Ambassadors Roundtable
July 12, 2007
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Summary
The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) hosted Carolina Barco Isakson, Ambassador to the United States from Colombia, on July 12 to discuss Colombia’s experience on the counternarcotics front. “We spend most of our time looking at what’s wrong in the world,” said roundtable host Frank Cilluffo, director of HSPI, but “it’s important to identify some best practices successes in the world, and though Plan Colombia isn’t assured of success in the end, it has seen some great successes thus far.”
Colombia, a country of 43 million people, is known as “the cornerstone of South America.” Roughly the size of Texas and California combined, its vast uninhabited spaces and three mountain ranges make an attractive setting for the illegal narcotics trade in cocaine and heroin. Armed groups, including both left-wing guerillas and right-wing paramilitaries, are inextricably linked to the drug trade and remain a major threat to Colombia and the region. Ambassador Isakson emphasized that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest and best-known Colombian guerilla group, has changed in character over time – “we still need to convince certain groups and countries [the FARC is] not the ‘Robin Hood’ group anymore, but now focuses on drugs, exerting…power to carry out terrorist activities.” Evidence of cooperation with other terrorist organizations has also surfaced. For example, members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Spain’s Basque group known as ETA have been caught operating in Colombia. While the operational connection is murky, the communications link is clear.
In 1999, Plan Colombia was introduced to end armed conflict within Colombia’s borders, eliminate drug trafficking, and promote economic and social development. Within five years of implementation, Colombians saw a 40 percent decrease in cultivation of drugs and over 40,000 guerillas and militants demobilized. In 2007, President Uribe announced revisions to the Plan. Second stage measures focus on bolstering the justice system, better integrating eradication of drug crops with alternative crop development programs, and strengthening democracy. Through these efforts, the government aims to maintain a presence on the ground, and implement social benefits programs in remote regions of the country.
Colombia’s approach to counternarcotics and counterterrorism encompasses regional and international cooperation. To this end, Ambassador Isakson highlighted the need to “share information as governments,” and noted that Colombia benefits from good cooperation with both Interpol and Europol. Closer to home, the Colombian and Peruvian militaries cooperate to control their shared border. By further way of illustration, Panama receives Colombian assistance to increase the numbers of anti-narcotics police stations; and Brazil and Venezuela are part of efforts to bolster information sharing in the region. Colombia has also been generous in sharing its counternarcotics expertise with the government of Afghanistan. Analogies between the two countries should not be taken too far, however, as Colombia is a longstanding democracy with a strong institutional framework that has developed over time.
Despite the complexity of the challenges at hand, Ambassador Isakson maintains a positive and resilient outlook: “the solution is not perfect, let’s see how we can make it different – let’s not give up; the drug traffickers will not.”
Ambassador Carolina Barco Isakson
Carolina Barco was appointed Ambassador of Colombia to the United States in August 2006 by President Alvaro Uribe. As Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, between August 2002 and August 2006, Carolina Barco focused her objectives on three specific areas: To strengthen the Ministry's diplomacy in order to get increase efficiency, mainly towards a direct support for the Colombian Community abroad; to develop a strong communication policy in order to improve Colombia's international image and contribute to a real understanding the country's realities, and to promote trade and international cooperation, particularly for development programs. She has worked in the public sector, being Director of the City Planning Department in Bogotá, and adviser to the Ministries of Development, Culture, and Environment, as well as to the National Planning Department and the Office of the Mayor of Bogotá. She has also worked as international cooperation adviser to the United Nations Development Program, as researcher at Universidad de los Andes, and as a member of Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's Board of Directors. Former Minister Barco is well known mainly as an authority in the formulation and adoption of public policies. She has a Bachelor's degree in Social and Economic Sciences and a Masters Degree in Business Administration and Urban and Regional Planning.
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The Ambassadors Roundtable Series is designed to provide Ambassadors to the United States and their key diplomatic staff with a forum to discuss current and future counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts on a regional or country-specific basis. In an effort to draw upon various insights and experiences, the Ambassadors Roundtable Series builds upon and institutionalizes efforts over the past two years to engage in a dialogue with members of the international community, policy makers, and practitioners.
