From the Heritage Foundation, I'm Tim Desher, and this is Heritage Explains.

We've all seen the movies and TV shows, heard the music, and experienced the culture.

From Pablo Escobar to Juan Valdez, to moving with a partner to the incredible music.

Columbia has made its mark on the world.

In fact, Colombia is a key pillar of stability and security in South America, as well as an economic leader.

Now, because I've never been there before, much of my perspective on Columbia has been seen through pop culture.

Some true, others fabricated.

One thing that is largely not fabricated is cocaine, crime, and internal battles between the Colombian government and drug

traffickers to keep the peace. That is until this happened a few years ago.

The president of Colombia signed a new peace deal with FARC rebels this morning about six weeks

after voters narrowly rejected an earlier agreement.

Days after that vote, President Juan Manuel Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts

to end that five-decade-old war.

But peace has not always been an easy target to hit.

Former FARC rebel leaders announcing in late August they are returning to war,

the reason they say President Ivanduque is not implementing the 2016 Peace Accord.

While there are several reasons, the decades-long war is not over. General Alberto

Magia, commander of armed forces in Colombia, sums it up in a few short words.

As long as there is coca and cocaine, those groups will have support to continue their fight against democracy and to continue

their fight against civilian population.

And he's right.

While this real-life crime drama plays out in front of the world, Colombian cocaine has caused very real damage

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