For decades, Colombia was one of Latin America’s more stable democracies and successful economies. However, by the late 1990s it had entered a period of sustained crisis due to the emerging strength of the FARC, the Army of National Liberation (ELN), and paramilitary groups (primarily, the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia or AUC) who were increasingly financing their activities through profits from illicit narcotics. These groups were assuming increasing control of the coca and opium poppy growing areas of the country through wide scale violence and human rights abuses, which affected to varying degrees each of Colombia’s 32 departments (see fig. 1). Colombia suffered a severe economic downturn in the late 1990s as its armed forces and police were unable to respond to the growing strength of these illegal armed groups, and levels of murder, kidnapping, extortion, economic sabotage, and illicit drug trafficking spiraled upward. According to State, in the 7 years prior to Plan Colombia, coca cultivation had increased by over 300 percent and opium poppy cultivation had increased by 75 percent. Despite U.S. and Colombian efforts to counter the drug-trafficking activities of these illegal armed groups, State reports that Colombia remains the source for about 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States, and the primary source of heroin east of the Mississippi River. According to State officials, FARC and other illegal groups remain active in areas where coca and opium poppy are grown and are involved in every facet of the narcotics business from cultivation to transporting drugs to points outside Colombia. Announced by Colombian President Andres Pastrana in 1999, Plan Colombia was designed to counter the country’s drug and security crisis through a comprehensive 6-year, $7.5 billion plan linked to three objectives: (1) reduce the flow of illicit narcotics and improve security, (2) promote social and economic justice, and (3) promote the rule of law. While the latter two objectives were not specifically designed to reduce the flow of illicit narcotics and improve security, they broadly facilitate these goals by addressing some of the underlying social and economic realities that drive individuals toward the illicit drug trade and by providing a legal framework for bringing drug traffickers and terrorists to justice. As shown in figure 2, State and Defense assistance for the Colombian military and National Police has supported a counternarcotics strategy focused on reducing illicit narcotics and improving security. Central to this support have been State-led efforts to provide the Colombians with air mobility, which supports the full range of military programs and many nonmilitary programs by providing access and security in remote areas. Nonmilitary assistance efforts are implemented by USAID, Justice, and, State, which oversee a diverse range of social, economic, and justice initiatives. In January 2007, the government of Colombia announced a 6-year follow- on strategy, the PCCP. This new strategy includes the same three broad objectives as Plan Colombia. The government of Colombia has pledged to provide approximately $44 billion for PCCP. The strategy notes that a certain level of support from the international community is still essential. At the time, the United States developed a proposed funding plan of approximately $4 billion in U.S. support for PCCP for fiscal years 2007 through 2013. The government of Colombia significantly expanded the security component of Plan Colombia with its Democratic Security and Defense Policy in June 2003, which outlined a “clear, hold, and consolidate” strategy. The strategy’s main objective was to assert state control over the majority of Colombia’s national territory, particularly in areas affected by the activities of illegal armed groups and drug traffickers. Colombian officials said this new strategy will take years to fully implement. (See fig. 3.) Expanded authority approved by the U.S. Congress at about the same time allowed agencies to support this security strategy. The government of Colombia has taken a number of steps to implement this strategy, including: Increasing the size of its military and police from 279,000 in 2000 to 415,000 in 2007. Conducting a series of offensive actions against FARC under a military strategy called Plan Patriota, which began in June 2003 with efforts to clear FARC from areas surrounding Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. In mid- 2004, the military implemented a second, more ambitious phase of Plan Patriota aimed at attacking key FARC fronts encompassing the southern Colombian departments of Caquetá, Guaviare, and Meta. Based in Larandia, Joint Task Force-Omega was established in 2004 to coordinate the efforts of the Colombian Army, Air Force, and Marines in this area. Creating the Coordination Center for Integrated Government Action (CCAI) in 2004 to coordinate the delivery of military and civilian assistance in 58 targeted municipalities emerging from conflict in 11 regions throughout Colombia. An updated version of the Colombian defense strategy was released in coordination with the PCCP strategy in January 2007. Incorporating lessons learned from the 2003 strategy, this latest strategy focuses on clearing one region at a time and places a greater emphasis on consolidating military gains through coordinated civil-military assistance designed to solidify the government’s presence in previously conflictive areas by providing a range of government services to local populations. To implement this strategy, the government of Colombia has taken several actions, including focusing Joint Task Force-Omega’s efforts in La Macarena—a traditional FARC stronghold—through a new military offensive called Plan Consolidacíon. The government also developed a coordinated military and civilian plan of action called the Consolidation Plan for La Macarena, which has been in place since October 2007. As part of this plan, CCAI established a joint civil-military fusion center to coordinate military, police, economic development, and judicial activities. If successful, the approach in La Macarena is intended to serve as a model for similar CCAI efforts in 10 other regions of the country. It represents a key test of the government’s enhanced state presence strategy and a potential indicator of the long-term prospects for reducing Colombia’s drug trade by systematically re-establishing government control throughout the country. Between fiscal years 2000 and 2008, the United States has provided over $6 billion in military and nonmilitary assistance to Colombia. (See table 1.) Most State assistance for Colombia is overseen by its Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (State/INL), though the Bureau for Political and Military Affairs is responsible for FMF and IMET funds. State/INL’s Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) in the U.S. Embassy Bogotá oversees daily program operations. State’s Office of Aviation supports the NAS with advisors and contract personnel who are involved with the implementation of U.S. assistance provided to the Colombian Army’s Plan Colombia Helicopter Program (PCHP) and the National Police’s Aerial Eradication Program. The Military Group in the U.S. Embassy Bogotá manages both Defense counternarcotics support and State FMF and IMET funding. USAID and Justice have full-time staff based in Bogotá to oversee and manage their nonmilitary assistance programs. U.S. agencies are supported in their efforts by an extensive U.S.-funded contract workforce, which provides a range of services from aviation program support to alternative development project implementation. From the outset of Plan Colombia, Congress has stated that U.S. assistance efforts should be nationalized over time and has followed through with a number of specific reporting requirements and budget decisions to help ensure this objective is achieved. Beginning in 2004, Congress signaled that U.S. program administrators should begin the process of drawing down support for U.S. financed aviation programs in Colombia, which it noted accounted for a significant portion of U.S. assistance to Colombia. In 2005, House appropriators requested that the administration develop a multiyear strategy defining U.S. program and nationalization plans going forward under the PCCP. The administration responded in March 2006 with a report to Congress that outlined program achievements under Plan Colombia and a broad outline of planned nationalization efforts beginning with U.S. financed aviation programs. Follow-on reports issued in April 2007 and April 2008 further refined the administration’s plans by providing a proposed funding plan illustrating how U.S. assistance efforts would be reduced from 2007 through 2013 as the Colombians assume greater responsibility for programs funded and managed by the United States. Plan Colombia’s goal of reducing the cultivation, processing, and distribution of illegal narcotics by targeting coca cultivation was not achieved. Although estimated opium poppy cultivation and heroin production were reduced by about 50 percent, coca cultivation and cocaine production increased, though data from 2007 indicate that cocaine production slightly declined. Colombia’s security climate has improved as a result of progress in a number of areas, but U.S. and Colombian officials cautioned that current programs must be maintained for several years before security gains can be considered irreversible. From 2000 to 2006, estimated opium poppy cultivation and heroin production declined about 50 percent, but coca cultivation and cocaine production increased over the period. To put Colombia’s 6-year drug reduction goal in perspective, we note that although U.S. funding for Plan Colombia was approved in July 2000, many U.S.-supported programs to increase the Colombian military and police capacity to eradicate drug crops and disrupt the production and distribution of heroin and cocaine did not become operational until 2001 and later. Meanwhile, estimated illicit drug cultivation and production in Colombia continued to rise through 2001, with estimated cultivation and production declining in 2002 through 2004. However, the declines for coca cultivation and cocaine production were not sustained. In addition, the estimated flow of cocaine towards the United States from South America rose over the period. As illustrated in figure 4, estimated opium poppy cultivation and heroin production levels in 2006 were about half of what they had been in 2000.