Coffee From Colombia

Colombia's diverse climate and topography permit the cultivation of a wide variety of crops. In addition, all regions yield forest products, ranging from tropical hardwoods in the lowlands to pine and eucalyptus in the colder areas. Cacao, sugarcane, coconuts, bananas, plantains, rice, cotton, tobacco, cassava, and most of the nation's beef cattle are produced in the hot regions from sea level to 1,000 meters elevation. The temperate regions--between 1,000 and 2,000 meters--are better suited for coffee; flowers; corn and other vegetables; and fruits such as citrus, pears, pineapples, and tomatoes. The cooler elevations--between 2,000 and 3,000 meters--produce wheat, barley, potatoes, cold-climate vegetables, flowers, dairy cattle, and poultry. ... [Read More]

Why Americans Should Care About Plan Colombia

This assistance package is in America's interest because: Colombia supplies more illicit drugs to the United States than any other country in the world. It is the world's leading coca producer and cocaine exporter and a rapidly emerging source of heroin. Ninety percent of the cocaine and most of the heroin in the U.S. market now comes from Colombia. These illegal drugs cost our society 52,000 lives and $110 billion a year. The more-than-doubled coca cultivation in Colombia's guerrilla-dominated areas since 1995 has offset 75% of the total of 93,400 hectares of coca that U.S.-backed programs have taken out of production in Peru and Bolivia in the same period. Colombia's drug trafficking organizations are a pernicious source of instability. They are funneling funds to insurgents and vigilante-like paramilitaries for protection and other services. Meanwhile, the traffickers' relentless intimidation and corrupting influence is a serious threat to the rule of law and fre ... [Read More]

Colombia y el programa comercial andino / The Andean Trade Program

Remita sus preguntas y comentarios sobre nuestra página a: WebB@state.gov Sorry, you need a JavaScript capable browser to get the best from this pageSorry, you need a JavaScript capable browser to get the best from this page 1 ... [Read More]

Colombia

Paramilitaries and guerrillas, particularly the FARC and the ELN, continued to take hostages for ransom. The FARC and ELN also kidnapped politicians, prominent citizens, and members of the security forces to use as political pawns in a prisoner exchange (see Section 1.b.). The Constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government respected this prohibition in practice. However, many persons from across the socio-economic spectrum went into self-exile because of threats from paramilitaries, guerrillas, or common criminals. e. Denial of Fair Public Trial The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this provision in practice; however, the suborning and intimidation of judges, prosecutors, and witness was a serious problem. The judicial system was also extremely overburdened. The administrative chamber of the Supreme Council of the J ... [Read More]

Colombia

Fifty-three prisoners escaped during the year, 13 while on 72-hour passes, 24 because of faulty security, 2 in prison breaks with outside assistance, and 1 from a prison work detail. On November 3, former army Major Cesar Maldonado, who was convicted in 2002 of the attempted murder of former union leader and member of Congress Wilson Borja, escaped from a military prison. As a result, on November 5, the military dismissed four officers responsible for prison security, one of whom was under arrest and facing charges at year's end. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Plazas, who escaped from the same facility in July 2003 while serving a 40-year sentence for kidnapping and murder, remained at large (see Section 1.a.). In October, FARC commander Hernando Buitrago "Julian" escaped from his cell at the headquarters of the Prosecutor General's Office in Bogota. In November, six agents from the Corps of Technical Investigators (CTI) were dismissed and subsequently arrested in connection with the ... [Read More]

Colombia

The Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Constitutional Court, and the CSJ are four roughly coequal supreme judicial organs that often issue conflicting rulings and frequently disagree regarding jurisdictional responsibilities. The Fiscalia is tasked with investigating criminal offenses and presenting evidence against the accused. The Supreme Court elects the Prosecutor General from a list of three candidates selected by the President. The Prosecutor General serves a 4-year term that overlaps two presidential administrations. The Office is independent of both the executive and judicial branches and is divided into national, regional, and local offices. The Office has its own corps of armed investigators known as the Corps of Technical Investigators (CTI). The Office has significant judicial functions; however, consistent with constitutional reforms passed in December, it will be converted by 2005 into a purely investigatory and prosecutorial ag ... [Read More]

Memorandum of Justification Concerning the Aerial Eradication of Coca and Opium Poppy in Colombia

The Andean Counterdrug Initiative section of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, Division E, Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, (P.L. 108-7) (“FOAA”) lays out conditions under which assistance using funds appropriated under the FOAA may be made available for the procurement of chemicals for use in aerial eradication of illicit crops. In particular, the FOAA provides: That not more than 20 percent of the funds appropriated by this Act that are used for the procurement of chemicals for aerial coca and poppy fumigation programs may be made available for such programs unless the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that (1) the herbicide mixture is being used in a ... [Read More]

Colombia

Escapes from prison continued to be a very serious problem; from January through September, INPEC reported 168 escapes. A total of 781 inmates escaped during 2000, most when granted 72-hour passes to leave the prisons. The Prosecutor General's office and the Inspector General's office continued to investigate abuse of these passes. Some of those who escaped during the year were highly dangerous criminals. On February 19, 20 prisoners escaped from the prison in Neiva, Huila department, when the FARC blew a hole in the wall with a rocket. In early May, Omar Yesud Lopez Alarcon, the head of the northern branch of the paramilitaries who is accused of masterminding a number of massacres, escaped from the Modelo de Cucuta prison. On May 7, the FARC released 65 prisoners from a prison in Caloto, Cauca department, during a FARC attack. On June 23, 98 inmates (including 19 guerrillas) escaped from La Picota prison by blowing a hole in a wall with a gas cylinder. FARC inmates said that FARC comm ... [Read More]

The Andes Under Siege: Environmental Consequences of the Drug Trade - Publications

The economic impact on Colombia of such attacks that temporarily halt oil production is also significant. With a daily oil production in 1999 of 743,000 barrels per day, Colombia earned about $3.7 billion dollars from oil exports. Oil has become the country's leading source of export revenue, followed by coffee and coal. ...

The pipeline has been a favorite target for attack by leftist guerrillas from Colombia's second-largest insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN). In 1999 the pipeline was sabotaged 79 times, with a total of 200,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the surrounding jungle. In less than a three-month period between July and September 2000, ELN guerrillas launched 22 attacks on the pipeline with an overall spillage of 150,000 barrels. Some of the attacks on the Cano Limon pipeline have led to spilled crude oil flowing down rivers and across the border into Venezuela. ... [Read More]