Pubdate: Fri, 17 Nov 2000
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2000 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Author: Christopher Marquis, Juan Forero, New York Times

COLOMBIA AID PACKAGE LOSES A KEY SUPPORTER

Congressman Objects to Funding of Military

Rep. Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International Relations 
Committee, has abruptly withdrawn his support from the decision to 
funnel $1.3 billion in mostly military aid to Colombia, arguing that 
the United States is on the brink of a "major mistake." Gilman, 
R-N.Y., sent a letter this week to the White House drug policy 
coordinator, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, contending that the U.S. plan to 
increase the role of the Colombian military in the drug fight will 
end disastrously because the military has undermined its political 
support with a history of corruption and human rights abuses. That 
position echoes other critics of the plan.

Gilman called on the Clinton administration to redirect its 
assistance, including at least 40 Black Hawk helicopters, from the 
military to the national police in Colombia. Gilman has long admired 
the police, which he views as more effective and less tainted by 
human rights violations.

Last summer, Gilman voted to support Plan Colombia, a $7.5 billion 
strategy drafted jointly by American and Colombian officials and 
passed by Congress. In addition to the military spending, the program 
allocates money to promote alternative crops, economic renewal and 
human rights. The plan seeks to halve drug production over five years 
in Colombia, which reportedly is the source of most of the cocaine 
and heroin that enters the United States.

Congressional sources said Gilman was troubled by recent military 
failures in rural areas where rebel forces operate.

It is unclear what effects, if any, Gilman's shift will have. A 
Senate Republican aide who follows Colombia closely said it was "far 
too early" to criticize the plan. Gilman is expected to relinquish 
his chairmanship next year because of term limits.

Critics of Plan Colombia have argued that the military aid would 
merely intensify the conflict in which two rebel groups have joined 
forces with narcotics traffickers against the government, a conflict 
that could eventually draw the United States directly into fighting 
the rebels.

The administration has promised to watch over the military's record 
on human rights. A spokesman for McCaffrey, Robert Weiner, said 
yesterday that denying aid to the military on the basis of its past 
performance would ensure defeat.

A high-ranking official in President Andres Pastrana's government 
defended the military involvement on the grounds that the drug war 
has fundamentally changed in the last five years.

"It used to be an urban drug war, which the police were very capable 
of handling," the official said. "It has now become a drug war fought 
in the jungles, and you can't do that without military support."
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