The Inextricable Link of U.S. Policy to the
Protracted Revolutionary Conflict of Colombia
Ryane Lokey
Dr. Kenneth Gould, Faculty Menter
McNair Summer 2005 Research
This paper examines the decade’s long conflict in Colombia and evaluates United States policy in relation to the volatile Latin American nation. The paper argues that the conflict originated over polarized political ideologies and has persisted due to U.S. involvement. U.S. policies are not accomplishing the intended goals of the Drug War begun in the 1970s of decreasing cocaine importation and consumption in the U.S. The policies of the U.S. have a negative effect in Colombia, as armed conflict is abetted with military aid, and noxious pesticides utilized in fumigation tactics cause environmental damage. However, U.S. involvement has positively benefited U.S. politicians and corporations. The explicit connections between powerful politicians and the oil industry in the United States, as well as the continual increase in corporate security in Colombia (ostensibly over anti-narcotic operations), suggest that U.S. intentions in Latin America are insidious. While thousands of Colombians die each year as a result of fighting among leftist guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitary groups and the government’s military, the U.S. focuses on circumventing the conflict just enough in order to facilitate the corporate extraction of oil. The paper concludes that the United States should discontinue military aid to Colombia, forcing the state to seek a negotiated settlement in order to allow the nation to resolve its civil conflict. Under a more stabilized state, Colombian oil should be nationalized so that economic and social improvements funded by oil revenues are possible.