Pubdate: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Copyright: 2000 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas Contact: http://www.star-telegram.com/ Forum: http://www.star-telegram.com/comm/forums/ Author: Alejandro Mojica 'ASSISTING' COLOMBIA As a native of Colombia, I feel compelled to point some facts that Barry McCaffrey omitted in his March 27 column about international involvement in Colombia and the $1.6 billion assistance package: * Most of the money will be spent in military equipment and training. * Fumigation will not only have catastrophic long-term effects on the environment but will also kill the crops that very few peasants have reluctantly agreed to substitute. * According to Amnesty International, the "national democratic forces trying to defend an elected government" are largely responsible for the violation of human rights. * The recrudescence of the conflict that this injection of money will result in 200,000 more displaced civilians, many of whom will eventually end up joining either the guerrilla or the paramilitary groups. Colombia needs international assistance to build social stability, not to exacerbate the level of violence. The best assistance that the U.S. Senate could give to my beleaguered country would be to reject the package as it is proposed. Alejandro Mojica Stephenville - --- MAP posted-by: Greg