HERALDED AID PACKAGE TO BOOST COLOMBIAN ECONOMY, FIGHT DRUG WAR CRUMBLING

European Partners Withhold Support, Worry Plan Aids U.S. In Its Own Drug
Fight Instead Of Addressing Colombia's Concerns

WASHINGTON -- Three months after the United States approved a huge aid
package for Colombia, the overarching $7.5 billion plan to stabilize that
nation and thwart its guerrilla movements and drug traffickers is already
showing signs of disarray, officials and experts say.

European nations participating in the aid plan have balked so far at
providing donations to help Colombia address its social problems, Latin
American leaders are voicing concerns about creeping U.S. militarism, and
the government of Colombian President Andres Pastrana has been reluctant to
promote the plan at home or to dedicate domestic funds to it, U.S.
officials concede.

In a report to Congress last week, the General Accounting Office warned
that "the Colombian government has not demonstrated it has the detailed
plans, management structure and funding necessary'' to meet the plan's
goals, and international financial support from beyond the United States
"has yet to materialize.''

Pastrana announced "Plan Colombia'' as an initiative of his government a
year ago. But the skepticism it has met reflects a concern abroad that the
plan was drafted by the United States as a way to ease its own drug crisis,
and not as a coherent strategy to lift Colombia from a quagmire involving
two guerrilla insurgencies, right-wing death squads, a faltering economy
and a crisis of confidence in government.

"They see it as something that was cooked up in Washington,'' said Michael
Shifter, a senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a forum for
leaders from the hemisphere. "If other countries saw this was moving in the
direction of being more responsive to Colombian concerns, they would
support it.''

Pastrana set a goal of reducing the coca cultivation and distribution of
Colombian narcotics by 50 percent over six years. Pledging $4 billion in
Colombian funds to the effort, he asked for an additional $3.5 billion from
the United States, Europe and international lenders to advance Colombia's
efforts to promote economic development, reform the judicial system and
fight drug traffickers.

The Clinton administration in July approved $1.3 billion in mostly military
aid to Colombia -- including more than a dozen Black Hawk helicopters -- to
help the Colombian army strike into southern territories under the control
of drug traffickers and guerrillas.

U.S. officials acknowledge the plan cannot succeed without international
support for the "softer'' programs to raise Colombians' living standards
and provide alternatives to drug trafficking and war.

But European nations so far have failed to pledge funds at hoped-for
levels. At a donors' conference in Madrid in July, Spain promised to
contribute $100 million, and Norway pledged $20 million. In addition, the
United Nations promised $131 million, and Japan and international lending
institutions offered $70 million and $300 million in loans, respectively.

The Europe Union, which is the second-largest consumer of Colombian
narcotics, after the United States, is still considering its role and may
announce additional funds at a follow-up to the Madrid conference on Oct.
24, diplomats said.

But one European envoy said the EU has no intention of supporting Plan
Colombia.

"The EU and member states are supporting the peace process in Colombia and
not specifically the Plan Colombia, which is an American project,'' the
envoy said.

Although the Clinton administration has portrayed Plan Colombia as
Pastrana's work, much of it was drafted by U.S. officials, according to
people familiar with its preparation.

"We know people who did the 'Colombian' part of the plan for them, and they
were not Colombian,'' said Max Manwaring, a professor of military strategy
at the U.S. Army war college in Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

The plan emerged last year after Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the White House
anti-narcotics coordinator -- under pressure from congressional Republicans
- -- declared that Colombia was a foreign-policy "emergency.'' He noted its
steady increases in drug cultivation, the widening influence of rebels and
its general potential to destabilize the region, given Colombia's position
between the Panama Canal and Venezuela, the largest foreign supplier of oil
to the United States.

"We've been totally naive in this process, in thinking that's going to
shake loose some matching funds from the donor community,'' said a senior
administration official. "From their perspective, this is our problem.''

Pastrana, who took office on a pledge to bring peace to his country, has
himself proved a lackluster champion of the plan, U.S. officials say, and
has allocated only $15 million of Colombian national funds to the project.

Analysts say Pastrana is torn between hopes that the U.S. attention and
largess could provide Colombia with a rare opportunity for foreign
investment, on the one hand, and concerns, on the other, that deepening
ties to the Pentagon could unleash greater violence in Colombia and
possibly draw in its neighbors.

Members of Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, last week reportedly kidnapped 10 foreign oil workers
- -- including five Americans -- in neighboring Ecuador. The rebel group said
the unusual cross-border operation was in retaliation for Plan Colombia,
according to Ecuadorean authorities.

Colombia's most influential neighbors -- Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela --
last month voiced support for peace negotiations in Colombia, but pointedly
refused to back the military aspect of the plan. Pastrana is now touring
the region trying to broaden their endorsement.