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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Colombia and US announce new anti-drug trafficking plan

Colombia and US announce new anti-drug trafficking plan

Published Aug 18, 2020 09:39 am

The United States and Colombia on Monday announced the launch of a new joint plan to combat drug trafficking, including investments in areas affected by violence.

Handout picture released by Colombia's presidency press office showing President Ivan Duque (C), US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien (L) and US International Development Finance Corporation CEO Adam Boehler (R) during their visit to the Narino presidential palace, in Bogota on August 17, 2020. (Photo by Handout / Colombian Presidency / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT 'AFP PHOTO / PRESIDENCIA COLOMBIA' - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
Handout picture released by Colombia's presidency press office showing President Ivan Duque (C), US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien (L) and US International Development Finance Corporation CEO Adam Boehler (R) during their visit to the Narino presidential palace, in Bogota on August 17, 2020. (Photo by Handout / Colombian Presidency / AFP)

Colombian President Ivan Duque and US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien made the joint statement at the presidential palace in Bogota, following a meeting. They did not specify the exact amount of resources allocated to the plan.

O'Brien said the US "will support all of Colombia's efforts... to ensure security in the country, to combat criminal organizations, some of which are transnational, and in doing so, we will help create the conditions for economic growth" in both nations.

Duque added that the US government "has not only seen the importance of... continuing to effectively combat drug trafficking and terrorism," but also of "combining those efforts... with quality investment in places that have been affected by violence."

They both presented the initiative as a new phase of the "Plan Colombia," an aid package from Washington aimed at combating drug trafficking in the South American country.

The US gave Colombia more than $7 billion between 2000 and 2016 under the Plan Colombia agreement, but the money ended up being used to fight guerillas without eliminating the drug trade.

The announcement comes amid a spike in violence throughout Colombia, resulting in 33 massacres so far this year, according to the UN.

The UN believes that criminal gangs are responsible for nearly 80 percent of massacres in Colombia this year, the vast majority of them occurring in departments with "illegal coca-producing enclaves."

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