US pledges security aid to Colombia as new president promises drugs crackdown

The United States has pledged support to Colombia as a new rightwing president took office promising a crackdown on drugs. The BBC reports the figure as $1bn in support; the Guardian describes it as security aid.

The new Colombian president, backed by Donald Trump, was sworn in with a commitment to intensify action against drug production. The US pledge follows that inauguration, continuing a pattern of American involvement in Colombian security policy.

The machinery is familiar. American aid to Colombia for counter-narcotics and security dates to the late twentieth century, formalised in an initiative that ran through the early years of this century. The pitch then was the same: suppress coca production, strengthen security forces, stabilise the region. The question now, as then, is whether supply-side pressure in one country redistributes the problem or solves it - and whether the next government in Washington will honour the cheque.

What to watch: whether the aid materialises in full, and whether coca cultivation falls or simply moves. The record suggests the latter is more common than the former.