U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman (Quito, Ecuador) Joint Press Availability with Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright And Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Relations Heinz Moeller Carondelet Palace Quito, Ecuador August 18, 2000 QUESTION: (in Spanish) A cordial greeting to you, Mrs. Albright. Various social sectors have criticized the use of the Manta Base as part of Plan Colombia. On the other hand there are individuals who request an increase in economic aid to Ecuador, which is now only $20 million. What do you think of these positions? Is the U.S. committed to increase economic aid and what compensation is foreseen for Ecuador if displacements and other consequences of Plan Colombia affect it? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, let me say that, as I just mentioned, we signed this agreement on food aid; actually I think that once it (the food) is sold it will be worth more than 20 million dollars. We understand the problems of being a neighboring country to Colombia and we have provided additional money to Ecuador. As a result, we are providing 20 million dollars in aid under Plan Colombia and we are looking for additional assistance to help on the northern border and also $15 million will be available to help displaced people and, again, we are going to be looking for more there. We also spent a great deal of time in our discussions discussing the northern border and understanding the problems of the spillover. I think we have developed a way to discuss this issue further because I think that it is essential that the countries surrounding Colombia also be recognized as having a difficult problem. Let me explain that the reason the United States decided that it was important to help Colombia in dealing with narco-trafficking is not just because of what is happening in Colombia itself, but because by dealing with this very serious problem there, we hope that it will also help throughout the region. We understand Ecuador's difficulties and I feel that we have had a very good discussion about how we can provide more assistance -- not only financial, but in terms of discussions about where we can be more supportive. QUESTION: This is a question for Foreign Minister Moeller. Following up on the last question, have you asked for additional funding for refugees through Plan Colombia? How much assistance from the U.S. would you need for this? MINISTER MOELLER: As a matter of fact, it is not a matter of the agreement of Ecuador regarding the logistical use of the Manta Base for fighting narco-trafficking through electronic surveillance. We feel that it is the moral duty of any country in the world to participate in this moral war against narco-production and narco-trafficking. I have discussed many times what Secretary of State Albright calls the over-flow. I call it metastasis. We believe strongly in the principle of non-intervention. We believe that Colombia has the right to fight against narco-production and of course we endorse the valiant efforts of President Pastrana in trying to achieve peace with the guerrillas through dialogue. We are going to accept President Pastrana's invitation and President Noboa will be in Bogota on the 23rd and 24th of this month in order to have very transparent, fluent communication by which we can know what is going to happen with Plan Colombia. We don't want the removal that is necessary, compulsory of that cancerous tumor in Colombia to cause metastasis in Ecuador and that is why we have started. Months ago, we discussed with the United States and with other countries of the world, the Europeans and also the Japanese, a development program for our northern area which has nothing to do with Plan Colombia, nothing to do with anything that you can call Plan Ecuador, because the situation is different. We don't have narco-production here in Ecuador; that is a fact. We donīt have guerrillas; we don't have narco-guerrillas; we don't want to have them. So yes, we are counting on financial assistance for a program that I call the creation of a buffer zone in which we could have alternative agricultural, ecological sanctuaries to defend the Amazon jungle. And of course the necessary military and police control to avoid the infection, if I may call it that way. In this vein, we expect to present to the American administration and to the European Community a program that should be financed in the line of the shared responsibility that we all have in fighting this universal disease. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Could I just add something on Manta? I think that it should be viewed as actually a positive in terms of the Ecuadorian economy because over 60 million dollars in construction upgrades are taking place there and most of the materials and labor actually come from Ecuador. And also this is creating a world-class runway there and that should bring economic benefits to the area. Tourism is growing there, and the money spent there by U.S. personnel is already helping -- about 25 million dollars per year -- and that should also result in more local jobs. I also think it is important to understand that Manta is part of long-standing regional counter-narcotics cooperation and not part of Plan Colombia. It is not a U.S. base so I think that there are a number of misconceptions about it and we obviously did discuss some aspects of it. I think it is very important for your viewers and readers to understand what it is and what it is not. QUESTION: (in Spanish) Good afternoon. President Gustavo Noboa (end transcript)