DATE=8/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON-COLOMBIA (L)
NUMBER=2-265789
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  President Clinton has cleared the way for the 
early delivery of a one-point-three-billion dollar aid 
package to help Colombian security forces combat drug 
traffickers.  Mr. Clinton, who visits Colombia next 
week to meet President Andres Pastrana, waived human 
rights conditions for the program in order to get the 
assistance moving immediately. Correspondent David 
Gollust reports from the White House.


TEXT:  The Pastrana government had only partially met 
human rights conditions set by Congress for the aid 
package.  But acting on a recommendation from the 
State Department, Mr. Clinton has signed a waiver 
allowing him to go ahead with the aid package anyway 
on national security grounds.

The one-point-three-billion dollar aid plan approved 
by Congress last month will provide training and 
equipment -- including 60 U-S helicopters -- to anti-
drug units of the Colombia military and police, along 
with funds to strengthen democratic institutions and 
shore up the country's troubled economy.

President Pastrana last week issued a decree calling 
for military officers accused of human rights abuses 
to face justice in civilian courts.  But his 
government has yet to meet several other U-S terms, 
including the prosecution of leaders of paramilitary 
groups blamed for widespread crimes against civilians.

In a talk with reporters here, Mr. Clinton said he 
believes President Pastrana is committed to dealing 
with human rights problems and that the aid -- the U-S 
contribution to Mr. Pastrana's "Plan Colombia" 
national recovery program -- is urgently needed:

            /// Clinton Act ///

      What I did was to permit Plan Colombia to go 
      forward and to be implemented, because I'm 
      convinced that the president is committed to the 
      proper course in human rights, he's submitted 
      legislation which is evidence of that, and 
      because we haven't given up our ability to look 
      into case-by-case allegations of human rights 
      violations dealing with specific military units 
      who can be kept from getting any of this 
      assistance if they have, in fact, committed 
      human rights violations.

            /// End Act ///

Critics of the Colombian government's human rights 
performance expressed disappointment over Mr. 
Clinton's release of the aid money.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said the conditions 
set by the Congress were not too much to ask, given 
the amount of money involved and the risks inherent in 
stepped-up U-S involvement there.

The Washington-based group, Human Rights Watch, said 
no funds should be sent until all the conditions are 
met.  Its executive director for the Americas -- Jose 
Miguel Vivanco -- told V-O-A it is very dangerous for 
the administration to do business with the Colombian 
military because of its close ties with the 
paramilitaries.

He also says the U-S package, overall, is too heavily 
weighted toward military aid and does not provide 
enough for the reform of Colombian legal institutions:

            /// Vivanco Act ///

      I don't think the package, in general, has been 
      well conceived.  There's too much and too many 
      resources going to military support and too 
      little for non-military aid.  I wish we had seen 
      more support for the institutions -- rather weak 
      institutions, but institutions that are in place 
      in Colombia -- to investigate human rights 
      violations, investigate human rights atrocities 
      in Colombia -- like the attorney-general's 
      office, which is going to receive some support, 
      but not enough.

            /// End Act ///

Mr. Vivanco also says it will be difficult to separate 
U-S assistance nominally intended for anti-drug 
efforts from the Colombian military's long-running 
conflict with leftwing insurgents.

President Clinton will fly to Colombia next Wednesday 
to hold talks with Mr. Pastrana in the port city of 
Cartagena.  He'll be accompanied by Secretary of State 
Albright and a bipartisan congressional delegation 
including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, in a visit 
intended to underscore U-S support for the Pastrana 
government.   (Signed)

NEB/DAG/ENE/JP




23-Aug-2000 13:21 PM LOC (23-Aug-2000 1721 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.