Pubdate: Fri, 21 Jun 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Section: International
Author: Christopher Marquis

COLOMBIA'S NEXT LEADER SEEKS DRUG-WAR AID

WASHINGTON, June 20 - Alvaro Uribe Velez, Colombia's president-elect, met 
with President Bush today and pledged to increase his country's commitment 
in the fight against drugs and terrorism, officials said.

Mr. Uribe, a former governor overwhelmingly elected by a war-weary nation 
last month, asked administration officials for continued support and, 
specifically, help in weaning farmers from drug crops and patrolling 
regions that are currently beyond state control.

Mr. Uribe was politely received by the administration, though one senior 
official cautioned that the new government must show that Colombians "are 
prepared to sacrifice in their own defense."

But he met deeper skepticism on Capitol Hill. Despite the American 
investment of nearly $2 billion in Plan Colombia, a mostly military aid 
package approved by Congress in 2000, Colombia is no closer to reaching any 
of its main goals: reducing violence, cutting drug exports, negotiating 
peace or improving the lot of ordinary people.

"The results of Plan Colombia have been disappointing." said Senator 
Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, who leads a key appropriations 
subcommittee. "After spending more than $1.5 billion, in many respects the 
situation is worse today than before Plan Colombia began."

But the president-elect told reporters after meeting with Mr. Bush that 
Plan Colombia needed American resources "to avoid massacres, abductions and 
other kinds of crimes that are striking the Colombian people."

In the informal meeting with the president, Mr. Uribe, who does not take 
office until August, emphasized that he would seek to revive peace 
negotiations with guerrillas, using United Nations help, and safeguard 
human rights even as he cracked down on violence by two leftist 
insurgencies and a paramilitary organization.

Mr. Uribe outlined plans to double his nation's security forces and set up 
a civilian defense network, and said he would consider imposing a new tax 
to pay for them, officials said.

The United States has spent or requested nearly $2 billion in aid to 
Colombia as part of a strategy that was originally called Plan Colombia and 
has since been expanded into the Andean Regional Initiative. To the 
frustration of American officials, the government of the departing 
president, Andres Pastrana, failed to live up to its spending commitments 
under the plan, as did European donors.

"Our message is we want to stand with Colombia," said the administration 
official. "We're prepared to do a lot, and Colombia needs to do a lot in 
all areas - human rights, drugs, security."

Despite his negative assessment, which is widely shared, Senator Leahy said 
he would continue to support the administration's Colombia strategy. 
Colombia's toxic mix of drugs, terrorism and poverty are potentially too 
destabilizing for the United States to ignore, lawmakers say.

"The aid will continue, but with conditions designed to protect both 
Colombia and the United States," Mr. Leahy said.

Congress is preparing to disburse $550 million in aid this summer, and is 
expected to approve an administration request that would allow United 
States funds and equipment to be used in the fight against terrorism in 
addition to drugs. The administration has allocated $98 million to train 
Colombians to protect an oil pipeline that is a favorite target of rebel 
saboteurs.

A State Department official said today that, in cooperation with Mr. Uribe, 
the administration had nearly doubled its goals for aerial eradication of 
coca fields. Lino Gutierrez, the deputy assistant secretary of state, said 
the United States hoped to see 370,000 acres sprayed with herbicide, 
compared with 207,000 acres last year.

But the antidrug effort has been plagued with problems. A memo by the 
General Accounting Office, Congress's investigative arm, reported this 
month that the Colombian Army had been slow in providing about 250 pilots 
and others for training on 44 Black Hawk and Huey helicopters supplied by 
the United States for moving Colombian troops on drug raids.

American officials, the memo said, have "expressed frustration with the 
overall pace of Plan Colombia and the lack of Colombian commitment to the 
program."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens