COLOMBIA NEEDS ADDITIONAL AID, U.S. VISITORS SAY

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A high-level U.S. delegation that came here to
take a hard look at Colombia's battle against narcotrafficking said
that Washington needs to put more money into the fight.

"President [Andres] Pastrana's government is engaged in a struggle
that matters to everyone in this hemisphere because Colombians are
fighting to re-establish two things that almost every citizen of our
hemisphere wants: peace and prosperity," said Under Secretary of
State Marc Grossman, who led the U.S. delegation's three-day mission
here.

"Colombia is a fellow democracy. . . . Colombians deserve the right
to live in peace and freedom."

Grossman said the 30-plus-member delegation concluded that $1.3
billion investment the United States already has committed to Colombia
was money well-spent on military operations. The U.S. group urges more
aid for Colombia against traffickers, crop eradication and social measures.

But that aid is only making a slight dent in the drug trade, which
Grossman called, "the main source of supply for continued unrest in
this country." Leftist rebels fighting the government fund their war
by selling protection to narcotraffickers; so do right-wing
paramilitaries engaged in a war of terror against the guerrillas.

Aid To Troops

Senior U.S. government officials who accompanied the delegation said
Washington will not provide purely counterinsurgency aid to the
Colombian military. But they said more aid could be provided for
Colombian troops who are deployed against drug plantations and
processing labs.

The guerrillas and their paramilitary enemies "are financed by drugs.
We need somehow to cut off their ability to finance themselves," one
of the senior U.S. officials said.

The U.S. officials said success will require a broadened approach,
including two measures that must be approved by Congress:

An $880 million proposal by President Bush for the Andean Regional
Initiative, a counter-drug funding package aimed at efforts in
Colombia's neighboring countries, including Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru,
Venezuela, Brazil and Panama.

Renewal of the Andean Trade Preference Act, set to expire in December.
The 1991 measure provides trade benefits to Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador
and Peru as an incentive to develop legitimate economies and provide
alternatives to drug-crop production. The officials dismissed
speculation that the trip to Colombia signaled a rethinking of U.S.
policy.

"You never, ever have a policy that's this big and this complicated
without trying to make sure it's right all the time," said a senior
U.S. government official involved in the talks.

In addition to meeting with President Pastrana, the U.S, contingent
also spent time with Colombia's vice president, foreign minister and
other key members of the Pastrana administration.

Successes

Among the successes U.S. officials pointed to were: 33 signed
agreements from farmers to eradicate drug-producing crops; the
construction of 26 social infrastructure projects; the creation of 18
programs that provide legal services to poor and marginalized
communities, and the issuance of $513,619 in grants to non-government
entities that promote peace.

But, the officials said, Colombia has a lot more to do. The country
must fortify its security forces, upgrade its justice system, regain
control of territory now dominated by rebels and reduce the level of
crime and corruption across the nation. Asked if the Bush
administration believed a military solution is the answer to the
continuing conflict, a senior U.S. government official said: "The
only permanent solution here is a negotiated settlement."