Pubdate: Sun, 28 Apr 2002
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2002 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Christopher Marquis, New York Times News Service

U.S. LOOKS AT BROADER BATTLE IN COLOMBIA

Harder Line Against Guerrillas Expected

WASHINGTON -- With elections in Colombia a month away, the Bush 
administration expects the country's next president to take a harder line 
in the battle against guerrillas and narcotics traffickers and to dedicate 
more resources to the fight, administration officials say.

The departure of President Andres Pastrana, who was thwarted in his main 
goal of negotiating a peace deal with the rebels, opens the door for a more 
aggressive leader as Colombians clamor for security, the officials say.

The United States is already preparing for a widening war in Colombia, 
where the government has been battling two leftist insurgencies with ties 
to drug trafficking and a right-wing paramilitary organization widely 
accused of human-rights abuses tolerated by the Colombian military.

The Bush administration has asked Congress to let Colombians use U.S.- 
trained soldiers and equipment against the guerrillas, arguing that it is 
not feasible to limit U.S. assistance to the fight against drugs.

It was unclear whether the officials were expressing a hope for a tougher 
fight against the rebels and drug traffickers or essentially demanding that 
Colombia commit to the fight.

"No amount of additional assistance will be sufficient to turn the tide 
unless Colombia dedicates more of its own resources to this task and 
commits decisively to a policy of establishing state authority and 
effective security for its people," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in 
a written statement to lawmakers last week.

Although widely respected for his peace efforts, Pastrana became a virtual 
lame duck several months ago as it became apparent that leaders of the main 
leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, 
had spurned his offers of negotiation and increased their attacks.

When talks broke down in February, Pastrana ordered troops to retake a 
demilitarized zone he had ceded to the rebels in 1998.

Since then, Colombia's presidential campaign has entered its final phase 
against a backdrop of increasing violence. Leftist rebels kidnapped one 
presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt, and her campaign manager; 
earlier this month a bomb tore into the motorcade of the leading 
presidential candidate, Alvaro Uribe.

Uribe, a deeply conservative former senator and governor who is far ahead 
in the polls, was not hurt in the attack. Although he has reduced his 
public appearances, Uribe, 49, is unbowed in his stance toward the rebels, 
saying he will not support peace talks until they agree to a cease-fire.

Another candidate, Horacio Serpa, a former interior minister, also takes a 
tough line toward rebels.

Peter Rodman, the assistant secretary of defense for international security 
affairs, said Colombians had undergone a "sea change" in their thinking 
since the hope of talks with FARC collapsed.

"I think there were a lot of hopes invested in it, and perhaps that was an 
excuse for not making this a larger military commitment or a commitment of 
resources," Rodman said. "Now it seems that the society as a whole has 
tested that option and found it wanting."

Administration officials say the Colombian government has spent $2.6 
billion on Pastrana's anti-narcotics and development strategy and $426 
million on related investments. Pastrana had pledged to spend $4.5 billion 
in support of the $7.5 billion plan over five years; the remaining $3 
billion is to come from the United States and Europe.

Powell told lawmakers, "After the election, we will be pressing the new 
leadership to make a more serious commitment of financial resources of the 
Colombian people and government to this effort."

While he declined to make a prediction about the elections on May 26, 
Powell added that "just watching the campaigns develop, it seems to me that 
we're probably going to have a more aggressive leadership in power in 
Colombia that might be more receptive" to spending more.
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