U.S. Officials Say Regional Cooperation Key to Helping Colombia

State Department holds seminar on Colombian situation

By Eric Green

Washington File Staff Writer



Washington -- Colombia's neighbors share a "sense of concern" about
the drug problem in that Andean nation and seek assurances that the
United States is prepared to work with them on a difficult situation
that could spread into their countries as well, says Under Secretary
of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering.


At a special media seminar on Colombia held at the State Department
September 6, Pickering, along with other U.S. officials, emphasized
two major points: that Colombia's problems represent an Andean and
even hemispheric problem in which Colombia's neighbors have a direct
and immediate stake; and that the U.S. assistance package for Colombia
does not represent a "new Vietnam" that could draw the United States
into a combat role against guerilla and paramilitary forces opposed to
the Colombian government.


Pickering said regional governments are concerned about the situation
in Colombia because it is not a question of "whether, but when" drug
traffickers will seek to expand their operations into places like
Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Brazil to satisfy U.S. consumer
demand for cocaine, heroin and other illegal drugs.


To keep the drug problem from spreading further, "we need to get a leg
up" in Colombia to stop drug traffickers in their tracks, he said.


Pickering said there has been considerable misunderstanding about the
United States' $1,300-million aid package for Colombia, in that it is
wrongly seen as consisting entirely of military support for that
country. In fact, Pickering said, the package also includes funds for
such goals as increasing the rule of law, protecting human rights,
expanding economic development, instituting judicial reform, and
fostering peace.


The State Department says the U.S. aid package is fully in line with
the Clinton Administration's $18,500-million National Drug Control
Strategy, which outlines a comprehensive attack on the illicit drugs
-- from eliminating production at the source, interdicting drug
shipments and prosecuting traffickers, to reducing U.S. consumption
through $6,000-million worth of prevention, treatment and
rehabilitation programs.


Pickering said he regretted what he called the "over-characterization"
of the U.S. effort to help Colombia, in that it distorts the real
purpose of the aid package. Colombia's situation will not be improved
by attacking attempts to help that country, he said, but rather
through countries pulling together to confront a shared problem.


White House Drug Control Policy Director Barry McCaffrey said helping
Colombia is a worthy cause, noting the increased drug production in
that country, its deleterious effects on democratic institutions and
its potential for spreading into neighboring nations. He said the
Colombian army is outgunned by left-wing guerrilla forces who are
using illegal drug profits to propagandize their cause on television,
to buy brand new camouflage combat uniforms, and to arm themselves
with the latest in military technology.


McCaffrey said the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City next
April 20-22 should demonstrate how hemispheric heads of state are
unified in their concern over Colombia.


Another official, Brian Sheridan from the Department of Defense (DOD),
said that under the rules of engagement, U.S. forces in Colombia will
be allowed to protect themselves if they come under fire, but added
that such a scenario is "highly unlikely."


"There is great care taken to make sure that our people are in very
safe facilities, or at least as safe as they can be in Colombia,"
Sheridan said. "We only train at major bases. Training is conducted on
the bases, not conducted out in the field. The Secretary of Defense
[William Cohen] has also made it clear that our folks are not to
accompany host nation forces while they engage in counter-drug
operations. We have taken every conceivable step we can think of to
make sure our folks are in facilities and areas that are as safe as
they can be, that they remain [there] to conduct their training."


Sheridan said the left-wing guerrillas generally are not interested in
attacking bases that are heavily manned with several thousand armed
government security forces, which is where U.S. personnel would be
stationed. "But like any U.S. military personnel anywhere in the
world, if someone shoots at you, you can shoot back at them. I think
it's highly unlikely that they will find themselves in such a
circumstance," he said.


Sheridan said he didn't foresee a situation in which the United States
would place significantly more U.S. active-duty military, private
contractors, and civilians working for the military in Colombia than
the small number (between 200-300, depending on the day) stationed
there now.


Sheridan, assistant secretary of state for Special Operations and Low
Intensity Conflict, said the DOD contingent consists of about 60
active-duty military permanently assigned to Colombia, along with
about six DOD civilians, about 30 private contractors who do work for
DOD, and -- on a temporary, rotating basis -- a number of other
special forces. Sheridan said he didn't expect the number of people in
Colombia to change much. "I would expect some modest increases here
and there, but that's a pretty [set] number," he said.


Another speaker from the State Department, Rand Beers, rejected
suggestions that glyphosate, the herbicide being used in the aerial
eradication program against illicit drugs in Colombia, is dangerous to
people and the environment.


"Let me state that ... the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has
tested" the herbicide and found that it kills plants, "which it is
designed to do," said Beers, who is assistant secretary of state for
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.


"We have looked at its effect on soil and on the water system, and it
is minimal to non-existent," Beers said. The herbicide "is not
perfect, and I'm not making that claim," he added. "But it is not a
highly toxic chemical and we believe that the claims on the part of
some individuals in Colombia of the severe environmental and human
damage may be exaggerated," possibly for political purposes.


Other aspects of U.S. assistance to Colombia were outlined by Hattie
Babbitt, deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID); Julia Taft, assistant secretary of state for the
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration; and Bennett Freeman,
deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights and Labor.


Babbitt described the benefits of alternative development programs,
funded by USAID to help small farmers cultivate legitimate crops in
place of coca and poppy plants, while Taft explained the plight of
internally displaced persons in Colombia forced to migrate from their
war-torn villages. Freeman addressed human rights issues, which he
said are a "central" part of the U.S. aid package for Colombia, noting
that "we're continuing to press for very specific, concrete" measures
to ensure compliance with human rights standards in Colombia.