Head coach Jose Pekerman believes Colombia are one of the leading candidates to win the Copa America.
Los Cafeteros, who won the tournament in 2001, have risen to fourth in the FIFA rankings after reaching the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup in Brazil and they boast a number of world stars including James Rodriguez of Real Madrid and Monaco striker Radamel Falcao.
Colombia's campaign starts against Venezuela in Rancagua in Chile on Sunday and Pekerman is confident his side can be successful.
He told Mundo Deportivo: "We see it as an obligation to do well and we are candidates because the majority of our players were in that World Cup team.
"We want to build on what we achieved over there.
"This team should be protagonists here and we must continue to compete for the top places.
"We are looking to find balance and make a strong start to our Copa campaign. Everybody knows that our responsibility is to try and win the Copa America."
Venezuela have never reached the final but got to the last eight when they hosted the competition in 2007 and made a semi-final appearance in Argentina four years ago. There t hey lost to Paraguay before going down 4-1 to Peru in the third-place play-off.
Noel Sanvicente's team arrive in Chile in promising form having won three of their last four games.
The last match saw them beat Peru to atone for their disappointment in 2011 while La Vinotinto twice conquered Honduras in a February double-header.
Source: PA
