NAME: United Self-Defense Forces/Group of Colombia (AUC-Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia)
DATE STARTED/FIRST ACTIVE: 1997.
GOALS: Claims its primary objective is to protect its sponsors from insurgents.
MAIN ANTI-U.S. ACTIVITIES TO DATE: The paramilitaries have not taken action against U.S. personnel.
STRENGTH: In early 2001, the government estimated there were 8,000 paramilitary fighters, including former military and insurgent personnel.
OPERATIONAL LOCATIONS: AUC forces are strongest in the north and northwest: Antioquia, Cordoba, Sucre, Bolivar, Atlantico, and Magdalena Departments of Colombia.
AFFILIATIONS: None outside Colombia. The AUC is supported by economic elites, drug traffickers, and local communities lacking effective government security.
COMMENTS: The AUC — commonly referred to as autodefensas or paramilitaries — is an umbrella organization formed in April 1997 to consolidate most local and regional paramilitary groups each with the mission to protect economic interests and combat insurgents locally. Listed as "active" during 2000, it was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on October 5, 2001.
DATE STARTED/FIRST ACTIVE: 1997.
GOALS: Claims its primary objective is to protect its sponsors from insurgents.
MAIN ANTI-U.S. ACTIVITIES TO DATE: The paramilitaries have not taken action against U.S. personnel.
STRENGTH: In early 2001, the government estimated there were 8,000 paramilitary fighters, including former military and insurgent personnel.
OPERATIONAL LOCATIONS: AUC forces are strongest in the north and northwest: Antioquia, Cordoba, Sucre, Bolivar, Atlantico, and Magdalena Departments of Colombia.
AFFILIATIONS: None outside Colombia. The AUC is supported by economic elites, drug traffickers, and local communities lacking effective government security.
COMMENTS: The AUC — commonly referred to as autodefensas or paramilitaries — is an umbrella organization formed in April 1997 to consolidate most local and regional paramilitary groups each with the mission to protect economic interests and combat insurgents locally. Listed as "active" during 2000, it was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on October 5, 2001.