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United States Support For Colombia   Fact Sheet released by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs   March 28, 2000

Is Plan Colombia a Colombian Plan?

• Plan Colombia was developed, approved, and will be implemented by the Colombian Government. The Colombian Government did consult extensively with the United States Government as it refined its strategy, just as the U.S. has worked closely with all other countries committed to combating the illicit drug trade through robust domestic programs and international cooperation.

• The ultimate success of this program depends largely on the will and commitment of the Colombian people.

• The Colombian Government has committed major resources to its 3-year Plan Colombia proposal and is prepared to pay about $4 billion of the Plan's estimated overall $7.5 billion cost. Their $4 billion contribution will come from a combination of Colombia's own funds and loans from international financial institutions:

• $3 billion will come from Colombian Government general revenues -- in other words, from an internal reordering of government spending priorities, as reflected in Colombia's budget.

• $900 million will come from the Colombian Government's borrowing from international financial institutions.

• $600 million will come from mandatory internal "peace bonds."

• To put Colombia's contribution in perspective: the Colombian economy is just recovering from its first recession in 25 years, and its deepest recession in the last 70 years.

• Colombia's real gross domestic product is estimated to have fallen 3.5% last year, the result of external shocks, fiscal imbalances, and a further weakening of confidence related to stepped up activity by insurgent groups.

• Unemployment has soared from under 9% in 1985 to about 20% in 1999, adding to the pool of unemployed workers who can be drawn into the drug trade or into insurgent or paramilitary groups.

• This recession has sapped the Colombian Government's resources to address societal political pressures, fight the drug trade, and respond to its 35-year internal conflict.

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