DATE=5/5/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=COLOMBIA-DRUGS PT 3
NUMBER=5-46275
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=RIO DE JANEIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Clashes between Colombian government troops
and leftist and rightist guerrillas are growing more
frequent as a result of an expanding crackdown on drug
traffickers, who have close ties with the guerillas.
Now, critics of a proposed U-S anti-narcotics aid
package for Colombia say the U-S assistance is going to
further fuel the conflict. In the third and final part
of his series on the Colombian drug issue, VOA's Bill
Rodgers reports on how U-S aid may affect the prospects
for war and peace in that nation.
TEXT: A guerrilla war has been underway in Colombia
for more than 35-years -- in a conflict that has left
more than 35-thousand people dead over the past decade.
The country's largest guerrilla group, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, has been
fighting the government since the mid-1960's. It has
some 17-thousand combatants deployed throughout the
country.
Another smaller leftist insurgency, the National
Liberation Army, E-L-N, has some five-thousand
fighters. Rightist paramilitary groups -- some
allegedly supported by elements of Colombia's Armed
Forces -- have hundreds of combatants.
All these armed groups to a greater or lesser extent
have ties to the drug trade. In return for protecting
the trafficking, they receive huge payments that they
use to finance their guerrilla operations.
The Colombian government says it is determined to
disrupt this relationship as it steps up its anti-
narcotics campaign. Even though peace talks are
underway with the FARC, Interior Minister Nestor
Humberto Martinez says the drug war will go forward.
///MARTINEZ SPANISH ACT WITH ENGLISH VOICEOVER///
The eradication of drugs is something the
Colombian government and the Colombian people
want to move forward on. In this case, the drug
trade has contributed to financing much of the
conflict in Colombia and is the source of many of
the troubles of this country. This is why a firm
policy against drugs is fundamental. The
President of the Republic has said that in the
measure that the FARC and other rebel groups are
not involved in drug trafficking, they have no
reason to fear this fight which has to go
forward.
///END ACT///
The U-S government is proposing a one-point-six billion
dollar aid program to help Colombia in its drug war.
Washington is alarmed by the rise in drug trafficking
in recent years, as well as by the large amounts of
revenue flowing to the various guerrilla movements. It
is estimated the rebels earn more than a million
dollars a day from the drug trade.
/// OPT /// Coca cultivation in Colombia has doubled
over the past five years -- and the country now grows
or processes 500 tons of cocaine a year. This
represents 90 percent of the world's supply, and much
of it ends up in the United States. /// End OPT ///
The U-S aid package includes helicopters, equipment,
and training to help the Colombian military secure
guerrilla-controlled areas so police can destroy drug
labs and coca plots. But the FARC says the real aim of
the U-S aid is to help the Colombian army defeat the
insurgents. A FARC peace negotiator, Ivan Rios, states
the rebel position.
/// RIOS SPANISH ACT WITH ENGLISH VOICEOVER ///
It is said that drug traffickers are going to be
the targets, but we know this is not the
solution. So we ask ourselves against what
armies of drug traffickers are they going to
fight against.
///END ACT///
Mr. Rios says U-S aid dollars should be used for rural
development programs so that peasant farmers have
alternatives to growing coca.
Colombian Interior Minister Martinez says his
government's strategy, called Plan Colombia, emphasizes
this aspect of the drug war. He notes that hundreds of
millions of dollars will be directed to alternative
crop development. At the same time, Mr. Martinez
denies the notion that Plan Colombia's objective is to
go after the FARC and other rebel groups.
///MARTINEZ SPANISH ACT WITH ENGLISH VOICEOVER///
This is not aid for intervening in the internal
conflict, it is aid directed at eradicating the
illicit crops and combating drug trafficking. It
is not about creating conditions that make the
armed conflict between the insurgents and the
Colombian state more difficult. This has to be
made clear.
///END ACT///
However, the potential for increased fighting is higher
as Colombian troops step-up their incursions into
rebel-controlled areas where coca is grown or
processed. /// OPT /// Planes and helicopters used to
fumigate coca often draw groundfire from the rebels --
who defend their actions by saying they are protecting
farmers who have no choice but to grow the illicit
crop. /// End OPT ///
The U-S ambassador to Colombia, Curtis Kamman,
acknowledges the possibility of heightened conflict.
/// KAMMAN ACT ///
We're not kidding ourselves. If we are
successful, and here I speak 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.
///END ACT///
The U-S envoy adds that cracking down on drug
trafficking will reduce the income flowing to the
rebels and will give them a greater incentive to reach a
peace accord with the government. But FARC commanders
say they will never negotiate under pressure, and they
vow to resist what they consider U-S sponsored
aggression.
In the meantime, peace talks with the government
continue in southern Colombia where a demilitarized
zone has been created for holding negotiations. But
outside this zone fighting between the military and the
FARC is on the rise -- while the other armed groups
also launch attacks against the government and each
other. For now, peace appears to be a distant prospect
-- and amidst the violence and chaos, drug production
and trafficking flourish. (Signed)
NEB/WFR/KBK
05-May-2000 16:20 PM EDT (05-May-2000 2020 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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