For the foregoing reasons, we  recommend that country risk for Colombia should now be reassessed, to factor in the distinct possibility of an armed conflict with Venezuela this year. If offensive missile systems are deployed against Colombia, normal international communications, as well as power grids, will most likely be disabled, and financial institutions temporarily closed. International banks whose clients have substantial commerce with Colombia would be wise to create a contingency plan at this time, for letters of credit, international funds transfers, and routine payments would all be disrupted.

Note also that financial criminals, particularly transnational money launderers acting on behalf of narcotics trafficking organisations, might also seek to transfer funds, calculating that in the chaos of war, distracted and overworked compliance officers might not discover, or could overlook illicit transactions.     _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
  * Note that much of the equipment is of Russian manufacture, but since Iran supplied them to Venezuela, one can only regard them as of Iranian origin.