Pubdate: Tue, 13 Feb 2001
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 2001 Reuters Limited
Author: Anthony Boadle

COLOMBIA, U.S. LOOK AT ANDEAN DRUG PLAN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Colombia held talks on Tuesday 
on their anti-drugs offensive in rebel-controlled southern Colombia, 
discussing the fears of neighboring countries about the impact on them.

Secretary of State Colin Powell met Colombian Foreign Minister Guillermo 
Fernandez de Soto and told him the Bush administration was committed to 
backing Plan Colombia, which uses U.S.-equipped troops in a drive against 
drug crops.

"It was a very positive, somewhat detailed, discussion of how Plan Colombia 
is working, how Plan Colombia is achieving some success and how we can go 
forward in the future," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Boucher said Powell was particularly interested in "looking at what we do 
with neighboring countries, how we make it an Andean sort of strategy."

Washington decided in 2000 to spend $1.3 billion over two years to back 
Plan Colombia, which calls for a military push against drug plantations 
protected by Marxist guerrillas.

Colombia is the world's main cocaine producer and a source of much of the 
heroine sold on the streets of U.S. cities.

Plan Colombia includes peace talks with the well-financed and heavily armed 
rebels, and alternative crop programs to draw peasants away from coca and 
poppy growing.

The U.S. aid is mainly going into training Colombian army units and 
equipping them with Blackhawk helicopters for rapid deployment into areas 
rebels have held for decades.

Colombia's neighbors fear armed clashes will send waves of refugees 
spilling across their borders, followed by the drug plantations, and they 
are seeking more U.S. funding.

Powell and Fernandez did not talk about future funding, Boucher said. "The 
discussion centered on the desire of the United States to continue to 
support Plan Colombia," he said.

Pastrana To Meet Bush

Colombian President Andres Pastrana will meet President George W. Bush in 
Washington on Feb. 27 to discuss the crisis in Colombia, where peace talks 
with the main guerrilla movement resume on Wednesday after a three-month break.

Fernandez said relations between Bogota and Washington were "excellent" and 
he thanked the Bush administration for continuing to support Plan Colombia.

Powell was given an update on the peace process that was revived last week 
after Pastrana had talks with the commander of the 17,000 guerrillas of the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Manuel Marulanda.

Fernandez reported progress in the destruction by aerial spraying of 30,000 
hectares of coca in Putumayo province in only six weeks, amounting to half 
the plantations in the area.

He said 10,000 peasant families had agreed to enter the government's 
voluntary eradication program. "These results effectively show that the 
plan is working," he said.

"We discussed the regional dimension that the plan should have. We are 
going to work on that," Fernandez told reporters as he left the State 
Department. He gave no details.

Fernandez asked the Bush administration for support in winning preferential 
trade treatment for exports from Andean nations entering the U.S. market.

"I did not come to ask for more money. I came to ask for more cooperation 
and trade," he said.

"The regional dimension is fundamental in this fight. Colombia cannot 
eradicate the drug problem on its own. Our countries need more trade and 
investment," he said.

Fernandez also requested a temporary amnesty for thousands of Colombians 
illegally in the United States. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would 
allow them to avoid deportation while they legalize their U.S. papers.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D