Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jun 2000
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 2000 Reuters Limited.
Author: Karl Penhaul

US AID HELPS COLOMBIA BOOST WAR ON DRUGS, REBELS

BOGOTA - A record aid package for Colombia under construction in the U.S. 
Congress is still open to changes in crucial areas that will dictate the 
shape of the war against drugs and Marxist rebels, military and independent 
analysts said Friday.

President Andres Pastrana Thursday welcomed passage of the aid bill, which 
would ratchet up aid to a record $1 billion, at least two-thirds of which 
is military aid.

But key details about the type and number of U.S.-supplied helicopters to 
be used for an airborne offensive into southern Colombia were still to be 
completed. And conditions to ensure the aid did not aggravate human rights 
abuses by the Colombian military were also undecided.

"This (package) clearly marks a major shift in U.S. policy, ratcheting up 
anti-narcotics aid and the commitment of the U.S. military," said Winifred 
Tate, a Bogota-based specialist at the nongovernmental Washington Office on 
Latin America (WOLA).  "But we still do not know what the contours of the 
U.S. assistance are going to be."

The package will allow Washington to double its military presence in 
Colombia to around 500 advisers, which critics, including the rebels, fear 
will mark a slide toward a Vietnam-style expeditionary war.

The package would confirm Colombia's position as the third-largest 
recipient of U.S. assistance after Israel and Egypt.

U.S. officials have increasingly described Colombia's three-decade-old war 
as a U.S. national security threat, arguing Communist insurgents have 
presided over a massive increase in cocaine and heroin output, now flooding 
U.S. streets, as a means of funding their uprising.

In comments late Thursday, Pastrana applauded the Senate vote and insisted 
a proportion of the aid would be spent on development and social programs. 
Another slice of the funds has been earmarked to relocate civilians 
displaced by the war that has claimed more than 35,000 lives in the last 
decade.

Slush Fund And Death Squads

The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, which came up with 
slightly different aid proposals, are to meet next week to reconcile the 
final amount of the package. A final decision seemed likely before the end 
of July and possibly within a week.

Political analysts expected the figure to be somewhere between $1 billion 
and $1.3 billion, close to what President  Clinton requested in January.

The Senate proposal substituted cheaper, Vietnam-era Superhuey UH-1N 
helicopters for the 30 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters proposed by Clinton and 
the House, which would save some $300 million.

But U.S. and Colombian military officials argued the Superhueys, which have 
a shorter flying range, are smaller and slower, would limit the Colombian 
army's ability to fly anti-drug raids deep inside guerrilla-held territory.

The final wording of human rights conditions was also regarded as an 
important issue because it would dictate the conditions under which the 
U.S. aid could be used and set clear distinctions between anti-narcotics 
and counterinsurgency operations.

Colombia's army has one of the worst records of human rights violations 
anywhere in the hemisphere. The U.S. State Department has accused 
Colombia's military of close ties with outlaw ultra-right death squads 
which have waged a "dirty war" against the rebels and their sympathizers.

In a Reuters interview in southern Putumayo province -- traditional 
guerrilla stronghold and top drug-producing region -- a senior death squad 
chieftain said his men would act as a spearhead for the U.S.-funded 
offensive known as "Plan Colombia.

He said his fighters could hand over territory wrested from the rebels to 
allow the Colombian army's elite anti-narcotics battalions, trained and 
equipped by the United States, to set up supply dumps and landing areas for 
helicopters.

Within the U.S. aid package a sum ranging between $35 million, in the 
Senate, and $80 million, in the House, has been set aside for "classified" 
operations.

Human rights groups have also suggested the money would be a slush fund for 
deep-cover operations.

"We are extremely worried because there's absolutely no transparency, 
monitoring or accountability," said WOLA's Tate.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D