Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jan 2003
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2003 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Vanessa Arrington, Associated Press Writer

U.S. ENVOY VISITS TROOPS AT FACILITY IN COLOMBIA

ARAUCA, Colombia -- U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson, guarded by U.S. special 
forces soldiers in a machine-gun mounted Humvee, came to one of Colombia's 
bloodiest war zones Friday to meet with U.S. commanders training Colombian 
troops. The Humvee, carrying elite U.S. soldiers toted assault rifles and a 
grenade launcher trailed Patterson as she rode in a bulletproof sport 
utility vehicle from the airport to a sprawling Colombian army base outside 
the eastern town of Arauca. Patterson told reporters 70 U.S. Army trainers 
had arrived in Arauca over the past few days, and that they would stay for 
about three months to train 6,500 Colombian soldiers to protect a key oil 
pipeline from attacks by rebels. Some residents of Arauca, who have endured 
rebel car bombings and assassinations, said they were happy to see the 
Americans. "They are welcome here," said a 40-year-old street vendor, who 
asked not to be named. "They have a lot of experience. There's a lot they 
can teach our soldiers during such a difficult time." The deployment of the 
members of the 7th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., 
followed a decision by the Bush administration, with approval from 
Congress, that U.S. military assistance should be expanded into helping 
Colombia combat the rebels. Previously, U.S. military aid and training was 
restricted largely to battling cocaine production, which rebels and rival 
paramilitary gunmen profit from, fueling the war. Colombian Defense 
Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez said the expanded U.S. military aid against 
the rebels and outlawed paramilitary forces will "make our actions against 
these groups much more effective and allow us to obtain the result we want, 
which is to hit these groups hard." Ramirez, in an interview with The 
Associated Press as she traveled in northern Colombia, said she believed 
the U.S. military trainers would be safe in Arauca, which has been declared 
a special security zone by President Alvaro Uribe. The U.S. special forces 
in Arauca and in nearby areas of eastern Colombia are to train two 
Colombian army brigades that protect the Cano Limon pipeline, which carries 
oil for Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum across northern Colombia to 
a seaside depot, where it is loaded onto U.S.-bound tankers. Colombia is 
the 10th-biggest supplier of oil to the United States; rebel sabotage of 
the Cano Limon pipeline has reduced its output. U.S. special forces already 
have trained a 2,000-member Colombian army counternarcotics brigade as part 
of almost $2 billion in mostly military aid the United States has given 
Colombia over the past three years.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart