Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jun 2000
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Copyright: 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Author: Deirdre Shesgreen

DURBIN WILL BACK ANTI-DRUG AID DEAL FOR COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON - After getting a firsthand look at anti-drug efforts in
Colombia, Sen. Dick Durbin said he will support a $1.6 billion aid package
to help wipe out the massive coca fields that cover that South American
country and feed America's cocaine addicts.

"This is front and center," said Durbin, D-Ill., in explaining why he made a
two-day visit over the weekend to Colombia, which was sponsored by a Senate
committee. One other senator, Jack Reed, D-R.I., also made the trip.

The Senate could take up the proposal - pushed by the Clinton administration
- - as early as today.

Durbin said he still has reservations about President Bill Clinton's
proposal, arguing that it needs to be linked to human rights protections and
supplemented with domestic drug treatment efforts. "It's naive to think [the
aid package] will be enough," Durbin said.

Human rights activists and other critics have expressed concern about the
spending bill, saying it would draw the United States into the long-running
civil strife that has plagued Colombia. Leftist guerrilla groups control a
segment of the country, and they are heavily involved in drug trafficking.

"The military capabilities available to the insurgent groups and the drug
traffickers have become very sophisticated, so much so that the government
doesn't have the upper hand," said Christian Maisch, an assistant professor
of international relations at American University in Washington.

Maisch noted that right-wing paramilitary groups have sprouted up in
response to the left-wing groups, and both sides have been accused of
committing extortion, killings, kidnappings and other grave human rights
violations.

Durbin was a co-sponsor of an amendment to the legislation that would
require the government to prosecute human rights cases in civilian courts,
rather than military courts. The amendment would also boost funding for
human rights monitoring, prosecution of cases, and strengthening the
country's criminal justice system.

Durbin supports another amendment that would redirect $225 million of the
package to fund drug-abuse programs in the United States.

On his trip, Durbin met with President Andres Pastrana, as well as with
human rights officials and members of a Catholic church group.

A spokesman for Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., said he was still studying
the proposal. A spokesman for Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., said Ashcroft
supports the drug interdiction efforts but has concerns that the price tag
on the aid package is too high. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R- Mo., was not
available for comment but he voted for the measure in committee.
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