COLOMBIA'S NEIGHBORS BRISTLE AT REBUKE BY U.S.

MANAUS, Brazil - The United States has rebuked South America for failing to
support Colombia's planned military offensive against drug producers, amid
fears that the conflict will spill over the border.

In a private meeting Wednesday with defense ministers from the region, U.S.
Deputy Undersecretary of Defense James Bodner said the U.S.-backed Plan
Colombia would go ahead with or without their support.

"He complained about the lack of solidarity by South America, and he laid
it on heavy," said Rep. Joao Herrmann Neto of Brazil's House Foreign
Relations Committee, who attended the meeting.

Mr. Herrmann said some delegates bridled at the U.S. position and tone,
which he described as "typical American superiority." Defense ministers
from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Venezuela and Brazil were attending
the gathering in this Amazon jungle city.

A Pentagon official present, who asked not to be named, said: "Our position
is: We're going to take a stand. If you're with us, fine."

The blunt talk was a response to a rising chorus of complaints about the
"spillover" effects from the offensive against Colombia's leftist rebels
foreseen under the $7.5 billion plan.

Under the plan, U.S.-trained troops using U.S-made combat helicopters will
try to wrest away rebel-held areas producing cocaine and heroin. Planes
then would spray the crops with herbicide.

That means an upswing in fighting on the ground that has Colombia's
neighbors worried.

Ecuadorean Defense Minister Adm. Hugo Unda Aguirre said Colombian refugees
already are moving into his country. He estimated that at least 1,000
Colombians have crossed the border, and thousands more are expected.

Ecuador is worried guerrillas and drug traffickers might follow, especially
in the wild border region of Sucumbios. "There's no government presence on
the Colombian side - just guerrillas," Adm. Aguirre said.

Ecuador was surprised last week by the kidnappings of 10 persons, including
five Americans, from its jungle oil fields, presumably by Colombian
guerrillas.

"The situation is not good," Mr. Aguirre said. "The internal problem is
growing in Colombia, and it extends to other countries."

Venezuela, another neighbor, was even more outspoken.

"We're worried about the military plan. The way that it's done could
generate more violence," said Venezuelan Defense Minister. Gen. Ismael
Hurtado Soucre.

Although the U.S. government says its $1.3 billion in aid to the plan
doesn't include troops, the military presence there concerns Colombia's
neighbors.