Pubdate: Sat, 01 Sep 2001
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2001 Houston Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: John Otis

U.S. OFFICIAL VOICES SUPPORT FOR COLOMBIAN PEACE EFFORTS

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A top State Department official on Friday expressed 
strong support for Colombia's floundering peace negotiations with leftist 
rebels and said that U.S. aid to the war-torn Andean nation would continue 
to focus on anti-drug efforts.

"No country supports the peace process more than the United States," Marc 
Grossman, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, told a news 
conference at the end of a three-day visit to Colombia.

The comments of Grossman, the State Department's third-highest ranking 
official, came amid growing speculation that Washington may get more 
involved in Colombia's 37-year-old war against Marxist guerrillas. The 
rebels control much of the countryside and earn millions of dollars 
annually from the illegal drug trade.

Last week, Peter Rodman, the assistant secretary of defense for 
international security affairs, said that the Bush administration was 
"rethinking" its policy toward the South American nation.

In recent days, U.S. officials have lambasted the Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the nation's largest rebel group, for 
kidnapping civilians, meeting with suspected members of the Irish 
Republican Army and abusing a guerrilla-controlled sanctuary in southern 
Colombia. What's more, the 21/2-year-old peace process between the Bogota 
government and the FARC is at a standstill.

But Grossman insisted that his delegation was simply reviewing the U.S. aid 
program, a hand-me-down from the Clinton administration. He indicated that 
few substantial changes are in the works.

The focus, he said, would remain on Plan Colombia, the Bogota government's 
blueprint to wipe out cocaine and heroin production, provide peasant drug 
farmers with crop-substitution programs and strengthen state institutions.

Shortly before the news conference, a senior U.S. official ruled out the 
possibility of American support for a counterinsurgency war.

"From my perspective, there is no 'rethinking,' " the official said.

The U.S. delegation included Gen. Peter Pace, head of the U.S. Southern 
Command and Bush's nominee for vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 
and about two dozen other officials. Secretary of State Colin Powell plans 
to visit Colombia on Sept. 11-12.

The Americans met with President Andres Pastrana, military leaders and 
human rights groups. They also toured bases in southern Colombia where U.S. 
Green Berets have been training thousands of Colombian soldiers for 
anti-drug raids.

Last year, the U.S. Congress approved $1.3 billion in anti-narcotics aid 
for Colombia. The Bush administration has requested another $880 million 
for Andean nations next year, about half of which would be earmarked for 
Colombia, Grossman said.

Much of the aid has been funneled to the military and police, and there is 
a growing perception here that Washington is more interested in supporting 
the war effort than the peace process. In fact, in the wake of several army 
victories on the battlefield, many Colombians are calling for an all-out 
military campaign against the FARC.

U.N. special envoy Jan Egeland, who has been monitoring the peace 
negotiations, warned this week, however, that hard-line policies could 
backfire.

"Those who criticize the search for peace should carefully consider the 
alternative," Egeland told a news conference in Bogota on Wednesday. "You 
cannot shoot your way to reconciliation."

Grossman said the Bush administration supports the peace process but added 
that Washington will continue to denounce abuses by the FARC, which extorts 
businesses, blows up oil pipelines and kidnaps hundreds of civilians every 
year.

He also defended the U.S.-backed policy of fumigating coca and opium 
poppies, the raw materials for cocaine and heroin, a cornerstone of the 
anti-drug effort.

Opponents of the campaign claim that it simply forces peasants deeper into 
the wilderness, where they plant more drug crops. Thousands of rural 
families have complained that glyphosate, the herbicide used by police 
crop-dusters, causes diarrhea, nausea and skin irritations.

Grossman said that glyphosate is being applied in a diluted form that is safe.

"Our aerial eradication campaign is sensible, and it is well documented to 
be safe," Grossman said. "We are not ashamed of it. We are actually quite 
proud of it."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom