Pubdate: Sat, 05 Apr 2003
Source: Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Copyright: 2003 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Author: David Yonke

MINISTER SEEKS SHIFT IN U.S. AID

Blade Religion Editor

While the world focuses its attention on the war in Iraq, the Rev. Pablo 
Jose Noguera is hoping Ohioans will help to ease the suffering in war-torn 
Colombia.

"Now we have an international war in Iraq, but war has not stopped in 
Colombia," Mr. Noguera, a Presbyterian minister from Bogota, said during a 
visit to Toledo this week sponsored by the Interfaith Justice and Peace Center.

In 2000, the U.S. Congress passed a $1.3 billion aid package known as "Plan 
Colombia," making the South American nation the third-highest recipient of 
American security funding, behind Egypt and Israel.

The bulk of Plan Colombia funds goes to the national army in its war 
against guerrillas, paramilitary forces, and narcotics traffickers.

Mr. Noguera believes U.S. military aid to the South American nation is 
inadvertently making life more miserable for civilians, who have endured 40 
years of civil war, by escalating the violence among military groups.

U.S. funding for the Colombian Army spurs more attacks on the guerrillas, 
particularly the Revolutionary Armed Forces known as FARC, Mr. Noguera 
said. The paramilitary forces - private armies hired for protection and 
notorious for their brutality - also are battling guerrillas, and the 
rebels in turn are striking both army and paramilitary forces.

In addition, many army soldiers join the paramilitary forces after they 
retire and there are widespread allegations that the two military groups 
are often in collaboration.

"It's a vicious cycle of violence," said Mr. Noguera, pastor of a 
200-member church and executive director of Central Presbytery in Bogota.

Caught in the middle of the violence are Colombia's 40 million citizens, 
many of whom are fleeing the war-torn countryside and seeking refuge in 
cities such as Medellin, Cali, Baranquilla, and Bogota.

There are an estimated 2.2 million displaced Colombians, most of whom are 
single mothers with young children, Mr. Noguera said.

Refugees cluster in shantytowns that spring up on the outskirts of the 
cities. Their crude shelters, built with scraps of wood and junk, lack such 
basic necessities as running water and electricity, according to Rainer 
Naranjo, a Bogota finance director traveling with Mr. Noguera.

Many displaced peasants cannot find work in the city, where the national 
jobless rate is officially listed at 34 percent- although most Colombians 
believe that figure is actually much higher, Mr. Naranjo said.

Unlike the United States, there is no government welfare system in Colombia 
and many unemployed adults resort to crime or violence to survive, Mr. 
Noguera said.

Children, many of them orphans, also turn to violent crime, drugs, or 
prostitution, Mr. Noguera said. He has ministered to children as young as 9 
who were involved in prostitution.

Mr. Noguera is involved in an ecumenical effort by Colombian Catholic, 
Methodist, Lutheran, and Baptist groups to provide social services to the 
poor and displaced, including running a kindergarten for 300 children in 
the capital city.

"We do what we can to help, but we can only do so much," he said.

Mr. Noguera, who spoke at Lourdes College, the University of Toledo, and 
Toledo Mennonite Church during his Toledo visit, is calling for 
reallocating a greater portion of U.S. funding from military aid to social 
services and humanitarian assistance in Colombia.

- - DAVID YONKE
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens