EU SHARPLY CUTS AID TO COLOMBIA

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - The European Union plans an aid package for Colombia
that falls far short of what Colombian officials had expected, weakening an
anti-drug strategy that has failed to win significant domestic or
international support beyond the United States.

Assembled here for a conference on the Colombian conflict, European
diplomats said Wednesday that the $250 million aid package, to be presented
in Bogota next week, would not be given directly to the Colombian
government. Instead, the aid will be channeled mostly to programs run by
nonprofit groups working for human rights, judicial reform and economic
development.

In addition, the amount of aid - only a quarter of what Colombia had
expected - will mean less money than expected for government work considered
essential for persuading farmers to turn their backs on the drug trade by
growing legal crops. The decision is something of a setback for President
Andres Pastrana's government, which had built its $7.5 billion anti-drug
strategy known as "Plan Colombia" around a $1 billion European commitment.
Excluding money the Colombian government already planned to spend on
anti-drug programs, Plan Colombia now amounts to roughly half the size
originally advertised.

Europe's reluctance arises from the plan's $1.3 billion U.S. contribution,
heavily weighted toward military aid. The plan has been roundly denounced
here during three days of workshops on human rights, economic development
and anti-drug strategies, with critics saying it will exacerbate armed
conflict in the Colombian countryside.