The Search for Accountability and Transparency in Plan Colombia

The intention of the U.S. Army War College and The Dante B. Fascell North-South Center has been to elucidate as broadly as possible the many facets of the Colombian dilemma, the worst security problem which the Western Hemisphere faces today. This monograph concerns the challenge to reform Colombian judicial institutions. Plan Colombia carries with it, by the reckoning of President Andrés Pastrana's government, a $7.5 billion price tag. The United States has committed $1.3 billion to the effort, largely in military aid, antinarcotics programs, and the equipment and training that go with them. Europe is supposed to provide $1 billion in humanitarian aid, social programs, and other nonmilitary assistance, but its money has not been forthcoming. Meanwhile, the United States does, through the United States Agency for International Development, offer a $122 million package for judicial reform and, in fact, has carried out programs of judicial reform in the past.