Page "History of Colombia" Paragraph 34

President Ernesto Samper assumed office in August 1994.

However, a political crisis relating to large-scale contributions from drug traffickers to Samper's presidential campaign diverted attention from governance programs, thus slowing, and in many cases, halting progress on the nation's domestic reform agenda.

The military also suffered several setbacks in its fight against the guerrillas, when several of its rural bases began to be overrun and a record number of soldiers and officers were taken prisoner by the FARC ( which since 1982 was attempting to implement a more " conventional " style of warfare, seeking to eventually defeat the military in the field ).