THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

(Cairo, Egpyt)



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 29, 2000



REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN VIDEO ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF COLOMBIA



THE PRESIDENT: Muy buenas noches. Tomorrow morning I will travel to
your country to bring a message of friendship and solidarity from the
people of the United States to the people of Colombia, and a message
of support for President Pastrana and for Plan Colombia.


I will be joined on my trip by the Speaker of our House of
Representatives, Dennis Hastert, and other distinguished members of
our Congress. We come from different political parties, but we have a
common commitment to support our friend, Colombia. As you struggle,
with courage, to make peace, to build your economy, to fight drugs,
and to deepen democracy, the United States will be on your side.


Some of the earliest stirrings of liberty in Latin America came in
Colombia, as the proud people of Cartagena, of Cali, of Bogota rose up
one after the other to fight for independence. Now, nearly two
centuries later, Colombia's democracy is under attack. Profits from
the drug trade fund civil conflict. Powerful forces make their own
law, and you face danger every day, whether you're sending your
children to school, taking your family on vacation, or returning to
your village to visit your mother or your father.


The literary genius you call Gabo, your Nobel Laureate, painted a
portrait of this struggle in his book, "News of a Kidnapping." He
presented me with a copy, and his book has touched my heart. Now I
know why he said writing it was the saddest, most difficult task of
his life. And yet, all across Colombia there are daily profiles in
courage -- mayors, judges, journalists, prosecutors, politicians,
policemen, soldiers, and citizens like you -- all have stood up to
defend your democracy.


Colombia's journalists risk their lives daily to report the news so
that powerful people feel the pressure of public opinion. Their
courage is matched by the bravery of peace activists and human rights
defenders; by reform-minded military leaders whose forces are bound by
law, but who must do battle with thugs who subvert the law. There is
also uncommon courage among the Colombian National Police. They face
mortal danger every moment, as they battle against drug traffickers.


Tomorrow in Cartagena I will meet with members of the police and the
military and also with widows of their fallen comrades. The people of
Colombia are well-known for their resilience, their ability to adapt.
But, my friends, enough is enough. We now see millions rising up,
declaring no mas, and marching for peace, for justice, for the quiet
miracle of a normal life.


That desire for peace and justice led to the election of President
Pastrana. In the United States, we see in President Pastrana a man who
has risked his life to take on the drug traffickers; who was kidnapped
by the Medellin, but who kept speaking out. As President, he has
continued to risk his life to help heal his country. He has built
support across party lines for a new approach in Colombia. The United
States supports President Pastrana, supports Plan Colombia, and
supports the people of Colombia.


Let me be clear about the role of the United States. First, it is not
for us to propose a plan. We are supporting the Colombian plan. You
are leading; we are providing assistance as a friend and a neighbor.


Second, this is a plan about making life better for people. Our
assistance includes a tenfold increase in our support for economic
development, good governance, judicial reform, and human rights.
Economic development is essential. The farmers who grow coca and poppy
must have a way to make an honest living if they are to rejoin the
national economy. Our assistance will help offer farmers credit and
identify new products and new markets.


We will also help to build schoolrooms, water systems and roads for
people who have lost their homes and their communities. Our assistance
will do more to protect human rights. As President Pastrana said at
the White House, there is no such thing as democracy without respect
for human rights. Today's world has no place and no patience for any
group that attacks defenseless citizens or resorts to kidnapping and
extortion. Those who seek legitimacy in Colombian society must meet
the standards of those who confer legitimacy, the good and decent
people of Colombia.


Our package provides human rights training for the Colombian military
and police, and denies U.S. assistance to any units of the Colombian
security forces involved in human rights abuses or linked to abuses by
paramilitary forces. It will fund human rights programs, help protect
human rights workers, help reform the judicial system and improve
prosecution and punishment.


Of course, Plan Colombia will also bolster our common efforts to fight
drugs and the traffickers who terrorize both our countries. But please
do not misunderstand our purpose. We have no military objective. We do
not believe your conflict has a military solution. We support the
peace process. Our approach is both pro-peace and anti-drug.


The concern over illegal drugs is deeply felt around the world. In my
own country, every year more than 50,000 people lose their lives and
many more ruin their lives because of drug abuse. Still, the
devastation of illegal drugs in Colombia is worse. Drug trafficking
and civil conflict have led together to more than 2,500 kidnappings
last year; 35,000 Colombians have been killed, and a million more made
homeless in the past decade alone.


Drug trafficking is a plague both our nations suffer, and neither
nation can solve on its own. Our assistance will help train and equip
Colombia's counter-drug battalions to protect the National Police as
they eradicate illicit drug crops and destroy drug labs. We will help
the Colombian military improve their ability to intercept traffickers
before they leave Colombia. We will target illegal airstrips,
money-laundering and criminal organizations.


This approach can succeed. Over the last five years, the governments
of Peru and Bolivia, working with U.S. support, have reduced coca
cultivation by more than half in their own countries, and cultivation
fell by almost one-fifth in the region as a whole.


Of course, supply is only one side of the problem. The other is
demand. I want the people of Colombia to know that the United States
is working hard to reduce demand here, and cocaine use in our country
has dropped dramatically over the last 15 years. We must continue our
efforts to cut demand, and we will help Colombia fight the problems
aggravated by our demand.


We can, and we must, do this together. As we begin the new century,
Colombia must face not 100 years of solitude, but 100 years of
partnership for peace and prosperity.


Last year I met some of the most talented and adorable children in the
world, from the village of Valledupar. Ten of them, some as young as
six years old, came thousands of miles with their accordions and their
drums, their bright-colored scarves and their beautiful voices, to
perform for us here at the White House. They sang "El Mejoral." They
sang "La Gota Fria." Everyone who heard them was touched. Those
precious children come from humble families. They live surrounded by
violence. They don't want to grow up to be narco-traffickers, to be
guerrillas, to be paramilitaries. They want to be kings of Vallenato.
And we should help them live their dreams.


Thousands of courageous Colombians have given their lives to give us
all this chance. Now is the moment to make their sacrifice matter. It
will take vision; it will take courage; it will take desire. You have
all three. In the midst of great difficulty, be strong of heart. En
surcos de dolores, el bien germina ya.


Viva Colombia.  Que Dios los bendiga.



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