Colombia-United States relations in times of post-peace agreement and Donald Trump From 'exemplary partner' to 'problem country'?

Abstract

Historically, relations between Colombia and the United States were repeatedly discussed in terms of the existence of two competing strategies: réspice polum (subordination and alignment) and réspice similia (diversification and search for autonomy). The object of our work is the development of these relationships over the past two decades under the strategy of Plan Colombia and its successor, Plan Paz Colombia. Initially focused on the fight against drugs, the scope of cooperation between the two countries was gradually widened to include more areas thanks to changes in both the internal environments of both countries, as well as in the regional and international context. Based on some basic hypotheses on the direction of bilateral relations and a summary of their historical development up to the presidency of Juan Manuel Santos, the text analyses in its main part the bilateral cooperation in the different political areas since the beginning of 2017, characterized by the entry into force of the peace agreement with the FARC and the assumption of Donald Trump as the new president in the United States. In the end, we wonder if the development of bilateral relations from 2017 to the present is confirming the hypotheses formulated in the introduction.