Editing Foreign relations of Colombia (section)

=== Narcotics and terrorism ===
By the 1990s, Colombia had become the world's leading supplier of refined cocaine and a growing source for heroin. More than 90% of the cocaine that entered in the 1990s the United States was produced, processed, or transshipped in Colombia. The cultivation of coca dropped between 1995 and 1999 from 3,020 to {{convert|1100|km2|0|abbr=on}}, primarily in areas where government control was more active.

Despite the death of Medellín cartel drug kingpin [[Pablo Escobar]] in 1993 and the arrests of major Cali cartel leaders in 1995 and 1996, Colombian drug cartels remain among the most sophisticated criminal organizations in the world, controlling cocaine processing, international wholesale distribution chains, and markets. In 1999 Colombian police arrested over 30 narcotraffickers, most of them extraditable, in "Operation Millennium" involving extensive international cooperation. More arrests were made in a following "Operation Millennium II."

Colombia is engaged in a broad range of narcotics control activities. Through aerial spraying of herbicide and manual eradication, Colombia has attempted to keep coca, opium poppy, and [[cannabis cultivation]] from expanding. The government has committed itself to the eradication of all illicit crops, interdiction of drug shipments, and financial controls to prevent money laundering. Alternative development programs were introduced in 1999.

Corruption and intimidation by traffickers complicate the drug-control efforts of the institutions of government. Colombia passed revised criminal procedures code in 1993 that permits traffickers to surrender and negotiate lenient sentences in return for cooperating with prosecutors. In December 1996 and February 1997, however, the Colombian Congress passed legislation to toughen sentencing, asset forfeiture, and money-laundering penalties.

In November 1997, the Colombian Congress amended the constitution to permit the extradition of Colombian nationals, albeit not retroactively. In late 1999, President Pastrana authorized the first extradition in almost 10 years of a Colombian trafficker to stand trial for U.S. crimes. Three such extraditions to the United States have taken place, the most recent in August 2000, with cases against others pending in Colombian courts. Under the Pastrana administration, [[Plan Colombia]] was developed and implemented with U.S. backing.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/latin-america-confronts-the-united-states/72E4BB5F602CE1976DF765AEEA606465|title=Latin America Confronts the United States by Tom Long|last=Long|first=Tom|date=November 2015|website=Cambridge Core|doi=10.1017/cbo9781316343890|access-date=2019-09-06|isbn=9781316343890}}</ref>

During the presidency of [[Álvaro Uribe]], the government applied more military pressure on the FARC and other outlawed groups. After the offensive, many security indicators improved. Colombia achieved a great decrease in cocaine production, leading White House drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske to announce that Colombia is no longer the world's biggest producer of cocaine.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite news|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/ultimas_noticias/2012/07/120730_ultnot_droga_colombia_zar_tsb.shtml|title= Colombia is no longer the world's biggest producer of cocaine.| work= bbc.co.uk|language=es|access-date= 24 April 2013}}</ref><ref name="usatoday1">{{cite news|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/07/white-house-colombia-is-no-longer-top-cocaine-producer/1|title= Colombia no longer top cocaine producer| publisher=usatoday.com|access-date= 24 April 2013|date=2012-07-30}}</ref>

In addition to the challenge posed to the United States by Colombian drug trafficking, illegal Colombian immigrants in the United States are an issue in Colombia-U.S. relations. According to figures from the [[U.S. Department of Homeland Security]], [[Colombia]] is the fourth-leading source country of [[illegal immigration to the United States]]. According to its [[estimates]], the number of illegal Colombian residents in the United States almost tripled from 51,000 in 1990 to 141,000 in 2000.<ref name=ins>{{cite web|work=Office of Policy and Planning U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/Ill_Report_1211.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101013719/http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/Ill_Report_1211.pdf |archive-date=2006-11-01 |url-status=live|title=Estimates of the illegal immigrant population residing in the United States: 1990 to 2000|access-date=2012-03-04}}</ref> According to the US Census Bureau, the number of [[authorized]] Colombian immigrants in the United States in 2006 was 801,363.<ref>U.S. Census Bureau, [https://www.census.gov Selected Population Profile in the United States: Colombians]  U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. "S0201. Selected Population Profile in the United States; Population Group: Colombian; Data Set: 2006 American Community Survey; Survey: 2006 American Community Survey. (Via: Main>Data Sets>American Community Surveys>Selected Population Profiles (Geographic Type=Nation, Ethnic Group=Colombian)".</ref>

Colombia rejected threats of the United States of America after the threat of [[Donald Trump]] to decertify the country as a partner in counter-narcotics efforts.<ref name = "Nobody has to threaten us: Colombia in response to Trump"/>

{{Blockquote|For more than 30 years Colombia has demonstrated its commitment – paying a very high cost in human lives – with overcoming the drug problem. This commitment stems from the profound conviction that the consumption, production and trafficking of drugs constitute a serious threat to the well-being and security of citizens. Colombia is undoubtedly the country that has fought the most drugs and with more successes on this front. No one has to threaten us to meet this challenge.|source= Colombia’s National Government <ref name = "Nobody has to threaten us: Colombia in response to Trump">{{Cite web |url=http://es.presidencia.gov.co/sitios/busqueda/noticia/170914-Comunicado-del-Gobierno-Nacional/Noticia |title=Comunicado del Gobierno Nacional |date=2017-09-14 |website=presidencia.gov.co |access-date=2017-09-14}}</ref>}}

{{Blockquote|The problem of drugs is global. Overcoming it can only be achieved through cooperation and under the principle of joint responsibility. Consumer countries’ authorities have a fundamental responsibility to their fellow citizens and the world to reduce consumption and to attack trafficking and distribution organizations in their own countries.|source= Colombia’s National Government <ref name = "Nobody has to threaten us: Colombia in response to Trump"/>}}