THE NEW U.S.-COLOMBIA SECURITY PARTNERSHIP-HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMANITARIAN AND OTHER IMPLICATIONS

Please join us for a timely discussion examining the security, human rights and humanitarian implications of the new U.S.-Colombia security partnership. Since taking office on August 7, President Abelardo de la Espriella has shifted dramatically away from the previous government’s Total Peace policy toward a hardline “mano dura” security strategy centered on strengthening the armed forces; security cooperation with the U.S. and Israel; and joining the Shield of the Americas initiative.

Presently, 27,000 members of illegal armed groups belonging to guerrilla and regrouped paramilitary organizations operate throughout Colombia. De la Espriella has given these groups 30 days to submit to justice or face a large-scale military offensive. He plans to carry out these operations by reviving the previously U.S. co-funded initiatives Plan Colombia and Plan Patriota. Of note, the State Department announced on August 10 that it will be giving Colombia a $1 billion security package. 

At the same time, Colombia suffered a devastating earthquake on August 10 that left hundreds dead or missing and approximately 1.2 million people requiring humanitarian assistance, placing additional pressure on already strained state institutions and vulnerable communities, including rural, Afro descendants and Indigenous. This discussion will assess what these overlapping crises mean for Colombia’s security trajectory and consider the implications in terms of civilian protection, humanitarian response and support for conflict-and disaster-affected communities.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY:

Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli has defended human rights, fought racism and promoted peace for more than 25 years. She is the Director for the Andean region at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), where she leads work on Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. She previously directed WOLA’s work on Haiti for more than five years.

For over two decades, she has brought to Washington the voices of people affected by U.S. policies in the region, including Afro-descendants, Indigenous peoples, women, LGBTQ+ persons, labor union members, victims and displaced populations. Her work focuses on dismantling illegal armed groups, promoting peace agreements and anti-racist policies, protecting social leaders, seeking justice for atrocities and defending labor rights.

Previously, Sánchez-Garzoli worked on internal displacement in Africa, Asia and Latin America at the Brookings Institution, which hosted the UN Secretary-General’s Representative on Internally Displaced Persons, Francis M. Deng of South Sudan. As the U.S. representative for the Colombia Project of Peace Brigades International, Sánchez-Garzoloi accompanied human rights defenders and displaced communities in the conflict regions of Choco, Magdalena Medio and Antioquia in Colombia. She has also worked with the Office of the New York State Attorney General, the Office of the Mayor of New York City, Amnesty International USA, UMCOR, the American Red Cross and the U.S. Committee for Refugees. She also served as a Sodako Ogata volunteer with the UNHCR in refugee camps in Quintana Roo, Mexico, and she founded and directed the SAIS Refugee Forum for more than seven years.

Born in Argentina, she lived in five countries due to the Dirty War. She holds a degree from Columbia University and a master's from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS). She is a PhD candidate at Bircham International University in Peace Studies. Her thesis is focused on the integration of ethnic minorities in Colombia’s 2016 peace accord. 

As a volunteer, she has supported the resettlement of people internally displaced by Hurricane Katrina and the Sudanese “Lost Boys” refugees in Washington, D.C. In 2025, she received the Louis B. Sohn Human Rights Award. Sánchez-Garzoli serves on the Board of Colombia Acuerdo de Paz NGO, and previously served on the board of the Association for Internally Displaced Persons USA. She is a special advisor for the Darryl Chappel Foundation, whose mission is to promote African American and Afrodiasporan artists.