Foreign Relations

Colombia seeks diplomatic and commercial relations with all countries, regardless of their ideologies or political or economic systems. For this reason, the Colombian economy is very open, relying on international trade and following the guidelines given by the international law.

Regional relations remain good despite occasional issues with neighbors, especially regarding spillover from Colombia’s armed conflict, including cross-border guerrilla crossings, the flow of refugees, and the spread of drug crops. These issues are of particular concern to the bordering countries of Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

For example, Ecuador has closed its main border crossing with Colombia every night since August 2002, when evidence emerged that Colombian guerrillas and paramilitaries were asserting control over Ecuador’s border communities. On May 1, 2004, Ecuador placed further stringent visa restrictions on Colombians seeking to enter Ecuador.

Relations with Nicaragua and Venezuela have been strained over territorial disputes. Bilateral committees are negotiating the dispute with Venezuela over waters in the Gulf of Venezuela. Other issues with Venezuela include the presence of illegal undocumented Colombians in Venezuela, and activities of Colombian narcotics traffickers, and Venezuela’s support for the Guerrillas in Colombia.

Military Forces

The Military Forces of Colombia are the armed forces of the Republic of Colombia.

The Military of Colombia consists of:

• National Army of Colombia
• Colombian National Armada – Marines, Navy and Coast Guard attached
• Colombian Naval Infantry – A branch of the Colombian Navy for amphibious operations
• Colombian Air Force

In 1999, Colombia assigned 3.6% of its GDP to defense, according to the National Planning Department. By 2007 this figure had risen to 6.1% of GDP, one of the highest rates in the world. The armed forces number about 250,000 uniformed personnel: 145,000 military and 105,000 police. These figures do not include assistance personnel such as cooks, medics, mechanics, and so on. This makes the Colombian military one of the largest and most well-equipped in Latin America.

Many Colombian military personnel have received military training assistance directly in Colombia and also in the United States. The United States has provided equipment and financing to the Colombian military and police through the military assistance program, foreign military sales, and the international narcotics control program, all currently united under the auspices of Plan Colombia.

Colombian Armed Conflict (1964–present)

The Colombian armed conflict or Colombian Civil War are terms that are employed to refer to the current asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict in Colombia that has existed since approximately 1964 or 1966, between the Colombian government and peasant guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN).

It is historically rooted in the conflict known as La Violencia, which was triggered by the 1948 assassination of populist political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, and in the aftermath of U.S.-backed military attacks on peasant communities in rural Colombia in the 1960s that led Liberal and Communist militants to re-organize into FARC.

The reasons for fighting vary from group to group. The FARC and other guerrilla movements claim to be fighting for the rights of the poor in Colombia to protect them from government violence and to provide social justice through socialism.

The Colombian government claims to be fighting for order and stability, seeking to protect the rights and interests of its citizens, private companies and multinational corporations such as Occidental Petroleum, from guerrilla attacks.

The paramilitary groups, such as the AUC, claim to be reacting to perceived threats by guerrilla movements. Both guerrilla and paramilitary groups have been accused of engaging in drug trafficking and terrorism. All parties engaged in the conflict have been criticized for numerous human rights violations.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced millions.