POWELL PLANS REASSURANCES OVER U.S. AID TO COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell travels Monday to
South America, where he will witness first-hand Colombia's struggle with an
intensifying, four-sided war and the American efforts to support its
government.

Mr. Powell's first task will be to reassure Colombian officials that, while
the Bush administration is reviewing its policy toward their country, it is
not contemplating a change in its basic approach, which includes
strengthening the military, eradicating drug crops and supporting peace
negotiations, aides said.

The American commitment to continuing a policy that began with the Clinton
administration's $1.3 billion package of mostly military aid to Colombia
and its neighbors comes as the fighting there with leftist rebels has
intensified.

"This is a huge investment on the part of the people of the United States,
and we need to make sure that it is done right," said one senior official
involved in the government-wide review of the policy. But, the official
added: "The fundamentals aren't changing; the core principles are going
forward."

Mr. Powell intends to underscore that commitment by notifying the
presidents of Colombia and Peru that he is determined to resume anti- drug
flights that were suspended after a Peruvian fighter jet shot down a plane
carrying American missionaries in April, officials said.

A C.I.A.-operated surveillance plane had identified the missionary plane as
a suspected drug flight. A joint investigation by the United States and
Peru found that a series of mishaps — involving faulty procedures, language
difficulties and an overtaxed communications system — led to the attack,
which killed Veronica Bowers, a Baptist missionary, and her infant daughter.

Colombian and Peruvian officials last week implored the Americans to
continue the flights, saying that, in their absence, traffickers have
stepped up operations in both countries. "The interdiction program is
paralyzed," the Colombian president, Andres Pastrana, told reporters.
"According to our information, this has permitted a great deal of drugs to
overfly our territory."

But American officials are still debating safety and liability issues
surrounding the surveillance flights and Mr. Powell does not plan to make
an announcement during his three-day trip, aides said.

"It's a question of how and when, not if" the flights will resume, said one
American diplomat.

Such caution suggests a broader predicament. The United States has ample
resources and a deep interest in curtailing the flow of drugs across its
borders, but officials are nervous about being drawn into a chaotic war in
Colombia that has simmered for decades and, they say, can only result in a
stalemate.

Morris Busby, a former ambassador to Colombia, said conditions have
worsened significantly in the last 18 months. Rebels from the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, have enriched themselves through the
drug trade and used a demilitarized zone to carry out attacks, while
right-wing paramilitaries have thousands of new recruits.

"Colombia is one of the most serious foreign policy problems that we have,"
Mr. Busby said. "It's almost like China, where you had warlords fighting
with each other, and a weak central government. It's a terrible situation."

It is a scenario that defies Mr. Powell's own doctrine for American
engagement — there is no clear end to the mission — and no one argues that
government forces can defeat the rebels militarily.

But officials insist they have incorporated the lessons of the past by
barring American troops from a combat role and broadening the presence of
the state by bolstering development projects and the justice system.
Through aerial spraying, they add, Colombian and American teams have
eradicated 62,000 acres of drug crops in the southern Putumayo province.

The strategy is "not only going well, but probably going better than we
would have expected it to be going at this point in time," said William
Brownfield, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere
affairs.

The Bush administration has asked Congress for $882 million to provide
Colombia and six of its neighbors with funds for additional security and
development aid. The House approved $676 million in July; the Senate has
not yet acted.

Mr. Powell, who travels first to Lima, Peru, arrives in Colombia Tuesday
night and will meet with Mr. Pastrana, Colombian defense officials, human
rights leaders and many of the candidates vying for the presidency in next
year's elections.

Aides said he hopes his visit will lend encouragement to ordinary
Colombians, who are increasingly demoralized by a sour economy and
concessions by Mr. Pastrana that have not produced a peace agreement with
the rebels.