A Risky American Course in Colombia
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Colombia’s President, Andres Pastrana, deserves American support for his efforts to reduce drug production and trafficking and begin peace negotiations with Marxist guerrillas. Mr. Pastrana’s political position is shaky at the moment, and President Clinton’s visit to the port of Cartagena today may help reinforce it. But the Clinton trip will also inaugurate a misguided expansion of American support to Colombia’s security forces. Colombia’s army and police are fighting a simultaneous war against drug producers and Marxist guerrillas who now control as much as half of the country’s territory. It is unrealistic to imagine that the $1.3 billion aid package, most of it to supply 60 military helicopters and train a new army anti-narcotics brigade, will only be used against the drug traffickers and not also against the guerrillas who provide them with armed protection. There is nothing wrong with Washington helping an elected democratic government combat a brutal armed insurgency. But this particular guerrilla conflict, which has been raging for decades, has reached a military stalemate and needs to be resolved at the negotiating table. Delivering close to $1 billion in American military aid does not seem the best way to encourage both sides to talk peace. Colombia’s army has a terrible record of violating human rights. Regrettably, the House stripped the aid legislation of safeguards to improve military professionalism, and Mr. Clinton unwisely waived one of the remaining human rights provisions to let aid begin flowing immediately. The aid package contains some good features, including nearly $240 million for human rights training, judicial reform and programs promoting alternative economic activities for peasants now making their living from drug cultivation. It will be up to Mr. Clinton’s successor to see that American aid is used to promote peace and development, not to draw Washington into an endless guerrilla war. More : query.nytimes.com |