Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 Source: Bradenton Herald (FL) Copyright: 2003 Bradenton Herald Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradentonherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58 Author: Frederic J. Frommer AFTER VISIT TO COLOMBIA, COLEMAN CALLS FOR CONTINUED ANTI-DRUG AID WASHINGTON - Sen. Norm Coleman retraced a trip to Colombia taken by his predecessor, the late Paul Wellstone, but came back with the opposite conclusion: the United States should continue to aid the Colombian government's anti-drug war. "Plan Colombia is making a difference," Coleman said Tuesday, referring to the $2.5 billion in anti-drug aid that the United States has given to Colombia. "We need to continue with it." The aid is used primarily to help Colombia buy, fly and maintain helicopters and spray planes. The helicopters are used on drug-fighting missions, such as protecting spray planes that fumigate fields of coca and opium, the raw material for cocaine and heroin. Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine and a major supplier of heroin to the United States. Coleman, a freshman Minnesota Republican, traveled to Colombia last Friday, meeting with President Alvaro Uribe, military officials, and U.S. forces in the country, before returning home on Monday. It was his first trip overseas as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations' Western Hemisphere subcommittee. Wellstone, a Democrat who was killed in a place crash last October, was one of Congress' most outspoken critics of the Colombia aid. He traveled to Colombia in 2000 and again in 2001. Coleman suggested that Wellstone might have felt differently if he had had an opportunity to meet with Uribe, who was elected president last year on promises to crack down on drug traffickers and illegal armed groups in the nation's 39-year civil war. "Leadership makes a difference," Coleman said during a briefing with Minnesota reporters. "President Uribe is an outstanding individual. I have great hope with him as president." One of Wellstone's main objections to the aid was the Colombian government's human rights record. He spoke out against the government's relationship with the right-wing paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. The group, known by its Spanish initials, AUC, has been blamed for some of the bloodiest massacres in Colombia's history. Coleman said he raised that issue at every meeting with Colombian officials, and got assurances about the country's commitment to human rights. He noted that during his visit, the Colombian military captured a paramilitary commander, Bolmar Sepulveda, who is accused of killing 450 people. But Coleman said there was no moral basis for the left-wing movement either, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. "Whatever cause there was 10 years ago is gone - because of drugs," he said. "They're narco-terrorists." Wellstone tried to get money earmarked for Plan Colombia diverted to drug treatment centers in the United States. "This is not an either-or," Coleman said. "You've got to get rid of the production aspect of it. At the same time, we have to focus on domestic treatment." U.S. and Colombian officials credit Plan Colombia for a 15 percent drop last year in coca cultivation and a 25 percent drop in opium. But an official of the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, said earlier this month that the program has had mixed results, noting that coca cultivation rose annually from 1995 to 2001 and opium cultivation was steady. Coleman said that he went to Colombia both to find out more about the program and to offer support to Uribe. "There is a human component to this - to tell this leader he has support in the United States," he said. "FARC has made it clear they want to kill him. As chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee, I wanted to tell him we appreciate your leadership." The trip was not publicized ahead of time because of security concerns. Coleman said he hopes to return this fall, and to visit Brazil and Chile as well. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens