Focus on Putumayo

U.S. Military and Police Aid - Focus on Arauca and Putumayo:
Focus on Putumayo
Locate on this page:Timeline of Current Events| CIP Analyses | Links to Recent New Coverage| Other Organizations' Analyses | U.S. Government Statements

The department of Putumayo in southwestern Colombia, along the border with Ecuador and Peru, was the central focus of "Plan Colombia," a multi-billion dollar anti-narcotics initiative proposed by the governments of Bill Clinton and Andrés Pastrana in 1999 and 2000. Hundreds of millions of dollars have since been spent in Putumayo to create a new Colombian Army Counter-Narcotics Brigade, a new Colombian Navy Riverine Brigade, and to dramatically expand aerial herbicide fumigations in the zone. Between 1998 and 2002, more coca was grown in Putumayo than any other department of Colombia. Putumayo has a significant presence of the FARC guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries, who bitterly dispute control over drug cultivation. In addition to the newly created military units, the Colombian army's 24th Brigade is based in the capital, Mocoa.

Timeline of Current Events	CIP Analyses
April-May 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003	Plan Colombia’s "Ground Zero:" a report from CIP’s trip to Putumayo, Colombia, March 9-12, 2001, by Ingrid Vaicius and Adam Isacson, April 2001. A look at the epicenter of U.S. military aid to Colombia in the wake of the first phase of "Plan Colombia.". Web (.html) format (950 KB) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format (565 KB) El "Punto Cero"del Plan Colombia: reporte del viaje de CIP al Putumayo, Colombia, Marzo 9-12, 2001. Una mirada al epicentro de la ayuda militar estadounidense a Colombia despues de la primera etapa del "Plan Colombia." Formato normal (.html) (950 KB) Formato Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) (564 KB)
Links to Recent News Coverage	Other Organizations' Analyses
	Going to Extremes: The U.S.-Funded Aerial Eradication Program in Colombia (pdf), Latin America Working Group, February 2004 CODHES (Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento) (Colombia):Desplazamiento en Colombia, La dimensión de una crisis no resuelta, por Jorge Rojas,18 de febrero de 2004 Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres: Declaración de la Movilización al Putumayo, 25 de noviembre de 2003 CODHES (Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento) (Colombia): Fumigaciones, Desplazamiento y Derechos Humanos, por Marcela Ceballos, 25 de octubre de 2003 Top Ten Myths about the U.S. Supported Aerial Coca Eradication Program in Colombia, Latin America Working Group, July 22, 2003 OIPAZ (Observatorio Internacional por la Paz, Ecuador) Informe de Seguimiento a la Situación de la Frontera Enero - Diciembre 2003 [Español - formato Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)] United Nations Office on Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) Colombia Office: site of the UN drug control program's presence in Colombia. Colombia Coca Survey for 2002 (Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format) Map (.jpg file): Coca cultivation in Colombia, 2001. Report on Verification Mission," Impact in Ecuador of fumigations in Putumayo as part of Plan Colombia" October 2002 [English Spanish] Memo from four non-governmental organizations: Compliance with Fumigation Conditions in the Andean Counterdrug Initiative, April 10, 2002 o [English Spanish] Un Putumayo Sin Coca, con Justicia Social Pero Sin Fumigación," includes detailed information about alternative-development programs in Putumayo, February 27, 2002 [Spanish] II Foro "El Sur Evalúa el Plan Colombia," from a conference in Puerto Asís, Putumayo, December 10-11, 2001 Presentación Comunicado Dec. 10, 2001 Declaración final, 11 de diciembre Pre-foro Cauca, 17 de noviembre de 2001 Pre-foro Nariño, 15 de noviembre de 2001 "Taller del Bajo Putumayo," results of an August 2001 workshop among signers of "social pacts" for alternative development in Putumayo organized by three Colombian NGOs (CINEP, MINGA and CODHES): Relatoria "El Departamento del Putumayo en Cifras" "Declaration of Lago Agrio," signed by organizations meeting near the Colombian-Ecuadorian border, April 19, 2001 [In Spanish] "El Sur Responde al Plan Colombia," declaration of conference in Puerto Asís, Putumayo, September 8-9, 2000 Editorial: "Cultivos Ilícitos y Erradicación Forzosa," julio del 2001 ANUC-Putumayo: "Seminario Taller Seguimiento y Monitoreo Plan Colombia," 11-12 de agosto del 2001 [Español Adobe Acrobat] Coca Commercialization in Colombia, Mons. Fabio de Jesús Morales Grisales, Bishop of Mocoa-Sibundoy, Nov. 2000 Special report on eradication of illicit crops, July 19, 2001 Resolución Defensorial No. 26: Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario en el Marco del Conflicto Armado y de las Fumigaciones de Coca en el Departamento del Putumayo, October 9, 2002 Informe Defensorial No. 1 - Fumigaciones Y Proyectos De Desarrollo Alternativo En El Putumayo, 9 de febrero del 2001 Diocese of Mocoa-Sibundoy, Putumayo "Informe: visita sobre terreno al departamento de Putumayo," 17-21 de marzo del 2000 Un Putumayo Sin Coca, con Justicia Social Pero Sin Fumigación," includes detailed information about alternative-development programs in Putumayo, February 27, 2002 "Por un Putumayo Sin Coca, con Justicia Social Pero Sin Fumigación," Concejo Municipal de Puerto Asís, Putumayo, Agosto del 2001 "Efectos de la Fumigación," Informe Preliminar, Departamento Administrativo de Salud, Gobernación del Putumayo, Febrero del 2001 Informe Final Municipio de Valle del Guamuez: Consolidado general de pérdidas por la fumigación hasta el día 21 de febrero de 2001 Manifiesto de las Autoridades y Comunidades del Departamento del Putumayo: Putumayo Sin Coca, No a la Fumigación, July 25, 2000 "Deadly Fumigation Returns to Putumayo: Violations of Colombian Law and U.S. Conditions," December 7, 2001 [English Spanish]
U.S. Government Statements
Congress Letter to Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona) from five U.S. NGOs regarding alternative development, June 7, 2002 Letter from Senators Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) and Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin), regarding aerial herbicide fumigation in Putumayo March 22, 2002 Colombia comenzará a eliminar coca en la región del Putumayo Brad Hittle, jefe de la División de Apoyo a Países Fuente de Drogas, Oficina de Política Nacional de Control de Drogas, 1 de noviembre de 2000	Administration Testimony of Robert B. Charles , Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau for International Narcotics & Law Enforcement Affairs, hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "Challenges for U.S. Policy Toward Colombia:Is Plan Colombia Working?" October 29, 2003 State Department Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Fact Sheet: Environmental Consequences of the Illicit Coca Trade, March 17, 2003 Response from U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson to Witness for Peace inquiry, February 22, 2002 Letter to Secretary of State Powell from 62 U.S. organizations, December 7, 2001 Letter expressing concern about the course of US counter-narcotics efforts in Colombia USAID Fact Sheet: Alternative Development, April 2, 2001 U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FACT SHEE Contra-Fact Sheet USAID, por Ricardo Vargas (Acción Andina / Transnational Institute), 18 de abril del 2002 Statement of Rand Beers, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, February 28, 2001 Summary of Counternarcotics Operations in Putumayo,U.S. Embassy Bogota, December 19, 2000-January 28, 2001 Donation for Alternative Development Program in Putumayo, U.S. Embassy Bogotá, July 23, 2001 Statement of Rand Beers Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs before the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Reform,October 12, 2000