PULL PLUG ON PLAN COLOMBIA

I read with great interest the article by Pam Fitzpatrick and Paul Dix of
Witness for Peace (Commentary, March 4). They point out with great effect
the futility and damage caused by implementation of the Clinton
administration's Plan Colombia. One can only hope that our newly elected
president, who purportedly espouses the conviction that we should interfere
little in other countries' affairs, would do just that and work to reverse
the U.S. policy.

Not reported in their article is the effect that Plan Colombia is having on
neighboring countries such as Venezuela and Ecuador. Having been a Peace
Corps volunteer stationed in northeastern Ecuador (near the Colombian
border) in the 1980s, with continuing close ties to the area, I can speak
with personal knowledge of the current situation. Lawlessness in the Lago
Agrio/Coca Ecuador region has escalated dramatically in the past few years
as the coca trade spills over the border to escape the "heat" in Colombia -
perhaps most dramatically noted with the recent kidnapping of U.S. oil
workers. The victims you'll never hear of are the likes of Shuar and Secoya
Indians who have been forced out of their tribal lands (near the Colombian
border) into refugee camps to avoid persecution by the coca traders.

Hopefully the powers that be will see the light and pull the plug on Plan
Colombia and work on the problem from the home front, where the money would
be much more successfully spent in prevention and treatment programs.

CARL BERG
Alvadore