News

USIS Washington File

12 January 2000

Text: Albright Statement on Increased U.S. Aid to Colombia

(Secretary of State cites "profound interest" in helping Bogota) (620)

Increased U.S. assistance to Colombia will go to support the plan of
that country's president, Andres Pastrana, to achieve peace, fight
crime, promote prosperity and improve governance throughout his
nation, says Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

In a January 11 statement, Albright said the United States has a
"profound interest" in helping Bogota achieve "these closely-linked
goals." Albright said that four-fifths of the cocaine entering this
country comes from Colombia or is transported through it, and that
most of Colombia's heroin production is also smuggled into the United
States.

Following is the text of Albright's statement:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

January 11, 2000

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT

U.S. ASSISTANCE TO COLOMBIA

I am very pleased to join the Director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, General Barry McCaffrey, and Special Envoy Buddy
MacKay, in announcing a major initiative in support of Colombian
President Pastrana's plan for achieving peace, fighting crime,
promoting prosperity and improving governance throughout his country.

We have a profound interest in helping Colombia to achieve these
closely-linked goals. Four-fifths of the cocaine entering our country
either comes from Colombia or is transported through it. Most of
Colombia's heroin production is exported to the United States. And
drug-related activities fuel crime, corruption and social problems
throughout the Americas.

Our initiative has five elements, to be funded through a supplemental
appropriations request for the year 2000, and as part of the
President's budget for the next fiscal year.

Our assistance will be used, first, to help train and equip Colombian
security forces so that more of the country is brought under the
control of democracy and the rule of law.

Second, we will actively support President Pastrana's effort to
negotiate peaceful settlements with illegal armed groups.

Third, we will dramatically increase support for alternative
development, strengthening local governments and resettling persons
displaced by conflict.

Fourth, we will enhance our backing for efforts to interdict drugs.

Finally, and very importantly, we will assist in strengthening
mechanisms for protecting human rights and promoting judicial reform.

As a matter of both policy and law, we will ensure that our assistance
does not go to military units that have been implicated in abuses. We
will help train judicial officials to investigate and prosecute human
rights crimes. And we will continue to encourage the Colombian
authorities to take appropriate action against violators of human
rights whether those violators are military, paramilitary, guerrilla
or just plain criminal.

The United States is not alone in helping Colombia. With our strong
support, the IMF has approved a new $2.7 billion program. We are
endorsing Bogota's request for nearly $3 billion in loans from the
World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. And we are
encouraging other bilateral donors to come forward.

Recognizing that neither criminals nor conflicts respect national
borders, we are also stepping up support for counter-drug and
alternative development programs for Colombia's neighbors.

In preparing our initiative, we have consulted frequently with leading
Members of Congress, who have shared with us their strong concerns
about law enforcement and human rights. We will continue to work
closely with them in the months ahead.

Our Colombia initiative reflects President Clinton's strong support
for hemispheric cooperation on behalf of democracy and law, and his
conviction that President Pastrana deserves our support in his effort
to bring the benefits of reconciliation and the rule of law to his
people.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State)