NEFA Foundation: Lessons Learned From the Campaign Against the FARC in Colombia
By Douglas Farah
The NEFA Foundation has released a new report by NEFA Senior Investigator Douglas Farah titled "Lessons Learned from the Campaign Against the FARC in Colombia." This paper is the fourth NEFA Foundation report on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-FARC), Latin America's oldest and largest insurgency. The FARC was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 1997 and by the European Union in 2005. The Colombian government's successful military campaign against the FARC in Colombia represents one of the most important and least understood counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism efforts in recent decades. The successful campaign also represents an astonishing decade-long turnaround for a military that was on the verge of defeat to one and that has recently scored a series of spectacular successes. This paper examines the lessons learned from the Colombian experience, particularly the efforts to reform and streamline intelligence operations. It also looks at the difficult challenges remaining before victory is achieved and the Colombian paradox: while the Colombian military and police, backed by billions of dollar in U.S. aid, have successfully dismantled much of the FARC and cartel drug trafficking structures, the amount of cocaine Colombia produces has not diminished. (Read Report Here)
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