Plan Colombia (2000–2015)
The Clinton administration and Colombian President Andrés Pastrana launched a $10 billion aid program aimed at cutting cocaine production by 50% in six years and defeating left-wing insurgent groups. Roughly 71% of U.S. funding went to military and police assistance, making it the largest U.S. security commitment in Latin America since the Cold War.
The Colombian military drove the FARC guerrillas from much of their territory and killed over two dozen of their leaders. FARC membership fell from an estimated 17,000 to under 8,000.
Cocaine production results were contested—U.S. reports claimed a 72% reduction while United Nations data showed no significant change. Colombia eventually negotiated a peace deal with the FARC in 2016, shifting to a political resolution after 15 years of military action.
Plan Colombia was bilateral and focused on a single country with sustained funding over 15 years. The Shield of the Americas attempts something far more ambitious—multilateral military coordination across 17 nations—but without the participation of Colombia itself, which remains the hemisphere's primary cocaine producer.