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
.