Plan Colombia

The term Plan Colombia is most often used to refer to controversial US legislation aimed at curbing drug smuggling by supporting different Drug War activities in Colombia. Plan Colombia also refers to a wider aid initiative originally proposed by Colombian President Andrés Pastrana Arango, which contemplated the above piece of legislation but was not limited to it. The plan was conceived between 1998 and 1999 by the administration of President Andrés Pastrana with the goals of social and economic revitalization, ending the armed conflict and creating an anti-drug strategy. The most controversial element of the anti-narcotic strategy is aerial fumigation to eradicate coca. This activity has come under fire because it damages legal crops and has adverse health effects upon those exposed to the herbicides. Critics of the initiative also claim that elements within the Colombian security forces, which receive aid and training from it, are involved in supporting or tolerating abuses by right-wing paramilitary forces against the population and left-wing organizations.

The North Coast Cartel

The North Coast Cartel (Spanish: Cartel de la Costa or Cartel de la Costa Atlántica) was a drug cartel operating in northern Colombia mostly controlling the area of the Colombian Caribbean coast illegal drug trade flow from other regions of Colombia and neighboring countries and local production. The North Coast Cartel was headed by Alberto Orlandez-Gamboa "Caracol" (the snail) who was arrested on June 6, 1998 and extradited later to the United States where he pleaded guilty for numerous drug related crimes. Other notable members of the North Coast cartel were the Arana Nasser family clan whom owned several assets in Barranquilla some 270 properties including the luxurious Hotel El Prado. The most prominent members of the clan were Sheila Arana and husband Julio Cesar Nasser David, she was captured in Switzerland and then extradited to the United states in September 1994. She accepted being responsible for sending to the United States some 30 shipments of cocaine and marihuana between 1976 and 1994. Her husband was also covered by the extradition but he died shortly of natural causes. Their son Jorge Nasser Arana was killed by gunmen in Barranquilla while other members of the clan like Jairo Arana and José David Hasbun were absolved by justice. Carlos Alberto Nasser Arana continues as a fugitive.

Illegal drug trade in Colombia (

Illegal drug trade in Colombia (Spanish: Narcotráfico en Colombia) refers to the practice of producing and distributing illegal drugs with psychoactive effects in the Republic of Colombia. Colombia has had four major drug trafficking cartels which eventually created a new social class and influenced several aspects of Colombian culture. Coca, marijuana and other drugs had been part of the lifestyle of some indigenous peoples, but the worldwide demand of psychoactive drugs during the 1960s and 1970s eventually increased the production and processing of these in Colombia. Prohibition laws were implemented in the United States and Colombia to quell the negative effects of drugs in society and to punish those who either possessed, produced or commercially distributed illegal drugs for profit.

Since the establishment of the War on Drugs, the United States and European countries have provided financial, logistical and tactical aid to the government of Colombia in order to implement plans to combat the illegal drug trade. The most notable of these programs has been the Plan Colombia which also intended to combat terrorist organizations producing illegal drugs in Colombia. Despite these programs Colombia remains the leading producer of coca with approximately 70% of the total share and dominates approximately 90% of the cocaine processing market in the world.

The Norte del Valle Cartel

The Norte del Valle Cartel, or North Valley Cartel, is a drug cartel which operates principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia. It rose to prominence during the second half of the 1990s, after the Cali Cartel and the Medellín Cartel fragmented, and is known as one of the most powerful organizations in the illegal drugs trade.

The Medellín Cartel

The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of drug smugglers (drug cartel) originating in the city of Medellín in Colombia and operating through the 1970s and 1980s. It was built and run by Pablo Escobar. At its height, it was bringing in as much as $60 million per month, and was estimated by some to be worth as much as $28 billion in total.

The Cali Cartel

The Cali Cartel was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca Department. The Cali Cartel was founded by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, Gilberto and Miguel, as well as associate José Santacruz Londoño. Later Cali cartel principles included Hélmer Herrera, Jairo Ivan Urdinola-Grajales, Julio Fabio Urdinola-Grajales, Henry Loaiza-Ceballos, Victor Patiño-Fomeque, Phanor Arizabaleta-Arzayus, Raul Grajales-Lemos, Luis Grajales-Posso and Juan Carlos Ortiz Escobar.

Plan Mexico"! Public Service Announcement

Stop "Plan Mexico"! Public Service Announcement, 3.5 minutes
A video made in the USA by people who feel the USA should not carry out a policy on Mexico.