Pubdate: Mon, 27 Aug 2007
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: A13
Copyright: 2007 Creators Syndicate Inc.
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Robert Novak
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Plan+Colombia
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Colombia
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

THE DEMOCRATS MOVE COLOMBIA

The forced resignation two weeks ago, under pressure from President 
Alvaro Uribe, of three prominent officers accused of drug trafficking 
is not likely to end the shakeup in Colombia's army and navy. More 
heads will roll in a long-overdue purge of corruption in the 
military. The credit has to go to the left-wing members of Congress 
who have taken over the Colombian account on Capitol Hill since the 
Democratic victory in the 2006 elections.

A conservative American with close, longtime ties to Colombia put it 
to me bluntly: "The firing of these officers is seen as President 
Uribe's way of clearing the decks to make the Democrats in Congress 
happy, in order to secure the free-trade agreement. There are plenty 
more generals and admirals to get the heave-ho."

Thus, this development must be credited to congressional Democrats, 
typified by Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, who have been hostile 
to the Uribe regime's fight against leftist narco-guerrillas. 
Pressure on Uribe to clean up the Colombian officer corps should have 
come from the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, but heads did not begin to roll 
until the Democrats took over.

The 2006 election jeopardized U.S. "Plan Colombia" funding for 
fighting the guerrillas, but a greater immediate menace was the 
shelving of the recently negotiated U.S.-Colombia free-trade 
agreement. While House Democrats put on hold similar agreements with 
Peru and Panama, they refused even to consider the Colombian pact 
because of unhappiness with the Uribe regime.

Consequently, the Colombians reached out to the new congressional 
majority. Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, in the past a sharp 
critic of U.S. anti-guerrilla operations, lately has been in frequent 
contact with the Colombian embassy.

In the first week of August, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos 
confirmed what I reported from Bogota a year earlier: The Army's 
notorious 3rd Brigade, based in Cali, was infiltrated by drug cartels 
(and provided intelligence to fugitive drug kingpin Diego Montoya, 
also known as "Don Diego"). Two colonels, three majors and two 
noncommissioned officers in the 3rd Brigade were arrested.

More important uniformed figures were soon to fall. On Aug. 10, Gen. 
Hernando Perez Molina was replaced as commander of the Cali-based 3rd 
Division because of narco-infiltration. On Aug. 13, Rear Adm. Gabriel 
Arango Bassi, who had been senior military aide to President Andres 
Pastrana, was cashiered because of links to traffickers. On Aug. 17, 
Gen. Leonardo Gomez Vergara resigned as commander of the 3rd Brigade.

The slow-moving trial of Col. Bayron Carvajal, commander of the 3rd 
Brigade's Mountain Division, surely will end with a conviction. 
Officers and men commanded by Carvajal are accused of slaughtering 10 
narcotics officers last year. The trial is in a procedural lull, but 
Attorney General Mario Iguaran has declared that the evidence is 
there. A conviction will mean the corrupt relationship between 
Colombia's judiciary and military is over.

None of this is enough to satisfy the international left in its 
vendetta against Uribe, as indicated by the left-wing School of the 
Americas Watch. On Aug. 17, this human rights organization noted that 
Carvajal, along with other officers accused of conspiring with the 
drug interests, was trained at the Western Hemisphere Institute for 
Security Cooperation (the former School of the Americas) -- an 
institution that has been a frequent target of McGovern and his 
predecessors over the years. McGovern follows a tradition of 
Massachusetts Democrats who have harassed anti-Communist efforts in 
Latin America. Former House speaker Tip O'Neill based his positions 
on the leftist views of the Maryknoll nuns. O'Neill's roommate, Rep. 
Ed Boland, became famous for authoring the amendment restricting U.S. 
aid to Contra fighters in Nicaragua. McGovern's onetime boss, Rep. 
Joe Moakley, pushed against anti-guerrilla aid for El Salvador. 
McGovern has picked up Moakley's torch to oppose help for Colombia's 
anti-guerrilla efforts.

In forcing a purge of dirty warriors, McGovern has accomplished what 
the State Department should have done. Will Democrats relent on aid 
to Colombia and approve the free-trade agreement? At stake are not 
only the fortunes of Colombia, the best U.S. friend in South America, 
but also efforts to slow the torrent of narcotics into the United States. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake