights abuses, engage in drug trafficking as a source of income.  Ecuador. Ecuador is a major transit route for cocaine produced primarily in neighboring Colombia and Peru. Since it uses the U.S. dollar as its currency, Ecuador is also an attractive venue for money laundering by individuals and organizations engaged in criminal activities.  Peru. Peru is the world’s second largest producer of cocaine. Drug trafficking also generates a significant amount of money laundering in Peru.  Venezuela. Venezuela is one of the major drug transit countries in the Western Hemisphere. Cocaine produced in Colombia is trafficked through Venezuela; transported to locations in the Caribbean, Mexico, or Central America; and then subsequently brought to the United States and other locations. The map in figure 1 shows the locations of the five Andean countries. Several U.S. departments and agencies are involved in planning and executing counternarcotics assistance in the Andean countries.  State. State manages and funds eradication, interdiction, and law enforcement assistance, including programs implemented by a variety of other U.S. agencies. State also funds security assistance programs generally implemented by DOD, including Foreign Military Financing and International Military Education and Training programs, which are intended to strengthen the overall capacity of foreign forces to address security threats such as the narcotics trade. In addition to these activities, State provides limited funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement counternarcotics assistance in the Andean region. DHS components that implement this assistance include Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). State also provides funding for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) International Criminal Investigative Training and Assistance Program (ICITAP), which supports prosecution of members of paramilitary groups in Colombia.  USAID. USAID supports the U.S. counternarcotics effort through its rule-of-law and alternative development programs in several of the Andean countries.  DOD. DOD, primarily through its Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats (DASD-CN>), provides oversight and funds for counternarcotics activities in the Andean region.  DEA. DEA works, primarily through its Sensitive Investigative Unit (SIU) program, to dismantle and disrupt drug trafficking organizations that are active in the Andean region. DEA maintains SIU programs in three of the five Andean countries. For more information about each agency’s counternarcotics assistance in the Andean countries, see appendixes II and III. ONDCP produces the National Drug Control Strategy, which outlines the administration’s initiatives to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. ONDCP is also responsible for evaluating, coordinating, and overseeing U.S. agencies’ counternarcotics activities. In December 2006, Congress directed ONDCP to produce an annual report describing the national drug control performance measurement system and identifying the efforts of agencies carrying out activities under the National Drug Control Program. In May 2007, ONDCP issued guidance requiring these agencies to submit annual performance summary reports to the ONDCP Director. According to the guidance, these reports must describe, among other things, performance measures used by the agency to assess its counternarcotics activities; the prior year’s performance targets and results; current fiscal year performance targets and methodology used to establish those targets; and procedures used to ensure that performance data are accurate, complete, and unbiased. Prior to submitting these reports to ONDCP, agencies must provide the reports to their Inspector General (IG) for attestation to the reliability of each assertion made in the report. As part of its counternarcotics efforts in the Western Hemisphere, the United States has launched several regional initiatives outside the Andean region—the Mérida Initiative, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), and the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI)—to combat rising drug-related crime in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. See appendix IV for additional information about these regional initiatives. Although no single comprehensive U.S. counternarcotics strategy exists for the Andean region, mission strategic resource plans (MSRPs) for each of the countries in the region delineate the strategic approaches guiding U.S. counternarcotics assistance. According to State officials, the MSRPs incorporate high-level guidance from ONDCP’s annual National Drug Control Strategy, which also includes specific policy guidance for the Western Hemisphere. This strategy presents a broad framework for reducing illicit drug use and its harmful effects on the United States. Included in the strategy is a chapter on international partnerships focused on reducing the supply of illicit drugs in the United States via U.S. cooperative efforts, such as those with Colombia and Peru, the CBSI countries, and the CARSI countries, and initiatives to combat trafficking through transit countries such as Ecuador. The MSRPs for the Andean countries, developed by interagency teams at U.S. embassies in consultation with host country governments, summarize conditions in each country, specify U.S. foreign assistance goals, and describe in general terms the assistance planned to further those goals. Following are highlights of the strategic approaches described in MSRPs developed for each of the Andean countries in fiscal years 2007 through 2011. The MSRPs for Bolivia address counternarcotics assistance as one of the U.S. mission’s highest priorities. The MSRPs generally focus on developing the government of Bolivia’s capacity to interdict cocaine and precursor chemicals, supporting multilateral cooperation, assisting the government of Bolivia with demand reduction policies, and supporting alternative development programs. Similarly, as part of U.S. public diplomacy efforts to support understanding of U.S. policies, the MSRPs call for U.S. support of drug-awareness programs to communicate the damage done to Bolivian society caused by excess coca production, drug trafficking and consumption, and the benefits of alternative development. The MSRPs reflect a difficult bilateral relationship between the United States and Bolivia, which has adversely affected counternarcotics operations in that country. Bilateral ties were greatly strained in 2008, when coca growers expelled USAID from the Chapare region in June, followed by the Bolivian president’s declaring the U.S. Ambassador persona non grata in September and expelling DEA in November of that year. Although U.S. counternarcotics assistance in Bolivia has continued, State officials report that resources for interdiction have declined in the years since DEA’s departure. The MSRPs for Colombia characterize counternarcotics efforts as the cornerstone of the U.S. bilateral relationship with that country. The U.S. counternarcotics strategy in Colombia has focused on aerial eradication, alternative development, interdiction, counterterrorism, and demobilization of combatants. The MSRPs report a successful partnership with Colombia over a number of years, with Colombian authorities increasingly assuming responsibility for funding and sustaining counternarcotics programs. The MSRPs also note that Colombia has emerged as a provider of counternarcotics assistance to other countries in the region. Beginning in 2009, the MSRPs reflect the launch of the Colombian Strategic Development Initiative (CSDI). CSDI supports the government of Colombia’s National Territorial Consolidation Plan that aims to expand state presence in four priority geographic zones previously dominated by illegal armed groups. Many municipalities in the target areas suffer from weak local institutions, lack of civilian authority, limited police capabilities, and an ineffective or absent justice system, which undermine the rule of law and perpetuate a vicious cycle of drug trafficking and violence. CSDI supports the government of Colombia’s efforts by providing economic opportunities once security and basic public services are established. Through CSDI, the U.S. strategy intends to support the transfer of security responsibilities from the Colombian military to the police. The U.S. strategy also seeks to sharply curtail illicit crop cultivation and cocaine production in priority conflict zones, thereby removing a vital source of funding for illegal armed groups. The MSRPs for Ecuador describe a strategic approach that, owing to Ecuador’s role as a transit country for illicit drugs, has focused on improving security along the northern border with Colombia and other key transport choke points. The MSRPs generally reflect U.S. support in the form of technical and advisory assistance, as well as equipment and training for the Ecuadorian military and police forces to improve detection and interdiction of drug trafficking. The MSRPs also note efforts to provide licit employment opportunities for populations in regions vulnerable to penetration by drug traffickers, as well as advocacy of tougher penalties for money laundering.