Pubdate: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 Source: The Monitor (TX) Copyright: 2002 The Monitor Contact: http://www.themonitor.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/colombia.htm COLOMBIA JUST SAYS NO? Election Shows Frustration With U.S. A number of analysts have suggested that the results of Colombia's parliamentary election this past weekend indicate a firm rejection of the two major parties and of U.S. involvement in that country's civil war. A closer look suggests dissatisfaction and disillusionment among voters, but not a clear policy signal one way or the other. Nevertheless, the United States should be alert to the changing sentiments of Colombians - and reconsider the ambitious Plan Colombia initiated by the Clinton administration and continued under President Bush. Plan Colombia calls for certain kinds of U.S. military support and other aid to the Colombian government with the aim of reducing illegal drug traffic. The most one can draw from last weekend's election result is an indication of growing frustration with current conditions, which include an intensified civil war in the wake of recently collapsed peace efforts - a war the United States should avoid being drawn into. The leftist rebel group FARC had called for an election boycott, and only about 44 percent of Colombian voters showed up at the polls. They reduced the Conservative Party of President Andres Pastrana to 13 seats from 17 seats in the 100-member Senate. The establishment opposition Liberal Party lost 19 Senate seats, reducing its representation to 29 seats from 48 seats. In both the 100-member Senate and the 175-member House of Representatives small independent parties now hold majorities. But they are split. Supporters of independent presidential candidate Alvaro Uribe, generally described as a hard-liner who would intensify the war against FARC, did best. But followers of Antonio Navarro Wolf, a former guerrilla from the demobilized M-19 group, came in second. Thus the voters seem impatient with the two parties that have dominated Colombian politics since the 1950s, but split between what could be called far-right and far-left alternatives. This suggests that the instability that has characterized Colombian politics for some time is poised to become even more unstable. The U.S. mission, consisting mostly of military aid and military advisers, was sold to Americans as a battle in the drug war, but it was recently expanded to include guarding a pipeline owned by Occidental Petroleum. It has not stemmed the flow of cocaine out of Colombia and it has not brought stability to that country. In fact, a case can be made that U.S. intervention subsidizes violence on both sides. U.S. taxpayers' money flows to the Colombian military, and active drug war measures make cocaine more profitable for guerrillas and narcoterrorists. The best bet would be to end U.S. intervention and end the war on drugs so the United States can concentrate on the struggle against terrorism. The Colombian civil war would probably continue, but neither side would have as many resources for killing. - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel