DATE=3/30/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=COLOMBIA / U-S AID
NUMBER=5-46052
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=BOGOTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Colombian government is eagerly awaiting
final approval of a U-S anti-narcotics aid package, but
some Colombians are concerned over the military aspects
of the program. As V-O-A's Bill Rodgers reports from
Bogota, the concerns center on what some see as the
danger of growing U-S military involvement in the
Colombian conflict.
TEXT: The proposed aid package is designed to help
Colombia combat drug production and trafficking --
especially of cocaine. The South American nation is
now the source of 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in
the United States. Efforts by Colombian police to
crack down on drugs has been hampered by the decades-
long conflict between the government, leftist rebels
and rightwing paramilitary groups. All the armed
groups -- in one way or another -- collaborate with the
drug trade, making it difficult for Colombian
authorities to stamp it out.
The one-point-seven billion dollar U-S package, part of
which will be spent in combating drugs in neighboring
countries, will provide direct military aid to Colombia
in the form of helicopters, training and other
assistance. It is this military assistance that is
raising concerns among some Colombians.
Responding to this, the U-S ambassador to Colombia,
Curtis Kamman, says the package also includes other
forms of assistance.
/// 1st KAMMAN ACT ///
Our part of the overall plan, although it is
heavily counter-narcotics, is not the whole plan.
The plan is to do as much as possible to improve
the economy [and] strengthen democratic
institutions. And a lot of the resources to do
that will come either from other international
donors or from Colombia's own resources. So I
don't feel that we need to excuse ourselves for
doing something that has a high anti-narcotics
component. It's good for us, it's good for
Colombia, but it's not the whole story.
/// END ACT ///
But for some Colombian analysts the military aid
component is the whole story, or at least the most
significant part. Political scientist Alvaro Camacho
(who teaches at the National University's Institute for
Political Studies in Bogota), fears the military
assistance will lead to more bloodshed, and create
hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from military
confrontations in zones where coca is grown. Mr.
Camacho also warns of the dangers of growing U-S
military involvement.
/// CAMACHO ACT IN SPANISH-IN AND FADE UNDER ///
He says, "While Colombia is not Vietnam, the same logic
applies." It will always be, he says, that "one more
step needs to be taken to accomplish the objective, and
so the involvement will increase step by step. It's a
very risky policy," he adds.
U-S and Colombian officials discount this, but
Ambassador Kamman does acknowledge there is likely to
be fighting.
/// 2ND KAMMAN ACT ///
We're not kidding ourselves. If we are successful --
and here I'm speaking really of the Colombians -- if
they go after the narco-traffickers, then the
guerrillas will attempt to stop that effort. However,
if we give the Colombians the tools, the training,
[and] the equipment, I think they can succeed. And
that is their strong hope, and that is their strong
commitment, and that is why we are working so closely
with the government of President Andres Pastrana.
/// END ACT ///
The principal target will be Colombia's largest
guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, known as FARC.
The FARC, which has some 17-thousand fighters, controls
a huge swath of Colombian territory, especially in
southern Colombia, where a lot of the coca is grown.
//OPT// FARC leaders admit to taxing peasant farmers
who grow coca in return for protection, but they flatly
deny any involvement in drug trafficking. They say
they will work to help farmers grow alternative crops
once a peace agreement is signed and funds are made
available to invest in these programs. // END OPT //
In a V-O-A interview, FARC spokesman Raul Reyes said
the leftist rebels are not opposed to some aspects of
the U-S aid package, which is part of a larger overall
development program called "Plan Colombia." But Mr.
Reyes strongly denounced the military aspects of the
program.
/// REYES ACT IN SPANISH-IN AND FADE UNDER ///
He says, "We are opposed to all parts of the program
which involve military assistance, military equipment,
and military training." "Our worry," he says, "is that
the counter-drug strategy is being used as a cover to
disguise greater U-S involvement in Colombia's internal
affairs, and will further aggravate the conflict."
The U-S aid package comes as the FARC and President
Pastrana's government are holding peace talks on a 12-
point agenda to end the conflict. U-S officials say
providing military assistance to Colombia's armed
forces to combat drugs may be an incentive to the FARC
to reach a peace agreement with the government. But
even if this happens, they say, the war on drugs in
Colombia will continue, as long as this South American
nation continues to be a main supplier of narcotics to
the United States. (Signed)
NEB/WFR/WTW
30-Mar-2000 17:24 PM EDT (30-Mar-2000 2224 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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