BEWARE U.S. DRUG WAR IN COLOMBIA

A headline in The Times Record caught my eye: "U.S. rebukes lack of
support for Plan Colombia - Countries complain about spillover
effect." The article explained that the defense ministers of
neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru are worried that the
military offensive cooked up by Congress against Colombian drug
producers will widen the conflict there, causing thousands of refugees
to flee across the border.

This sounds familiar. Isn't that what happened as a result of our
military involvement in Vietnam? Didn't we end up bombing Laos and
Cambodia as we chased the Viet Cong over the border? Didn't thousands
end up languishing in Thai refugee camps for years?

Isn't this a repeat of our offensive in El Salvador, where refugees,
trying to escape slaughter by death squads, were murdered as they fled
across the river into Honduras? Will some U.S. president 20 years from
now have to apologize to the people of Colombia, Ecuador and
Venezuela, as President Clinton recently did to the people of
Guatemala, for supporting those who massacred thousands of Indians and
burned down hundreds of their villages?

As in those Central American countries, the history of Colombia can be
seen as "a long, drawn-out struggle between large landowners and small
peasants, between cattle-raising and subsistence agriculture, between
a powerful privileged class who own most of the land and campesinos
who lack any influence, resources or access to credit," says Alejandro
Reyes of Colombia's National University.

Andres Pastrana was elected to the presidency of Colombia on the
strength of his campaign promises to end this war by means of
negotiations and to transform Colombia by means of a broad-ranging
reform program. Nowhere in Pastrana's original Plan Colombia is there
reference to the eradication of coca and poppy plants through aerial
spraying or any method that might harm the environment. Nowhere is
there mention of a role for the military in the achievement of a
negotiated settlement as a prerequisite to the transformation of rural
Colombia through programs of land reform, farm-to-market roads,
schools, health centers and access to credit.

With unemployment at 20 percent, foreign investment disappearing and
the credibility of his government shaky, Pastrana was forced to come
to the United States for help in implementing his plan.

The United States could have offered to help Colombia achieve peace
and economic stability. It could have offered to build up the
institutions of Colombia's government; bolstered Colombia's legitimate
economy by encouraging foreign investment; lowered barriers that keep
its products out of U.S. markets; launched a serious diplomatic
campaign to bring the Colombian civil war to a negotiated settlement;
and greatly increased programs in the United States to reduce
consumption of the illegal drugs.

Instead, the legislation authorizing $1.3 billion of aid provides for
60 attack helicopters, an array of intelligence activities and three
counternarcotics battalions. Despite the fact that this legislation in
no way resembles Pastrana's Plan Colombia, it is described as "a
counternarcotics initiative developed under the leadership of
Colombian President Pastrana."

After President Clinton grafted military aid onto Plan Colombia, a
coalition of 37 Colombian human rights groups rejected funding for the
U.S. package, saying the policies will wreck the peace process,
escalate an unwinnable civil war, and risk driving Colombian drugs,
refugees and violence over Colombia's borders.

There are two groups who will benefit greatly from Clinton's version
of Plan Colombia: American arms manufacturers and oil companies with
operations in Colombia. Since 1999 Colombia has greatly increased its
contracts with oil companies from the United States, Great Britain and
Canada. The area targeted by Plan Colombia, in the Putumayo, has been
delivered millimeter by millimeter to the oil companies. Last October,
Pastran met in Houston with executives of the principal oil and
electric energy companies and with Gov.George W. Bush. He promised
them major concessions for oil and gas exploration and the
privatization of electrical companies.

Occidental Petroleum, in which Vice President Gore's family is a major
shareholder, lobbied Congress in support of the militarized version of
Plan Colombia. Oxy is expropriating the lands of the U'wa nation in
northeast Colombia in order to dig exploratory wells there. On the day
Plan Colombia was inaugurated, the region was militarized,
invalidating the U'wa's titles to the area and their constitutional
rights. The U'wa have vowed to commit mass suicide if Oxy is allowed
to pollute their ancestral land.

During the discussion in Congress of Plan Colombia, some senators
argued that priority should be given to oil investment. In fact, Sen.
Coverdell suggested that the necessity of protecting oil interests in
Venezuela justified U.S. intervention in Colombia!

The Colombian press has started a jingoistic campaign to prepare
public opinion for a fabricated Colombian-Venezuelan conflict that
could convert the U.S. intervention in Colombia into an intervention
against the Venezuelan government, led by social reformer Hugo Chavez.