Europeans and Latin Americans Show Caution on “Plan Colombia”

At a meeting in Costa Rica for anti-drug strategy in Colombia, the European Union announced an aid package for Colombia that is significantly below what Colombian and United States officials had expected, weakening Plan Colombia and its conceptual bases. While Plan Colombia was premised on an international support package, the EU part is only $250 million and will not be given directly to the Colombian Government. Instead, it will be distributed mostly to programs operated by nonprofit organizations working for human rights, judicial reform and economic development. The size of the EU aid is only one-quarter of the amount Colombia had anticipated. As a result, the Colombian Government will have much less money for grass-roots efforts to persuade farmers to rely on alternative crops rather than growing coca...[more]