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1 1 (September 22, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govegeb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ ~ * Research Service Colombia: Challenges for U.S. Policymakers in 2021 Updated September 22, 2021 Colombia is a key U.S. ally in Latin America and a long-term security partner. For many years, Colombia's prominence in illegal drug production prompted the United States and Colombia to forge close counter-drug ties. Plan Colombia, a U.S.-Colombian program that began in 2000, focused initially on counternarcotics and later on counterterrorism, laying the foundation for an enduring, multifaceted partnership. Hard-hit by waves of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections in 2020-2021, Colombia has faced multiple challenges, all while attempting to recover from a pandemic-driven 6.8% economic contraction in 2020. These challenges include (1) spikes in coca cultivation and cocaine production; (2) violence against human rights and other social activists; (3) mass anti-government protests in mid-2021 that lasted nearly three months; and (4) instability spilling over from Venezuela, including the migration of some 2 million Venezuelans fleeing their homeland's crises. For some Members of Congress, priority aspects of the U.S.-Colombia relationship are close collaboration on security and on countering illicit drugs destined mainly for the U.S. market. For others, human rights concerns predominate, including accountability for abuses committed during Colombia's decades-long internal armed conflict and more recent human rights violations. Post-conflict Security, Human Rights, and Venezuelan Migrants Colombia's 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) resulted in the demobilization of 13,000 insurgents and the FARC's transformation from a leftist guerrilla army to a political party. Neither the government nor the rebels have upheld all their commitments under the agreement. Some guerrillas, known collectively as FARC dissidents, have recently rearmed. President Ivin Duque, elected in 2018 from the conservative Democratic Center party, campaigned as a peace accord critic. Many Colombians have protested what they view as his government's lackadaisical peace accord compliance. Others have blamed the former FARC, FARC dissidents, and now Colombia's largest insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), for ongoing insecurity. The 2016 peace accord established a transitional justice court, known as the JEP (based on its Spanish acronym), to identify and punish crimes committed during the conflict. In February 2021, a JEP Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11631 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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