Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL) Copyright: 2001 St. Petersburg Times Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419 Author: Paul De La Garza HOUSE VOTE SAVES COLOMBIAN ANTI-DRUG FUNDS WASHINGTON -- After sometimes-heated debate Tuesday over U.S. aid to Colombia next year, the Republican-controlled House fought back repeated efforts by Democrats to scale back funding. Through several amendments, opponents had sought to shift money from the Andean anti-drug initiative to health programs. The big question centered on the amount of money U.S. taxpayers should be shelling out to Colombia's armed forces. The Bush administration is proposing $676-million in counternarcotics funds to the region, mostly for Colombia. Last year, Congress approved $1.3-billion to help launch Plan Colombia, an ambitious internationally funded aid package to stabilize the war-ravaged country. Colombia is the world's largest supplier of cocaine and, increasingly, heroin. With coca cultivation showing no signs of abating despite an aggressive U.S.-sponsored aerial eradication program, and with the peace process between Bogota and Marxist rebels going nowhere, American drug policy has come under growing attack. On Tuesday, familiar arguments broke mostly along party lines. Republicans say that without the right backing, Latin America's oldest democracy could topple. Democrats revive the ghosts of Vietnam and El Salvador, warning that U.S. aid was helping to draw the United States into Colombia's civil war. "A military solution is a dead-end solution," said Rep. John W. Olver, D-Mass. "It is really time to try something else." Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., argued that the United States owed it to Colombia to help because American drug consumers were largely responsible for its woes. Republicans accused Democrats of retreating in the drug war. Democrats argued that they would be willing to back additional funding for Colombia's armed forces if they vowed to cut ties to right wing paramilitary groups, largely responsible for the scores of massacres in the Andean nation. "To show we do care about human rights, Congress should not be an apologist for bad behavior," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who sponsored an amendment that would have reduced military aid to Colombia by $100-million. "We should not look the other way." In approving the $1.3-billion aid package last year, Congress required that the military meet certain human rights conditions. Former President Bill Clinton, however, routinely waived the requirements. Amendments offered by Democrats would have directed funds toward fighting AIDS and tuberculosis and to child survival efforts. But Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., who steered the Republican strategy, said that the Andean anti-drug initiative already struck a balance between the various interests. Rep. McGovern's proposal to cut funding, he said, "short-changes development in Latin America." The defeat of the amendments was a victory for the Bush administration. Any reductions below what the president wanted, the White House had said, "would undermine the effort to develop healthy, licit economies and strong democratic governments in the Andes." The foreign operations budget next year totals $15.2-billion. The bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 passed 381-46 late Tuesday. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe