1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i 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. Colombias prominence in illegal drug production prompted the Unit
2、ed 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 partnership. Hard-hit by waves of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infect
3、ions 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
4、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 homelands crises. For some Members of Congress, priority aspects of the U.S.-Colombia relationship are close col
