Shaping Columbia's Stability through Strategic Communication: Evaluating U.S. Effectiveness

摘要

Colombia's future hangs in the balance with dire implications for Latin America and U.S. national interests. After almost forty-five years of existential conflict, Colombia has the opportunity to be a peaceful and stable country, which is essential for regional stability and U.S. national interests. The Colombian government has the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, on the ropes. The FARC, a social revolutionary and narco-terrorist group who is Colombia's greatest organized threat, faces open opposition and isolation from the Colombian populace and the international community. However, the group's communist roots enable it to regain sufficient traction in a country with the socio-economic conditions fertile for leftist ideology. Given Colombia's strategic importance, the U.S. needs to continue support for the government's operations against the FARC, most decisively through strategic communication efforts.