Pubdate: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 Source: Reuters Copyright: 2000 Reuters Limited. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/latin.htm Latin America clippings ECUADOR TO ASK FOR AID TO FIGHT BORDER DRUG TRADE WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Concerned about spillover from neighboring Colombia's war on drugs, Ecuador wants the international community to help pay for a protection zone along its border, Foreign Minister Heinz Moeller said on Friday. At a series of meetings with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno (news - web sites), drug policy director Barry McCaffrey and U.S. lawmakers, Moeller said Ecuador needed $250 to $300 million over the next two to three years to prevent the spread of coca plantations into Ecuador. Ecuador and Colombia's other neighbors have said Bogota's $7.5 million, U.S.-backed Plan Colombia -- targeting drug traffickers and guerrillas allegedly financed by drug money -- will send refugees, drug traffickers and rebels over their borders. Ecuador shares a 370-mile frontier with Colombia, part of which is along Colombia's rebel-controlled, drug-producing Putumayo region. Ecuador's plan focuses on economic and social programs, new community centers, health centers, new roads for farmers, the alternative agricultural, ecological sanctuaries and the creation of a police and military border patrol. The government said it hopes European lenders will forgive part of its foreign debt, saying it instead will use the money to fund development programs along the border. Last month Ecuador signed a debt restructuring agreement with members of the Paris Club, a group of creditor nations that includes the United States. Ecuador has given U.S. anti-narcotics planes access to its Manta air and naval base in the northern part of the country, and hopes the United States will reciprocate with anti-drug aid. Moeller, on a six-day visit to Washington, will also meet with U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, a staunch advocate for U.S. support for Plan Colombia, other legislators and Pentagon (news - web sites) officials. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder