Pubdate: July 25, 1999 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Copyright: 1999 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/ Author: Paul de la Garza Related: additional articles on Colombia are available at http://www.mapinc.org/latin.htm U.S. LEADS SEARCH FOR PLANE LOST IN COLOMBIA BOGOTA, Colombia -- An exhaustive aerial search in southern Colombia for a missing spy plane carrying five U.S. soldiers and two Colombians yielded no results Saturday, but American officials clung to the possibility that those aboard were still alive. The aircraft, a four-engine de Havilland RC-7, disappeared early Friday after taking off from a Colombian military base about 45 miles southeast of Bogota. Officials said the U.S. Army plane was on a routine anti-narcotics reconnaissance mission. Bad weather, including low cloud cover, was reported near the takeoff point. On Saturday, U.S.-led rescue teams flying American and Colombian airplanes and helicopters scoured the mountains of southwestern Colombia, a stronghold of powerful leftist guerrillas and a rich cocaine-producing area. "We've not located anything yet," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Jack Miller, spokesman with the military's Southern Command in Miami. "But we're still looking for seven survivors." The names of the Americans were not released, but Miller said they were two captains, a warrant officer and two enlisted men. In the past 2 1/2 years, three U.S. pilots training Colombian pilots have died here. The Americans, specialists in the spraying of illegal drug plantations, including coca and poppy fields, were under contract with the U.S. State Department. Their deaths highlighted what critics say is the increasing role of the U.S. military in Colombia, where a civil war has raged for decades. The latest reconnaissance operation was already raising questions about the U.S. role in Colombia, the world's top cocaine producer and a growing supplier of the heroin sold on American streets. Critics said they were troubled because the U.S. normally engages in anti-drug operations with Colombia's National Police. On Friday, according to local news reports, the two Colombians on board with the Americans were members of Colombia's military. In recent months, the rebels, known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have humiliated the administration of President Andres Pastrana by staging attacks close to the capital, Bogota. Peace talks begun earlier this year have stalled. U.S. and Colombian officials say that the rebels are linked to the drug trade, generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year by offering protection for drug barons. According to intelligence reports, the rebels, who number between 15,000 and 20,000, control as much as half the country. Colombian officials recently were in Washington, requesting additional military aid. The administration's top drug control official, former Gen. Barry McCaffrey, has asked that the $280 million Colombia gets to fight drug trafficking be tripled. McCaffrey is to arrive in Colombia on Sunday for a two-day visit. The White House is concerned that the fighting could disrupt oil operations in neighboring Venezuela, America's biggest foreign oil supplier, and threaten the nearby Panama Canal. Although the U.S. insists that American aid used to fund anti-drug operations in Colombia is not intended to be used to fight the guerrillas, the lines have become increasingly blurred because of the role the rebels play in narcotics trafficking. The U.S., however, recently acknowledged in a report that it had provided the Colombian military with intelligence on rebel positions. The rebels also have threatened to attack U.S. targets in Colombia. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder