Pubdate: Sun, 09 Sep 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Section: International
Author: Christopher Marquis

POWELL PLANS REASSURANCES OVER U.S. AID TO COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell travels Monday to 
South America, where he will witness first-hand Colombia's struggle with an 
intensifying, four-sided war and the American efforts to support its 
government.

Mr. Powell's first task will be to reassure Colombian officials that, while 
the Bush administration is reviewing its policy toward their country, it is 
not contemplating a change in its basic approach, which includes 
strengthening the military, eradicating drug crops and supporting peace 
negotiations, aides said.

The American commitment to continuing a policy that began with the Clinton 
administration's $1.3 billion package of mostly military aid to Colombia 
and its neighbors comes as the fighting there with leftist rebels has 
intensified.

"This is a huge investment on the part of the people of the United States, 
and we need to make sure that it is done right," said one senior official 
involved in the government-wide review of the policy. But, the official 
added: "The fundamentals aren't changing; the core principles are going 
forward."

Mr. Powell intends to underscore that commitment by notifying the 
presidents of Colombia and Peru that he is determined to resume anti- drug 
flights that were suspended after a Peruvian fighter jet shot down a plane 
carrying American missionaries in April, officials said.

A C.I.A.-operated surveillance plane had identified the missionary plane as 
a suspected drug flight. A joint investigation by the United States and 
Peru found that a series of mishaps — involving faulty procedures, language 
difficulties and an overtaxed communications system — led to the attack, 
which killed Veronica Bowers, a Baptist missionary, and her infant daughter.

Colombian and Peruvian officials last week implored the Americans to 
continue the flights, saying that, in their absence, traffickers have 
stepped up operations in both countries. "The interdiction program is 
paralyzed," the Colombian president, Andres Pastrana, told reporters. 
"According to our information, this has permitted a great deal of drugs to 
overfly our territory."

But American officials are still debating safety and liability issues 
surrounding the surveillance flights and Mr. Powell does not plan to make 
an announcement during his three-day trip, aides said.

"It's a question of how and when, not if" the flights will resume, said one 
American diplomat.

Such caution suggests a broader predicament. The United States has ample 
resources and a deep interest in curtailing the flow of drugs across its 
borders, but officials are nervous about being drawn into a chaotic war in 
Colombia that has simmered for decades and, they say, can only result in a 
stalemate.

Morris Busby, a former ambassador to Colombia, said conditions have 
worsened significantly in the last 18 months. Rebels from the Revolutionary 
Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, have enriched themselves through the 
drug trade and used a demilitarized zone to carry out attacks, while 
right-wing paramilitaries have thousands of new recruits.

"Colombia is one of the most serious foreign policy problems that we have," 
Mr. Busby said. "It's almost like China, where you had warlords fighting 
with each other, and a weak central government. It's a terrible situation."

It is a scenario that defies Mr. Powell's own doctrine for American 
engagement — there is no clear end to the mission — and no one argues that 
government forces can defeat the rebels militarily.

But officials insist they have incorporated the lessons of the past by 
barring American troops from a combat role and broadening the presence of 
the state by bolstering development projects and the justice system. 
Through aerial spraying, they add, Colombian and American teams have 
eradicated 62,000 acres of drug crops in the southern Putumayo province.

The strategy is "not only going well, but probably going better than we 
would have expected it to be going at this point in time," said William 
Brownfield, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere 
affairs.

The Bush administration has asked Congress for $882 million to provide 
Colombia and six of its neighbors with funds for additional security and 
development aid. The House approved $676 million in July; the Senate has 
not yet acted.

Mr. Powell, who travels first to Lima, Peru, arrives in Colombia Tuesday 
night and will meet with Mr. Pastrana, Colombian defense officials, human 
rights leaders and many of the candidates vying for the presidency in next 
year's elections.

Aides said he hopes his visit will lend encouragement to ordinary 
Colombians, who are increasingly demoralized by a sour economy and 
concessions by Mr. Pastrana that have not produced a peace agreement with 
the rebels.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart