While General Myers claims the war against the Colombian rebels, specifically the left-wing FARC , with all due respect to the four-star general, all open source indicators show that the current policies, while well intentioned, do not seem to be working as well as planned (WAR Report). On April 19, 2005, Mexico withdrew as a mediator for peace talks with the smaller leftist rebel group, ELN .

Plan Colombia and its various iterations has been ongoing since 2000. During that time, the US has contributed nearly US$4 billion toward eradicating the cocaine trafficking business, which rebels continue to use as a primary source of income, coupled by kidnap for ransom and extortion rackets.