DRUG CONTROL: U.S. Counternarcotics Efforts in Colombia Face Continuing Challenges.
Abstract
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, requires the President to annually certify that major drug producing and transit countries have cooperated fully with the United States or have taken adequate steps on their own to achieve full compliance with the goals and objectives established by the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. If the President determines that a country is not meeting these standards, most forms of U.S. economic and military assistance must be terminated. On March 1, 1996, and again on February 27,1997, the President determined that Colombia was not fully cooperating with the United States or taking adequate steps on its own to combat drug-trafficking activities. As a result of these decisions, the United States implemented mandatory economic sanctions and canceled or delayed millions of dollars worth of U.S. counternarcotics assistance to Colombia The Chairmen, Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice, House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight; the House Committee on International Relations; and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, asked GAO to review the efforts of U.S. and Colombian agencies, principally the Colombian police and military, to conduct counternarcotics activities in Colombia. Specifically, GAO examined (1) the nature of the drug-trafficking threat; (2) the political, economic, and operational implications of the U.S. decertification decisions; and (3) U.S. efforts to plan and manage counternarcotics activities in Colombia.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA338250
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office