Pubdate: Sun, 06 Aug 2000
Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright: 2000 Austin American-Statesman
Contact:  P. O. Box 670 Austin, Texas 78767
Fax: 512-445-3679
Website: http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/
Author: Juanita Darling, Los Angeles Times

U.S. TROOPS ARRIVE TO TRAIN COLOMBIAN ANTI-DRUG WARRIORS

FLORENCIA, Colombia -- U.S. Special Forces trainers arrived in
Colombia last week and have begun preparing this country's second
anti-narcotics military battalion, a key element in the $1.3-billion
U.S. anti-drug aid package for this nation, U.S. and Colombian sources
confirmed.

Colombian soldiers with rifles drawn formed a protective cordon around
the trainers and the U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane that brought
them into this southern town about two hours by highway from
guerrilla-held territory. The 83 trainers then were transported to
Larandia, a military base 40 miles from Colombia, a Colombian Armed
Forces spokeswoman said.

The battalion is scheduled to be ready for action by the end of
December, said a U.S. Embassy official in the capital, Bogota. A
12-man brigade headquarters command to oversee the military
anti-narcotics activity will begin training in September, he said.

The 780 soldiers in the battalion will join the first U.S.-trained
anti-drug battalion, which began functioning Dec. 15, 1999, to provide
support for police anti-narcotics operations. Police are responsible
for drug enforcement in this country, which produces about
three-fourths of the world's cocaine and an increasing share of the
heroin consumed in the United States.

However, police increasingly have come under attack from armed groups
guarding drug crops. Colombian and U.S. narcotics and national
security experts have said that those guards are often guerrillas or
right-wing paramilitary units, which the army is responsible for
fighting. For that reason, the army is scheduled to receive $521
million in U.S. aid for training and equipment.

The insurgents have a long-standing policy of considering U.S.
officials involved in military training efforts enemies to be shot on
sight. Such threats have intensified with the training of the military
anti-narcotics battalions.

Tuesday, the rebels warned that using U.S.-donated Black Hawk
helicopters to reinforce Colombian police during guerrilla attacks
will escalate this country's civil war and draw the United States
closer to direct involvement in the fighting.

Raul Reyes, spokesman for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
or FARC, this country's oldest and largest rebel force, said
helicopters used to rescue police during attacks will be considered
military targets, subject to being shot down.

Reyes disputed the notion that the United States has been careful
about avoiding purely counter-guerrilla activities while aiding the
Colombian government's anti-drug war.

"Ever since the Black Hawks arrived, they have been used against us,"
he said. "What (the United States is) doing now is publicly
recognizing that they can be used."

President Clinton also is drawing the wrath of FARC by planning to
visit Colombia on Aug. 30.

Clinton will meet with President Andres Pastrana in the port city of
Cartagena to discuss ways of curbing narcotics trafficking.

Carlos Antonio Lozada, another FARC spokesman, said Friday that
Clinton's stopover was "clear evidence" that the United States was
using the guise of the war on drugs to violate Colombia's
sovereignty.

"We don't believe this is a visit by a president who is a friend of
the Colombian public, but exactly the opposite," Lozada said. "It's a
visit by a head of state that . . . comes ready to grossly intervene
in the internal affairs of our country."

Clinton will be joined on the Colombian trip by House Speaker Dennis
Hastert, R-Ill., and Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.

This article includes material from The Associated Press.
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