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Latin America and Caribbean
Colombia is a country with two distinct faces: one is that of a country with a stable democracy, dynamic economic growth and high levels of education, which will achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals; the other is that of the world's largest cocaine producer, ground down by decades of armed conflict and known for human rights violations, great poverty and extreme social inequality.
Almost 50 per cent of the Colombian population lives in poverty. Despite positive economic development, this percentage has hardly changed in the past ten years. The rural population in particular has benefited little from economic growth. More than forty years of armed conflict between government security forces, leftist guerrilla groups and paramilitary factions has been a major constraint on the country's development. There are over three million Colombians who have been displaced in their own country (and therefore count as "internally displaced persons"), and some 400,000 have fled to neighbouring countries. Many areas have been made uninhabitable by the planting of landmines. In 2008, some 900 persons were killed by landmines.
The "Democratic Security Policy" introduced by Colombia's President Uribe after he took office in 2002 has led to an improvement of the country's security situation. The activities of leftist guerrilla groups have been contained and some 36,000 paramilitaries have taken part in demobilisation programmes since 2005. The incidence of serious crimes like murder and kidnapping has dropped sharply. But the root causes of the conflict have not been resolved, and as yet no peace agreement between the various parties is in prospect. All parties still seek to legitimise their struggle by claiming that their aim is to bring peace to the country. Negotiations are made considerably harder by the fact that political struggle, drug trafficking and organised crime are intimately linked.
Relations with Germany
Germany and Colombia maintain close political, economic and cultural relations. For over 50 years, Germany has worked closely with this Latin American partner on matters of development policy. Colombian-German cooperation focuses on the priority area of peacebuilding and crisis prevention.
German Embassy
German Embassy in Colombia
Carrera 69 No. 25B-44
Edificio "World Business Port"
Piso 7
Bogotá, D.C.
Colombia
Phone: +57 / 1 / 42 32 600
Fax: +57 / 1 / 42 93 145
