COLOMBIA DRUGS WAR ESCALATES

It has emerged that pilots supplied by the United States to support
anti-drugs efforts in Colombia were involved in a gunfight with rebels
during a crop-spraying mission last Sunday.

The incident began when a police helicopter supporting the US-backed aerial
fumigation programme crops was shot down by Marxist guerrillas in the
southern province of Caqueta.

The crew of the downed aircraft were rescued by other helicopter gunships,
some piloted by American citizens contracted by the US State Department.

Correspondents say the incident is likely to fuel allegations by the rebels
that the US is directing the anti-drugs offensive in violation of Colombian
sovereignty.

US involvement disputed

The guerrillas of the Farc, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
have long asserted that the US is directly involved in fighting against
them, citing the US spy plane with five American servicemen on board which
crashed into the mountains of southern Colombia in 1999.

But US authorities have insisted that the 500 American military personnel
stationed in Colombia are involved in training and monitoring only and
never directly in combat.

The US aid package of $1.3bn was voted through Congress on the guarantee
that US personnel would not get directly involved in the fighting.

The aid package is ostensibly for the war against drugs but since
guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries are deeply involved in the
narcotics trade, the drug war is synonymous with the civil conflict.

But the same rules on combat do not seem to apply to sub-contractors hired
by the US State Department.

Another Vietnam

This latest fighting over the weekend saw Americans paid by the US flying
helicopter gunships that were used to put suppressing fire down on
guerrillas whilst grounded crewmen were rescued.

The Farc have vowed to turn Colombia into another Vietnam for the US and
have stated that all American military personnel in the country are
considered targets.

Guerrilla sources have said they cannot see the difference between US
service personnel and Americans in the pay of the US government.

They say that the United States has crossed the line and is intervening in
the 37-year civil conflict.