Military - note: the Colombian Armed Forces are primarily focused on internal security, particularly counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, and counterinsurgency operations against drug traffickers, militants from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) terrorist/guerrilla organizations, and other illegal armed groups; the Colombian Government signed a peace agreement with the FARC in 2016, but some former members (known as dissidents) have returned to fighting; the Colombian military resumed operations against FARC dissidents and their successor paramilitary groups in late 2019; in 2017, the Colombian Government initiated formal peace talks with the ELN, but in January 2019, the government ended the peace talks shortly after the ELN exploded a car bomb at the National Police Academy in Bogotá and resumed counter-terrorism/counterinsurgency operations against the group; operations against both the FARC and ELN continued into 2021 (see Appendix T); the military is also focused on the security challenges posed by its neighbor, Venezuela, where instability has attracted narcotics traffickers and both the ELN and FARC dissidents operate openly
Definition: This entry includes miscellaneous military information of significance not included elsewhere.
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on Saturday, September 18, 2021
