Colombia Policy Briefs was created in response to the need for comprehensive information on Colombia and related US policy issues.  Given the wide range of viewpoints available on Colombia, this site provides interested parties with a mechanism for collecting information and for analyzing opposing viewpoints.
En Espaņol

Week of June:  The Senate will debate an emergency spending bill for global counter-terrorism efforts this week, following the House passage of the bill before Memorial Day.  Both versions of the bill contain a section on Colombia which expands the US mission there from counter-drug efforts and allows US military aid and equipment to be used against Colombia’s armed groups.  An amendment offered on the House floor by Reps. McGovern (D-MA) and Skelton (D-MO) would have taken out the language expanding the mission. 

The amendment failed by a vote of 192-225, despite strongly voiced concerns over links between the Colombian military and illegal paramilitary groups, worries that the US will be pulled into a military quagmire, and questions regarding the newly elected President of Colombia, who has proposed to arm 1 million civilians to form ‘neighborhood security groups’ to seek out guerilla insurgents.  A similar experiment attempted 20 years ago lead in part, critics contend, to the creation of the paramilitaries.

Topics Pages outline opposing viewpoints on a specific issue, with links to the full texts from which quotes are taken.

ARMED ACTORS: Drug involvement; human rights; peace; and paramilitaries.

FUMIGATION: Opinions on glyphosate, the aerial fumigation process, and the biological/ agricultural impact of fumigation.

REGIONAL RESPONSE: A variety of sources on the impact of the Colombia conflict and counternarcotics policies on the Andean region.

For background information on the Colombia conflict and US aid to the region from the Center for International Policy, click here

For a summary of the current year’s aid package and proposed aid to Colombia and the Andean region, click here

STATISTICS AND MAPSon Colombian armed conflict, social and economic indicators, and the drug war.

JUST THE FACTS: A comprehensive database on US military assistance to Latin America, including counternarcotics efforts.

UPCOMING EVENTS  A calendar of upcoming events on Colombia for the media and the public

LINKS to a variety of sources, including government agencies, research institutions, and NGOs.

COLOMBIA IN THE NEWS: Two databases of recent articles, both domestic and international, on Colombia.  Updated daily.