The research reported here was sponsored by the United States Air Force under Contract F49642-01-C-0003. Further information may be obtained from the Strategic Planning Division, Directorate of Plans, Hq USAF.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rabasa, Angel. Columbian labyrinth : the synergy of drugs and insurgency and its implications for regional stability / Angel M. Rabasa, Peter Chalk. p. cm. “MR-1339.” Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8330-2994-0 1. National security—Colombia. 2. Colombia—Strategic aspects. 3. National security—Latin America. 4. Colombia—Politics and government—1974– 5. Insurgency—Colombia—History—20th century. 6. Guerrillas—Colombia— History—20th century. 7. Drug traffic—Colombia—History—20th century. 8. United States—Military relations—Colombia. 9. Colombia—Military relations— United States. I. Chalk, Peter. II. Title.
UA625 .R33 2001 986.106'35—dc21 2001031639
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Drug trafficking and political disintegration in Colombia could con- front the United States, if present trends continue, with the most se- rious foreign and security policy crisis in the Western Hemisphere since the Central American wars of the 1980s. The first question is why Colombia matters. U.S. policy toward Colombia has been driven to a large extent by counter-narcotics considerations, but the situation in that South American country is a national security as much as a drug policy problem. Colombia is a strategically important country. It is South America’s fourth largest country in area and the second largest in population. It is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and it is con- tiguous to the Caribbean basin, Central America, Venezuela and its oil fields, and Panama and the Canal. Colombia also has some of the largest untapped petroleum reserves in the Western Hemisphere. Colombia’s trajectory will also influence the direction of broader trends in the unstable Andean region and beyond. This study, conducted in Project AIR FORCE’s Strategy and Doctrine Program, examines