Fighting extremism: lessons from Colombia’s frontlines

In the year 2000, Colombia was a nation on the brink. Drug cartels held sway over vast swathes of the country, and the cartels and other criminal groups funded paramilitaries and the largest terrorist organizations in Latin America – FARC and ELN – making them formidable opponents of any sense of peace.

By rough estimates, these groups controlled more than half of the nation’s territory. Violence and the fear and insecurity it created permeated everyday life. The nation’s future was uncertain, and concerns about Colombia’s ability to turn the page were crowding out hope.

But, as proven throughout our history, the Colombian people are nothing if not resilient. They, along with government leaders, recognized that if Colombia was to have a future where the current generation made out better than their parents and reaped the benefits of peace, a concerted effort was required.

By all measures, the effort was a success. How we got there could provide important lessons for policy-makers trying to fight terrorist organizations and counter extremism.

United in fighting terrorism

First and foremost, there could have been no victory without the determination and resilience of the Colombian people and their resources. The brave men and women of the Colombian Armed Forces were also vital in helping lay the foundations for Colombia’s remarkable turnaround and creating the conditions for the peace process.

The international support provided through Plan Colombia also made a huge contribution. This programme increased military and police mobility, augmented training on special operations, enhanced intelligence capabilities, and strengthened counternarcotics efforts and cooperation. Targeted US resources – coupled with the allocation of substantial funds in the Colombian national budget – helped usher in an era of hope and aspiration. Today, experts herald Plan Colombia as the most important US foreign policy initiative in 15 years.

Sustaining the progress

The successes of Plan Colombia were many, but to sustain them we had to keep up the pressure on illegal armed groups. While we were proud of our successes and humbled by the sacrifices of our brave men and women, we could not rest on our laurels. We learned early on that our defence forces had to continue building on the security gains by keeping up and intensifying the pressure on illegal armed groups.

I had the honour of serving as vice-minister of defence in the Uribe administration and minister of defence under the leadership of President Juan Manuel Santos. In 2011, when I began serving as minister of defence, we launched a new offensive that was key to making further inroads. Plan Sword of Honor involved strategically striking every area of operation still held by the FARC and ELN. The hard-won lessons of our experience made this new offensive so effective.

During the Uribe administration, our military strategy focused on a ground-level offensive to combat the armed forces of these groups – dealing some of the toughest blows to the FARC. Equipped with this experience, Plan Sword of Honor focused on striking high-value targets, allowing us to disrupt and weaken the FARC, ELN and criminal bands by hitting their central nervous system – the leadership – promoting demobilization to protect lives, and establishing the presence of social agencies to confront poverty and inequality.

Terrorists at the negotiating table

In the nearly four years I served as minister of defence, we increased international cooperation, strengthened tactical operations and modernized the armed forces, from equipment to training. Over that time, we destabilized the FARC, ELN and criminal bands even further, and the national homicide rate dropped to its lowest level in 35 years. Today, the remnants of the terrorist groups that wreaked havoc on Colombia for decades are sitting at the table with our government, reduced in power, and negotiating peace, largely because of the might and bravery of our armed forces and national police in the face of terror.

The story of Colombia’s transformation is the story of three administrations that put everything into the fight for peace. Each administration built on previous gains to push the goalpost even further to create the kind of country our citizens are proud to call home. For a decade and a half, Colombia has walked a hard path and changed our destiny. But, once on the brink of collapse, today Colombia is on the rise. It is now the time for peace and reconciliation. It is time to preserve the peace that has been built with the effort and sacrifice of the Colombian people.

Our global community is confronted with the realities of terrorism and extremism every day. While Colombia’s story is still being written, the chapters penned thus far provide critical lessons for how to combat these threats and build a more safe, secure and prosperous future for generations to come.

Author: Juan Carlos Pinzón is Colombia’s Ambassador to the United States. Follow him at @ColAmbPinzon. He is participating in the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.