"text":"Venezuela was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Ecuador and New Granada, which became Colombia). For most of the first half of the 20th century, Venezuela was ruled by generally benevolent military strongmen who promoted the oil industry and allowed for some social reforms. Democratically elected governments have held sway since 1959, although the 2018 re-election of current disputed President Nicolas MADURO in an election boycotted by most opposition parties was widely viewed as fraudulent. Under Hugo CHAVEZ, president from 1999 to 2013, and his hand-picked successor, MADURO, the executive branch has exercised increasingly authoritarian control over other branches of government. The last opposition-controlled institution is the National Assembly that was elected in 2015, whose president Juan GUAIDO is currently recognized by several countries - including the United States - as the interim president of Venezuela. MADURO held legislative elections for a new National Assembly in 2020, but the opposition boycotted these elections and the resulting assembly is viewed by the opposition and its international allies as illegitimate. The MADURO regime places strong restrictions on freedoms of expression and the press. Since CHAVEZ, the ruling party's economic policies expanded the state's role in the economy through expropriations of major enterprises, strict currency exchange and price controls that discourage private sector investment and production, and overdependence on the petroleum industry for revenues, among others. Years of economic mismanagement left Venezuela ill-prepared to weather the global drop in oil prices in 2014, sparking an ongoing economic decline that has resulted in reduced government social spending, shortages of basic goods, and high inflation. Worsened living conditions have prompted over 6 million Venezuelans to migrate, mainly settling in nearby countries. The US has imposed financial and sectoral sanctions on the MADURO regime since 2017. Caracas has since relaxed some economic controls to mitigate the impact of its economic crisis, such as allowing increased currency and import flexibility for private citizens and companies. Other concerns include human rights abuses, rampant violent crime, and corruption."
"text":"Rio Negro (shared with Colombia [s] and Brazil [m]) - 2,250 km; Orinoco river source and mouth (shared with Colombia) - 2,101 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"most of the population is concentrated in the northern and western highlands along an eastern spur at the northern end of the Andes, an area that includes the capital of Caracas"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"subject to floods, rockslides, mudslides; periodic droughts"
"text":"<p><strong>note 1:</strong> the country lies on major sea and air routes linking North and South America</p> <p><strong>note 2:</strong> Venezuela has some of the most unique geology in the world; tepuis are massive table-top mountains of the western Guiana Highlands that tend to be isolated and thus support unique endemic plant and animal species; their sheer cliffsides account for some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world including Angel Falls, the world's highest (979 m) that drops off Auyan Tepui</p>"
"text":"<br>La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"<p>Social investment in Venezuela during the CHAVEZ administration reduced poverty from nearly 50% in 1999 to about 27% in 2011, increased school enrollment, substantially decreased infant and child mortality, and improved access to potable water and sanitation through social investment. \"Missions\" dedicated to education, nutrition, healthcare, and sanitation were funded through petroleum revenues. The sustainability of this progress remains questionable, however, as the continuation of these social programs depends on the prosperity of Venezuela's oil industry. In the long-term, education and health care spending may increase economic growth and reduce income inequality, but rising costs and the staffing of new health care jobs with foreigners are slowing development.</p> <p>While CHAVEZ was in power, more than one million predominantly middle- and upper-class Venezuelans are estimated to have emigrated. The brain drain is attributed to a repressive political system, lack of economic opportunities, steep inflation, a high crime rate, and corruption. Thousands of oil engineers emigrated to Canada, Colombia, and the United States following CHAVEZ's firing of over 20,000 employees of the state-owned petroleum company during a 2002-03 oil strike. Additionally, thousands of Venezuelans of European descent have taken up residence in their ancestral homelands. Nevertheless, Venezuela has attracted hundreds of thousands of immigrants from South America and southern Europe because of its lenient migration policy and the availability of education and health care. Venezuela also has been a fairly accommodating host to Colombian refugees, numbering about 170,000 as of year-end 2016. However, since 2014, falling oil prices have driven a major economic crisis that has pushed Venezuelans from all walks of life to migrate or to seek asylum abroad to escape severe shortages of food, water, and medicine; soaring inflation; unemployment; and violence. As of March 2020, an estimated 5 million Venezuelans were refugees or migrants worldwide, with almost 80% taking refuge in Latin America and the Caribbean (notably Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil, as well as the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and Curacao). Asylum applications increased significantly in the US and Brazil in 2016 and 2017. Several receiving countries are making efforts to increase immigration restrictions and to deport illegal Venezuelan migrants - Ecuador and Peru in August 2018 began requiring valid passports for entry, which are difficult to obtain for Venezuelans. Nevertheless, Venezuelans continue to migrate to avoid economic collapse at home.</p>"
"text":"most of the population is concentrated in the northern and western highlands along an eastern spur at the northern end of the Andes, an area that includes the capital of Caracas"
"text":"2.957 million CARACAS (capital), 2.333 million Maracaibo, 1.959 million Valencia, 1.241 million Barquisimeto, 1.230 million Maracay, 950,000 Ciudad Guayana (2022)"
"note":"<strong>Note:</strong> as of 1 March 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Venezuela; the country is experiencing outbreaks of infectious diseases, and adequate health care is currently not available in most of the country"
"text":"sewage pollution of Lago de Valencia; oil and urban pollution of Lago de Maracaibo; deforestation; soil degradation; urban and industrial pollution, especially along the Caribbean coast; threat to the rainforest ecosystem from irresponsible mining operations"
"text":"1.16% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)"
}
},
"Major infectious diseases":{
"degree of risk":{
"text":"high (2020)"
},
"food or waterborne diseases":{
"text":"bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A"
},
"vectorborne diseases":{
"text":"dengue fever and malaria"
},
"note":"<strong>Note:</strong> as of 1 March 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Venezuela; the country is experiencing outbreaks of infectious diseases, and adequate health care is currently not available in most of the country"
"text":"due to severe economic crisis - the total number of refugees and migrants from the country is estimated at 5.4 million, with the largest populations located in Colombia, Peru, and Chile; humanitarian needs for refugees and migrants are significant; the national economy, highly dependent on oil production and exports, is forecast to contract in 2021 for the eighth consecutive year; with the persistent negative effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic that have compounded the already severe macro‑economic crisis, the access to food of the most vulnerable households is expected to deteriorate throughout 2021 due to widespread losses of income‑generating activities and soaring food prices (2021)"
"text":"Rio Negro (shared with Colombia [s] and Brazil [m]) - 2,250 km; Orinoco river source and mouth (shared with Colombia) - 2,101 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"State of Venezuela, Republic of Venezuela, United States of Venezuela"
},
"etymology":{
"text":"native stilt-houses built on Lake Maracaibo reminded early explorers Alonso de OJEDA and Amerigo VESPUCCI in 1499 of buildings in Venice and so they named the region \"Venezuola,\" which in Italian means \"Little Venice\""
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"federal presidential republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Caracas"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"10 29 N, 66 52 W"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
"text":"many previous; latest adopted 15 December 1999, effective 30 December 1999"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed through agreement by at least 39% of the National Assembly membership, by the president of the republic in session with the cabinet of ministers, or by petition of at least 15% of registered voters; passage requires simple majority vote by the Assembly and simple majority approval in a referendum; amended 2009; note - in 2016, President MADURO issued a decree to hold an election to form a constituent assembly to change the constitution; the election in July 2017 approved the formation of a 545-member constituent assembly and elected its delegates, empowering them to change the constitution and dismiss government institutions and officials"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"civil law system based on the Spanish civil code"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"yes"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"yes"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"10 years; reduced to five years in the case of applicants from Spain, Portugal, Italy, or a Latin American or Caribbean country"
"text":"Notification Statement: the United States recognizes Juan GUAIDO as the Interim President of Venezuela<br><br>President Nicolas MADURO Moros (since 19 April 2013); Executive Vice President Delcy RODRIGUEZ Gomez (since 14 June 2018); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government"
"text":"President Nicolas MADURO Moros (since 19 April 2013); Executive Vice President Delcy RODRIGUEZ Gomez (since 14 June 2018)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Council of Ministers appointed by the president"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 6-year term (no term limits); election last held on 20 May 2018 (next election scheduled for 2024)"
"text":"2018: Nicolas MADURO Moros reelected president; percent of vote - Nicolas MADURO Moros (PSUV) 68%, Henri FALCON (AP) 21%, Javier BERTUCCI 11%; note - the election was marked by serious shortcomings and electoral fraud; voter turnout was approximately 46% due largely to an opposition boycott of the election<br><br>2013: Nicolas MADURO Moros elected president; percent of vote - Nicolas MADURO Moros (PSUV) 50.6%, Henrique CAPRILES Radonski (PJ) 49.1%, other 0.3%"
"text":"unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (277 seats; 3 seats reserved for indigenous peoples of Venezuela; members serve 5-year terms); note - in 2020, the National Electoral Council increased the number of seats in the National Assembly from 167 to 277 for the 6 December 2020 election"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 6 December 2020 (next to be held in December 2025)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"percent of vote by party - GPP (pro-government) 69.32%, Democratic Alliance (opposition coalition) 17.68%, other 13%; seats by party - GPP 253, Democratic Alliance 18, indigenous peoples 3, other 3"
"text":"Supreme Tribunal of Justice (consists of 32 judges organized into constitutional, political-administrative, electoral, civil appeals, criminal appeals, and social divisions)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judges proposed by the Committee of Judicial Postulation (an independent body of organizations dealing with legal issues and of the organs of citizen power) and appointed by the National Assembly; judges serve nonrenewable 12-year terms; note - in July 2017, the National Assembly named 33 judges to the court to replace a series of judges, it argued, had been illegally appointed in late 2015 by the outgoing, socialist-party-led Assembly; the Government of President MADURO and the Socialist Party-appointed judges refused to recognize these appointments, however, and many of the new judges have since been imprisoned or forced into exile"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Superior or Appeals Courts (Tribunales Superiores); District Tribunals (Tribunales de Distrito); Courts of First Instance (Tribunales de Primera Instancia); Parish Courts (Tribunales de Parroquia); Justices of the Peace (Justicia de Paz) Network"
"text":"<p>A New Era or UNT [Manuel ROSALES]<br>Brave People's Alliance or ABP [Richard BLANCO]<br>Cambiemos Movimiento Ciudadano or CMC [Timoteo ZAMBRANO]<br>Christian Democrats or COPEI [Miguel SALAZAR]<br>Clear Accounts or CC [Enzo SCARENO]<br>Coalition of parties loyal to Nicolas MADURO -- Great Patriotic Pole or GPP [Nicolas MADURO]<br>Coalition of opposition parties -- Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democratica) (comprised of AD, EL CAMBIO, COPEI, CMC, and AP)<br>Come Venezuela (Vente Venezuela) or VV [Maria MACHADO]<br>Communist Party of Venezuela or PCV [Oscar FIGUERA]<br>Democratic Action or AD [Jose Bernabe GUTIERREZ Parra]<br>EL CAMBIO (The Change) [Javier Alejandro BERTUCCI Carrero]<br>Justice First or PJ [Julio BORGES]<br>Popular Will or VP [Leopoldo LOPEZ]<br>Progressive Wave or AP [Henri FALCON]<br>The Radical Cause or La Causa R [Andres VELAZQUEZ]<br>United Socialist Party of Venezuela or PSUV [Nicolas MADURO]<br>Venezuelan Progressive Movement or MPV [Simon CALZADILLA]<br>Venezuela Project or PV [Henrique Fernando SALAS FEO]</p>"
"text":"Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires James \"Jimmy\" STORY (since July 2018); note - on 11 March 2019, the Department of State announced the temporary suspension of operations of the US Embassy in Caracas and the withdrawal of diplomatic personnel; all consular services, routine and emergency, are suspended"
"text":"now operating from Bogota, Colombia<br>Venezuela Affairs Unit, Carrera 45 N. 24B-27, Bogota<br><br>previously - F St. and Suapure St.; Urb . Colinas de Valle Arriba; Caracas 1080"
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), blue, and red with the coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band and an arc of eight white five-pointed stars centered in the blue band; the flag retains the three equal horizontal bands and three main colors of the banner of Gran Colombia, the South American republic that broke up in 1830; yellow is interpreted as standing for the riches of the land, blue for the courage of its people, and red for the blood shed in attaining independence; the seven stars on the original flag represented the seven provinces in Venezuela that united in the war of independence; in 2006, then President Hugo CHAVEZ ordered an eighth star added to the star arc - a decision that sparked much controversy - to conform with the flag proclaimed by Simon Bolivar in 1827 and to represent the historic province of Guayana"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"troupial (bird); national colors: yellow, blue, red"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Gloria al bravo pueblo\" (Glory to the Brave People)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1881; lyrics written in 1810, the music some years later; both SALIAS and LANDAETA were executed in 1814 during Venezuela's struggle for independence"
"text":"<p>Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for almost all export earnings and nearly half of the government’s revenue, despite a continued decline in oil production in 2017. In the absence of official statistics, foreign experts estimate that GDP contracted 12% in 2017, inflation exceeded 2000%, people faced widespread shortages of consumer goods and medicine, and the central bank's international reserves dwindled. In late 2017, Venezuela also entered selective default on some of its sovereign and state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., (PDVSA) bonds. Domestic production and industry continues to severely underperform and the Venezuelan Government continues to rely on imports to meet its basic food and consumer goods needs.</p><p></p><p>Falling oil prices since 2014 have aggravated Venezuela’s economic crisis. Insufficient access to dollars, price controls, and rigid labor regulations have led some US and multinational firms to reduce or shut down their Venezuelan operations. Market uncertainty and PDVSA’s poor cash flow have slowed investment in the petroleum sector, resulting in a decline in oil production.</p><p></p><p>Under President Nicolas MADURO, the Venezuelan Government’s response to the economic crisis has been to increase state control over the economy and blame the private sector for shortages. MADURO has given authority for the production and distribution of basic goods to the military and to local socialist party member committees. The Venezuelan Government has maintained strict currency controls since 2003. The government has been unable to sustain its mechanisms for distributing dollars to the private sector, in part because it needed to withhold some foreign exchange reserves to make its foreign bond payments. As a result of price and currency controls, local industries have struggled to purchase production inputs necessary to maintain their operations or sell goods at a profit on the local market. Expansionary monetary policies and currency controls have created opportunities for arbitrage and corruption and fueled a rapid increase in black market activity.</p>"
"text":"agricultural products, livestock, raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, iron and steel products, crude oil and petroleum products"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> data cover central government debt, as well as the debt of state-owned oil company PDVSA; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include some debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; some debt instruments for the social funds are sold at public auctions"
"text":"telecom industry struggling due to political upheaval in the country; poor quality of service in many areas of the country due to decrepit state of fixed-line network and operators’ inability to pay for equipment from foreign vendors; operator suffering from stolen or damaged infrastructure; many consumers favor mobile service, and cancel their fixed-line services; popularity of social networks caused growth in mobile data traffic; LTE coverage to about half of the population; government launched National Fiber Optic backbone project in 2019; national satellite drifted off course and became non-operational; American company closed a telecom service due to US sanctions and a Chilean company later acquired the service; Internet freedom deteriorating amid crisis, with frequent disruptions to service and monitoring; importer of broadcasting equipment from the USA (2020)"
"text":"two domestic satellite systems with three earth stations; recent substantial improvement in telephone service in rural areas; 3 major providers operate in the mobile market and compete with state-owned company; fixed-line over 18 per 100 and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership about 63 per 100 persons (2020)"
"text":"country code - 58; landing points for the Venezuela Festoon, ARCOS, PAN-AM, SAC, GlobeNet, ALBA-1 and Americas II submarine cable system providing connectivity to the Caribbean, Central and South America, and US; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 PanAmSat (2020)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments"
"text":"Venezuela has a mixture of state-run and private broadcast media that are subject to high levels of government control, including the shuttering of opposition-leaning media outlets; 13 public service networks, 61 privately owned TV networks, a privately owned news channel with limited national coverage, and a government-backed Pan-American channel; 3 state-run radio networks officially control roughly 65 news stations and another 30 stations targeted at specific audiences; state-sponsored community broadcasters include 235 radio stations and 44 TV stations; the number of private broadcast radio stations has been declining, but many still remain in operation (2021)"
"text":"Bolivarian National Armed Forces (Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana, FANB): Bolivarian Army (Ejercito Bolivariano, EB), Bolivarian Navy (Armada Bolivariana, AB; includes marines, Coast Guard), Bolivarian Military Aviation (Aviacion Militar Bolivariana, AMB; includes a joint-service Aerospace Defense Command (Comando de Defensa Aeroespacial Integral, CODAI), Bolivarian Militia (Milicia Bolivariana), Bolivarian National Guard (Guardia Nacional Bolivaria, GNB)<br><br>Bolivarian National Police: Special Action Forces (Fuerzas de Acciones Especiales, FAES) (2021)",
"note":"note(s) - the Bolivarian Militia was added as a \"special component\" to the FANB in 2020; the National Guard is responsible for maintaining public order, guarding the exterior of key government installations and prisons, conducting counter-narcotics operations, monitoring borders, and providing law enforcement in remote areas; it reports to both the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior, Justice, and Peace<br><br>the FAES police paramilitary unit was created by President MADURO after the 2017 anti-government protests to bolster internal security; it has been accused of multiple human rights abuses"
"note":"note - in 2020, the Venezuelan Government claimed the Bolivarian Militia had over 4 million members, but most reportedly have little to no military training"
"text":"the FANB inventory is mainly of Chinese and Russian origin with a smaller mix of equipment from Western countries, including the US; since 2010, Russia is the top supplier of military hardware to Venezuela (2021)"
"text":"18-30 (25 for women) for voluntary service; the minimum service obligation is 24-30 months; all citizens of military service age (18-50 years old) are obligated to register for military service and subject to military training, although “forcible recruitment” is forbidden (2021)",
"note":"note - as of 2017, women made up more than 20% of the active duty military"
"text":"between 2013 and 2017, Venezuela established at least a dozen military-led firms in a variety of economic sectors, such as agriculture, banking, construction, insurance, the media, mining, oil, and tourism; as of 2020, military officers reportedly led at least 60 state-owned companies; as of 2019, 9 of 32 government ministries were controlled by the military, including the ministries of agriculture and energy<br><br>as of late 2021, an estimated 1,500- 2,000 members of the terrorist organizations National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia dissidents (FARC-People's Army and Segundo Marquetalia - see Appendix T) operated in Venezuela, mostly in the states of Amazonas, Apure, Bolivar, Guarico, Tachira, and Zulia, although ELN was assessed to be present in 12 of Venezuela’s 23 states; the groups were particularly active in Apure state where the Venezuelan military clashed several times with FARC dissidents of the 10th Front in 2020-2021"
"text":"The International Maritime Bureau continues to report the territorial and offshore waters in the Caribbean Sea as at risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships; numerous vessels, including commercial shipping and pleasure craft, have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway; crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen; in 2020, no attacks were reported which was a decrease from the six attacks in 2019"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T"
"text":"<p>claims all of the area west of the Essequibo River in Guyana, preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; dispute with Colombia over maritime boundary and Venezuelan administered Los Monjes Islands near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian organized illegal narcotics and paramilitary activities penetrate Venezuela's shared border region; US, France, and the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's granting full effect to Aves Island, thereby claiming a Venezuelan Economic Exclusion Zone/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea; Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protest Venezuela's full effect claim</p>"
"text":"Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, lured from the nation's interior to urban and tourist areas; women from Colombia, Peru, Haiti, China, and South Africa are also reported to have been sexually exploited in Venezuela; some Venezuelan women are transported to Caribbean islands, particularly Aruba, Curacao, and Trinidad & Tobago, where they are subjected to forced prostitution; some Venezuelan children are forced to beg on the streets or work as domestic servants, while Ecuadorian children, often from indigenous communities, are subjected to forced labor; the government provided support to FARC dissidents and the ELN, which grew through the recruitment of child soldiers and exploitation of children in sex trafficking and forced labor; Illegal armed groups lure children in vulnerable conditions and dire economic circumstances with gifts and promises of basic sustenance to later recruit them into their ranks"
"text":"Tier 3 — Venezuela does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government created a specialized prosecutor’s office to oversee trafficking investigations and prosecutions; authorities began legal proceedings against three complicit officials in a notable case; however, the government did not assist any victims or investigate, prosecute, or convict any traffickers; little effort was made to curb the forced recruitment of Venezuelan children by Colombian armed groups operating illegally in Venezuela; authorities made little effort to screen Cuban medical professionals for trafficking indicators as the Cuban Government may have forced them to work by withholding their documentation, and coercing them to falsify medical records (2020)"
"text":"<p>a major drug transit country and trafficking route in the Western Hemisphere largely destined for the Caribbean, Central America, the United States, West Africa, and Europe for illegal drugs, predominately cocaine; government officials reportedly complicit with illegal armed narcotrafficking groups little international drug control cooperation; significant narcotics-related money-laundering activity, increasing signs of drug-related activities by Colombian insurgents on border</p>"
