WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas
20 Nov 2015 | Video

Drugs, Thugs, and Diplomats: A Discussion of the Policy Debate that Led to Plan Colombia

You are cordially invited to join the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) for a conversation with Winifred Tate, author of Drugs, Thugs, and Diplomats and professor at Colby College
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 a.m.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Washington Office on Latin America
1666 Connecticut Ave NW, 4th floor
Speakers
Winifred Tate, 
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Colby College
Moderator
Adam Isacson
, Senior Associate for Regional Security Policy, WOLA
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In 2000, the United States passed a major aid package to help Colombia do it all: cut drug trafficking, defeat leftist guerrillas, support peace, and build democracy. It would prove to be a down payment on $10 billion in assistance over the next 15 years.
Of this initial aid package, called “Plan Colombia,” more than 80 percent was military aid, at a time when the Colombian security forces were linked to abusive, drug-trafficking paramilitary forces.
Professor Winifred Tate of Colby College has just published a new book about how this happened. “Drugs, Thugs, and Diplomats” examines the U.S. policymaking process in the design, implementation, and assessment of the Plan Colombia aid package.