Dear Colleagues:
During the May 2025, I had the opportunity to travel to Bogota, Colombia, to give addresses to the country’s National War College and the New Granada Military University, and to interact with senior Colombian security and defense personnel regarding the challenges facing the country.
The trip was particularly meaningful for me, insofar as my own work on Latin American security issues since the late 1990s has coincided with Colombia’s transformation from a country whose governance was once crumbling from the mutually reinforcing scourges of drug corruption and guerilla violence to Colombia becoming the region’s foremost security success story, U.S. partner, and exporter of security to its neighbors.
Colombia’s dramatic success during that period makes particularly tragic the reversals in the decade since Colombia signed a flawed agreement with the FARC, accelerated by the socioeconomic shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the failed “total peace” efforts of the nation’s current administration of Gustavo Petro.
The picture that emerged for me in the many frank conversations that I had, was one of growing narcotics and other criminal activity eroding Colombian institutions, an array of violent struggles by armed groups across the country, severe resource and policy constraints to the Colombian military and other security forces, and the continuing churn of scandals paralyzing the Petro government at the legislative, cabinet, and personal levels.
With the combination of such difficulties, and the harsh actions taken against the Petro Administration by the U.S. government over the acceptance of deportees in January 2025, many Colombians with whom I spoke are deeply concerned over the prospect of the “decertification” of the country on counternarcotics, cooperation…a development that senior Colombians whom I greatly respect, fear could be disastrous for Colombian security institutions, already struggling against an overwhelming array of challenges, and for the future institutional health and direction of the country.
The strategic value of Colombia to the United States, including its institutional and political viability, was a key driver of Plan Colombia—the most significant and successful U.S. security collaboration project in the Western Hemisphere in recent times. It is worth recalling that Plan Colombia was successful not only because of U.S. resources, but because Colombia’s political leaders and security forces effectively leveraged that partnership, combining a modest amount of U.S. assistance, with a significant amount of their own resources, commitment, and innovation, to save their country.
I was reminded of the importance of both leadership and partnership during an unexpected opportunity I had to hear an address by and briefly meet Colombia’s new defense minister Pedro Sanchez. I was impressed by his articulation of Colombia’s challenge and understand that he is widely respected among those with whom I spoke as an experienced and capable former military officer, facing an array of daunting challenges.
This article is for my Colombian colleagues, friends, and senior mentors who have risked and sacrificed so much for their country, and who have seen so much of the success earned by those sacrifices eroded in recent years. This article is to express the concerns that many of my Colombian colleagues, friends, and senior mentors may have but for various reasons, cannot publicly articulate; and for the future of the U.S.-Colombia partnership which I believe is vital for our region’s security.
The article is available for download in English HERE:
It is available for download in Spanish HERE:
It is available in SPANISH from Infobae, which originally published it:
https://www.infobae.com/america/opinion/2025/05/31/asesinatos-secuestros-y-aumento-del-narcotrafico-claves-para-entender-la-grave-crisis-de-seguridad-que-atraviesa-colombia/
It is available in ENGLISH, from my always reliable and professional colleagues at Indrastra:
https://www.indrastra.com/2025/06/colombias-tragic-downward-security.html
Podcasts, Media Appearances, and Radio Shows:
I would like to share with you my latest podcasts, media appearance and radio shows.
These include an extended interview with John Price, that I am particularly proud of, aired May 24th on his widely followed Latin America oriented business intelligence show “Horizontes” in which we discuss PRC engagement in Latin America and the U.S. response:
My media appearances also include my latest weekly segments on the John Batchelor Show, in his special ongoing series on Latin America, The New World Report.
The latest episodes (May 27, 2025) are:
Suriname: https://audioboom.com/posts/8726707-newworldreport-suriname-votes-latin-american-research-professor-evan-ellis-u-s-army-war-coll
Haiti: https://audioboom.com/posts/8726709-newworldreport-haiti-abandoned-to-the-oas-latin-american-research-professor-evan-ellis-u-s-a
Venezuela: https://audioboom.com/posts/8726710-newworldreport-venezuela-persecutes-the-opposition-latin-american-research-professor-evan-ell
Mexico: https://audioboom.com/posts/8726711-newworldreport-mexico-votes-latin-american-research-professor-evan-ellis-u-s-army-war-colle
Website for all Publications:
As always, at my professional website you can access these, and past publications, webinars and podcasts:
REvanEllis.com
Latest Book on China-Latin America:
My latest book, China Engages Latin America: Distorting Development and Democracy, is available through my publisher Palgrave-Macmillan, at:
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-96049-0
Please feel free to share this post with a friend or colleague. If you would like to be included in my (always free) distribution list, I welcome the opportunity to include you:
Thank you, as always, for your interest in my work.
Respectfully,
R. Evan Ellis, PhD
Latin America Research Professor
U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
@REvanEllis
Website: https://revanellis.com
Evan, things definitely improved over the past 25 years but the right also contributed to this downward spiral with moves under Uribe Velez to empower the right and unsatisfying sustained economic opportunity in rural communities. History simply replays in this beautiful country as if the deepest rut in a never ending record spinning and spinning and spinning. There is too much blame to go around, making it all the sadder.