EUROPE'S AID PLAN FOR COLOMBIA FALLS SHORT OF DRUG WAR'S GOALS

BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct. 24 -- Signaling reservations about Colombia's deep
reliance on American military support, the European Union announced a
package of nonmilitary aid today that fell short of expectations. The
decision could undercut Colombia's $7.5 billion program to curtail coca
production and curb the influence of leftist guerrillas.

As envisioned by President Andres Pastrana, the program -- known as Plan
Colombia -- would require $3.5 billion in international aid to go along with
the $4 billion that Colombia had vowed to contribute.

But European diplomats, meeting with officials here at the Foreign
Ministry, said the European Community's contribution would now total about
$321 million in nonmilitary aid. That appears to leave Colombia short of
the total. The United States has earmarked $1.1 billion in mostly military
aid. International lending institutions and Japan are providing $1.3
billion in loans, but the Colombians had hoped for much more in donations.

"We don't know if they are disappointed," a European diplomat said of
Colombian leaders. "But we can't be dreamers."

Colombia tried to put a positive spin on the European commitment, with
Colombian officials saying that, with the loans and donations, about $3
billion of the $3.5 billion expected from the international community would
now be available.

"This is a demonstration of the solidarity for Colombia," said Colombia's
Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernandez de Soto. "We feel very positive that
this plan has support."

But in Washington, a senior congressional staff member said that more
international money for social programs and development was needed to
balance out what the United States was spending.

"Everyone was looking for the rest of the world, particularly the
Europeans, to do the soft side," said the official, referring to
nonmilitary aid. "We have done the military side. You can't do one without
the other."

A high-ranking Colombian official, citing American reports that Europe is
consuming 30 percent of the coca that Colombia produces, said Europe should
do more. "If they don't do it, we'll never resolve this problem," the
official said.

Some people doubt that the Pastrana government can allocate as much as it
has said it would contribute. Colombia, for decades a bastion of economic
stability, is now in the midst of a debilitating recession.