During his quick visit to the Caribbean town of Cartagena this week, President Clinton seconded the Colombian government's insistence that the "Plan Colombia" is a plan for peace and not war. For months, President Andres Pastrana has been issuing tireless reassurances that political negotiations, rather than a military solution, constitute the plan's central strategy.

But the two presidents' stance is difficult to defend. The American contribution to the three-year plan, from which Washington is hoping for a significant reduction in narcotics production, aims at an arms buildup for the Colombian military.

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