US PILOTS SAID AT RISK IN DRUG WAR

BOGOTA -- U.S. civilian pilots are carrying out "risky" missions in
Colombia's drug war, flying fumigation planes low sometimes through
guerrilla fire, the country's defense minister says. But he insists
U.S. troops here face minimal danger.

Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez who recently accompanied
President Andres Pastrana to meet with President Bush in Washington
said in an interview he expects long-term support in the drug war.

U.S. Green Berets are already in this South American nation, training
Colombian counternarcotics battalions as part of a $1.3 billion U.S.
aid package. The package also will send dozens of combat helicopters
to Colombia during the second half of this year and into 2002.

During his Feb. 27 meeting with Pastrana, Bush pledged to bolster
anti-drug efforts in Colombia and said he would take up lowering trade
barriers to Colombian goods.

Ramirez, a youthful former labor minister who wears conservative
business suits and wire-rimmed glasses, is plainspoken about his
country's drug problem.

Interviewed Monday at Bogota's sprawling defense ministry complex,
Ramirez said Colombia will need more military assistance, especially
to modernize aging airplanes, including 35-year-old A-37s used to
intercept clandestine drug flights.

"Since drug traffickers are multinational outfits with huge budgets,
we will require ... more modern aircraft whose maintenance is not so
costly and which are not so risky for the crews," Ramirez told The
Associated Press.

But efforts in Colombia will be of little use unless the United States
curbs drug consumption, estimated at 300 tons of cocaine a year,
Ramirez said.

Colombia produces at least 80 percent of the world's cocaine and a
rising share of heroin. Leftist rebels and rival right-wing
paramilitaries "tax" the drug industry, using millions of dollars in
revenues to buy arms, recruit combatants and fuel the country's
37-year civil war.

"As long as the United States keeps consuming cocaine there will be
violence in Colombia," Ramirez said

Moreover, Ramirez criticized the United States for "very poor"
results in combatting drug money laundering.

A kilogram of cocaine in Putumayo Colombia's major drug-producing
region sells for about $2,000, while in Miami that same kilogram costs
$30,000, Ramirez said.

"The $28,000 difference between the value in Putumayo and Miami stays
in the United States, in U.S. or European banks," Ramirez said.

Ramirez acknowledged that the work done by American civilians
contracted by the U.S. State Department to pilot planes that fumigate
drug crops is inherently dangerous.

The crop dusters swoop close to the earth and are frequently hit by
rebel gunfire. Just last month, U.S. civilian pilots flew into a
firefight to rescue the crew of a downed Colombian police helicopter.
The workers are employed by Dyncorp, of Reston, Va.

"There is not only the risk they'll be shot at, but the risk that
such a plane will crash is very high," Ramirez said, pointing out
that Colombia's mountains make for tricky flying.

Some critics say the contractors are being used for dangerous jobs to
avoid the scandal that would erupt if U.S. soldiers began returning
from Colombia in body bags.

It's unclear how many U.S. civilian contractors are working in
Colombia, although 300 is the maximum allowed, according to limits set
by the U.S. Congress; a maximum of 500 U.S. troops is permitted.

"What I can say is that we have concentrated the American soldiers in
bases and have made a great effort to protect these bases," Ramirez
said. "I would say that the risks ... have been minimized as best we
can."

The American soldiers, furthermore, are barred from accompanying
Colombian troops into combat.

"Fundamentally, it is the Colombian soldiers and police who will do
the fighting," Ramirez said.