COLOMBIAN ANTI-DRUG FUNDING IN DOUBT

Only small portion of promised aid has materialized, threatening program

Washington — The massive U.S.-backed anti-drug offensive in Colombia is
hitting major funding roadblocks, with European countries refusing to ante
up more than $2 billion, and the Colombians themselves unsure they have the
means to put up another $4 billion.

The reluctance of international donors, and the seeming inability of the
Colombians, to fund the $7.5 billion aid effort "leaves the Americans
stepping up to the plate and everybody else walking away from it," said a
senior Clinton administration official who requested anonymity for fear of
endangering sensitive diplomatic relationships.

If the Colombians and others do not come up with the money soon, the
ambitious program could be limited to $1.3 billion in largely military
assistance from the United States, which administration officials say cannot
put more than a dent in the country's powerful drug trade.

The U.S. aid, approved by Congress in June, is the centerpiece of a broader
plan to fight the drug scourge in a country that is the source of 90 percent
of the cocaine sold on U.S. streets. It is more money than the United States
has invested in a Latin American military effort since the Central American
conflicts of the 1980s.

But the effort, dubbed "Plan Colombia" by Colombian President Andres
Pastrana, also would rely heavily on European and Colombian money to fund
much of what a Clinton administration official calls its "soft side" —
programs to help refugees, bolster the administration of justice and human
rights, and find ways for peasants to make a living without joining
guerrilla forces or planting illicit crops. The U.S. contribution includes
$238 million to that effort, a small percentage of the total U.S. package
but a tenfold increase in the money now being spent by the United States on
such programs in Colombia.

Many of the intended recipients of the money — among them the International
Committee of the Red Cross, World Vision and 36 other aid groups with
programs in Colombia — have balked at accepting it. They say they have
doubts that the plan can work and are concerned that their employees in
Colombia will be targeted by rebels and drug traffickers if they are
associated with it.

It has been unclear from the start how Colombia would come up with the $4
billion Pastrana pledged to the effort. The Colombian economy is in
shambles, with unemployment topping 20 percent. Only Spain, with $100
million, Norway, with $20 million, and Japan, with $70 million in loans,
have pledged funds. The European Union has made no commitment to the plan at
all. The United Nations has pledged $131 million, and international
financial institutions say they will grant loans of up to $300 million.