Colombia, the United States, and security cooperation by Proxy

U.S. aid to Colombia has declined considerably since 2008. Counternarcotics and counterinsurgency activities, in which Washington has been heavily involved since Plan Colombia’s inception in 2000, have been steadily “Colombianized.” Now, Colombia is stepping up efforts to export its “know-how” to countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and beyond the Western Hemisphere affected by drug-related crime and violence, largely via South-South cooperation and triangulated efforts with U.S. support. This report explores what seems to be an emerging international security cooperation model in which both Colombia and the United States play key roles.

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