Plan Colombia: Reassessing the Strategic Framework

In light of the cost and complexity of Plan Colombia, this essay makes two central arguments. First, despite receiving $6.1 billion in assistance from Washington from 2000-2008, Plan Colombia has not been a particularly cost-effective framework for the United States. And second, because drug interdiction and crop eradication programs—the centerpiece of US funding—have not achieved all the desired results based on cocaine production trends, there is a need to rethink current funding priorities. If the history of bilateral cooperation in the war on drugs is any guide, the emphasis on “hard-side” elements (e.g., drug control) in dealing with the cocaine phenomenon will endure. This has important policy implications. Although the United States and Colombia agree on the desired ends for Plan Colombia, Washington's pursuit of certain objectives at the expense of others, or the improper synchronization of policy instruments, may actually hinder the sustainment of hard-fought achievements.