PLAN COLOMBIA

I want to refer to the editorial Plan Colombia published Feb. 2. I
understand your concerns regarding Plan Colombia. Although I do not share
your view on Plan Colombia, I welcome any allusion to my country, because
only with the involvement of the international community we will win the
battle against drugs.

However, I would like to contradict some points of your editorial: U.S. aid
is not just military.

The total budget of Plan Colombia is US$7.5-billion. Colombia will provide
US$4-billion, the United States US$ 1.3-billion and the international
community and multilateral institutions will provide the rest. Only
US$600-million is military aid. The rest is for peace-building programs
such as defence of human rights, aid to displaced people, alternative
agriculture, defence of the environment and strengthening of justice. It is
unfair to say that paramilitary "perform the corrupt Colombian military's
dirty work." More than 380 members of the military forces have been removed
in the past two years, and are under investigation for links with the
paramilitary. The actions of the army against the paramilitary more than
doubled last year. By October, 2000, the Prosecutor's Office was
investigating 572 cases against the armed forces, related to different
violations of human rights, including paramilitarism. President Andres
Pastrana has been clear in his intolerance to paramilitarism and on the
protection of human rights.

Colombian armed forces are not corrupt.

Quite the opposite, the army is the second most admired institution in
Colombia, after the Church (69% positive opinion). On the contrary, 86% of
Colombians have a negative image of the paramilitary and 87% of the
guerrillas. There is a widespread perception that Plan Colombia is a U.S.
invention.

Plan Colombia was developed by Colombians and more than 30 countries are
involved in its humanitarian and social aspects. Canada is providing
bilateral assistance on peace-building programs as well as in justice
strengthening through CIDA, the RCMP and the United Nations.

Fanny Kertzman, Ambassador, Embassy of Colombia, Ottawa.