COLOMBIA: THE OPTION OF PEACE

HILLSBOROUGH - While peace talks between the Colombian government and that
country's largest insurgency group entered a critical moment last month,
some U.S. policymakers asserted their support for military aid to be used
in counterinsurgency efforts.

Currently, the $1.28 billion in U.S. aid allocated to the South American
nation for 2000, 2001 and 2002 can be used only for explicitly
counter-narcotic operations. Allocating even more money for
counterinsurgency use would mean slipping farther into the quagmire of an
endless guerrilla war. Yet there is no proof that a counterinsurgency
effort would ever bring peace and stability to Colombia.

A critical look at history points to a need for a politically negotiated
settlement that incorporates the concerns of civil society and addresses
the root causes of war. Washington needs to change its tone or chance
damaging the peace process further.

On the surface it may appear logical that the Colombian military, given
enough assistance, training and arms from the United States, could
effectively quash the major rebel groups. However, Colombian history seems
to indicate that lasting peace will require more than a firm hand. Since at
least the early 1800s, when colonists led by Simon Bolivar won independence
from Spain, Colombia has found itself embroiled in civil war more often
than not. Spates of violence between peasant groups have wracked the
country time and again, with the result almost always being a brief
cease-fire until the next match is thrown into the tinderbox because the
underlying issues are not addressed.

The nature of the current conflict also creates a powerful disincentive to
fight it militarily. The insurgents are largely Colombian peasants who
inhabit the vast jungle or mountainous terrain. Their most effective
weapons are not sophisticated missiles or expensive helicopters but crude
bombs made from household gas tanks. To "win" this counterinsurgency war
would require such draconian civilian repression by the state and its armed
forces that it would effectively sow the seeds of the next insurgency group.

Colombian peace advocates point to the last time there was a major
counterinsurgency campaign under the "soft dictatorship" of Rojas Pinilla
in the 1950s. Rather than bringing lasting peace, that era of
counterinsurgency led to the founding of both major guerrilla groups
currently active in Colombia, the FARC and the ELN.

So why do some U.S. policymakers want to increase military aid and
involvement in Colombia's internal conflict? Numerous actors have
influenced the debate, including defense industries, international oil
companies that own most of the oil fields in Colombia, and the Colombian
military itself. Recently Gen. Fernando Tapias, who heads the military,
returned from a low-profile trip to Washington in which he met with
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Defense Department officials.

In addition to legitimate concerns about the efficacy of strengthening the
Colombian military, there is a question as to whether the United States
should be funding a military that both the State Department and Human
Rights Watch have documented as having close connections to a terrorist
organization, the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Although
the term "terrorist" has perhaps been over-used recently, the AUC
paramilitary is clearly responsible for numerous horrific atrocities
against unarmed civilians.

While the debate continues to center around military options, a coalition
of six governors from southern Colombia has proposed an alternate plan, one
that focuses on economic and social solutions to the conflict. A viable
economic and social solution, designed by local governments and civil
society aware of community needs, may just be what Colombia requires to put
an end to a long history of violence. It is no coincidence that the
country's most tranquil moments have come during periods of equitable
economic boom.

The growth of the coffee industry in the early 20th century is indicative.
By providing the small farmer a profitable cash crop, coffee helped to
create the broadest economic prosperity that Colombia has known -- and the
longest stretch of peace in its history. Since then, coffee prices have
plummeted, local markets have been "globalized" and the results are an
ever-widening gap between rich and poor, and increased violence.

A military approach to curbing the violence in Colombia has failed in every
attempt. It's time to consider locally designed economic and social solutions.