U.S. MUST LOOK BEYOND PLAN COLOMBIA

Strengthen Democracy And The Economies In The Andean Region.

The U.S. policy on Colombia remains unchanged from the Clinton to the Bush
administration: unwavering support for Plan Colombia. This approach
proposes strategies for each of Colombia's major, interrelated problems.

However, two aspects require longer than President Andres Pastrana's term
in office:

The peace process, built on the assumption that Colombia's guerrillas want
to negotiate seriously.

The U.S.-funded counternarcotics strategy aimed at reducing by 50 percent
the cultivation, processing and distribution of narcotics by 2005.

Pastrana put a $7.5 billion price tag on his three-year plan -- $4 billion
would be provided by Colombia and $3.5 billion by the international
community. Colombia gave top priority to the peace process, and the United
States to counternarcotics, contributing $1.3 billion the first year; 80
percent for counternarcotics and 20 percent for strengthening democracy.

This year the Bush administration is asking Congress for $882 million for
the Andean Regional Initiative -- half for Colombia, and the rest to help
Colombia's neighbors deal with the spillover effects of countering
narcotics in Colombia.

European and South American governments supported the peace process but
opposed the U.S. strategy. The international community, except for the
United States, has not met Colombian expectations for financial assistance.
For lack of funds and other reasons, Plan Colombia cannot achieve its
three-year goals.

Violence is on the rise in Colombia and is likely to increase further
because the military is better able to challenge the narcotraffickers, the
guerrillas and the paramilitary, and because both the guerrillas and the
paramilitaries have grown stronger.

Saying that the United States supports Plan Colombia is not a policy. The
Bush administration has to look beyond the plan to devise a policy for
Colombia within a larger policy of strengthening democracy and economies in
the Andean region. It is too early to tell how Sept. 11 will change the
Bush administration's attitude toward peace negotiations, considering that
the Colombian government's interlocutors have been designated terrorist
organizations by the United States.

Colombian presidential elections will take place in May 2002, and the new
president assumes office in August. The United States will continue its
current approach until then. It is clear from the Pastrana years that
Colombia needs much more help strengthening democracy. The United States
must adopt an approach wider than the current concentration on narcotics
and manage it at a senior level. At the same time, we must recognize that
Colombia's problems require a multilateral approach with a viable strategy,
measurable goals and accountability.

These are the actions that the United States should take now.:

Work closely with Congress to enhance the Andean Trade Preference Act
before it expires on Dec. 4. This will create jobs and increase exports
immediately to help Colombia's faltering economy.

Urge Congress to restore the more than $200 million it cut from the Andean
Regional Initiative.

Increase resources to reduce drug consumption in the United States. The
administration accepts the principle of co-responsibility, and President
Bush has said that he favors more treatment for users and education to
discourage the young from experimenting.

Increase resources to detect and destroy the financial networks that move
drug dollars. Guerrilla and paramilitary organizations use drug profits to
finance the violence and terrorism they inflict on Colombians.

Facilitate viable peace negotiations in Colombia. The administration says
that peace in Colombia can best be achieved through negotiation. No matter
who wins in 2002, Colombians will prefer negotiating to war. There will be
a peace process but under different conditions than Pastrana accepted.

Encourage the Europeans to do more to help Colombia. Colombians cannot do
it alone or by relying only on U.S. help. The Europeans have been eager to
participate in the minimally effective peace process, thereby enhancing the
image and intransigence of the insurgents but have failed to provide
adequate resources to support the social side of Plan Colombia.

Colombia needs help from all sides -- the United States, the Europeans and
its neighbors -- while it strengthens its own political will to advance the
peace process and attack narcotics trafficking.