MORE ANTI-DRUG AID SOUGHT FOR COLOMBIA

U.S. Delegation Finds Money Well-Spent

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A high-level U.S. delegation that came to take a hard
look at Colombia's battle against drug trafficking said 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 Marc Grossman, the undersecretary of state for
political affairs who led the U.S. delegation's three-day mission to Colombia.

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

Grossman said the 30-plus-member delegation concluded that the $1.3 billion
investment the United States already had committed to Colombia was money
well-spent on military operations. The U.S. group urges more aid for
Colombia to fight traffickers, eradicate crops and support other 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 drug traffickers; so do right-wing paramilitaries engaged in a war of
terror against the guerrillas.

"We need somehow to cut off their ability to finance themselves," one of
the senior U.S. officials said.

Not all military aid

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

The U.S. officials said success would 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 counterdrug funding package aimed at efforts in 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.

Policy on track

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.

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-governmental entities that promote peace.

But, the officials said, Colombia has much 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 believes
that 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."