COLOMBIA LEADER ANSWERS CRITICS

He discusses action by U.S. Colombian President Andres Pastrana on Friday
returned the fire of a growing number of critics who charge that the
war-torn South American country will become a quagmire akin to Vietnam for
the United States.

"Comparing Colombia to Vietnam is historically inaccurate," Pastrana said
in his keynote address to several hundred participants in The Miami Herald
Americas Conference that concluded Friday at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral
Gables.

The president insisted that his country was neither a colony like Vietnam
nor a battlefield of the Cold War. "More importantly, the Viet Cong enjoyed
significant popular support, while the Colombian insurgents are almost
entirely without political support or sympathy," he added.

Speaking to The Herald's editorial board later, he described the conflict
as "40,000 guerrillas against 40 million Colombians" who want peace restored.

But the growing involvement of the U.S. military trainers and military
hardware in an effort to stem the narcotics trade in the heart of leftist
rebel-controlled territory has triggered a hail of criticism from
Colombian, U.S. and international human rights groups.

Human rights groups charge that the Pastrana government has done little to
halt the abuses of paramilitary units, while others warn that Washington
has pledged its military advisors and $1.3 billion in aid for a conflict
that it has failed to understand.

Issues swirling around the growing U.S. involvement in the Colombian
conflict and dogged Pastrana during his brief visit to Miami.

Several dozen Colombians protested outside the Biltmore, demanding that he
pressure Washington to grant some 100,000 Colombian refugees of the
violence Temporary Protected Status, an immigration category that offers a
shield against deportation.

In a news conference, Pastrana said he had raised the issue in a private
meeting with President Clinton during the latter's recent visit to
Cartagena, Colombia.

He said he expected Colombian diplomats to offer a detailed proposal to the
U.S. government soon.

Pastrana appeared at the final day of the two-day conference that brought
political, banking and business leaders to Miami to discuss the future
prospects of the region.

Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, also
helped organize the annual conference.

On his arrival at the Biltmore, conference participants gave Pastrana a
protracted and warm standing ovation soon after Miami Herald Publisher
Alberto Ibarg=FCen introduced the Colombian president as "brave."

Participants on Friday also listened to Acting Assistant Secretary of State
Peter Romero, Alejandro Toledo, former Peruvian presidential candidate and
founder of the Peru Posible party, and a panel discussion on Brazil that
included Brazilian Ambassador to Washington Rubens Antonio Barbosa.

But much of the attention of the day was focused on Pastrana because of the
higher-profile U.S. participation.

Pastrana also took aim at the U.S. perception of his country's conflict
with leftist rebels, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC, and
the ELN, the National Liberation Army.

"Colombia is not in the midst of a civil war," Pastrana said, insisting
that the U.S. help should be called "anti-narcotics," and not military aid.

"We would already be a nation at peace were it not for the violence and
corruption fueled by the illegal drug trade," he said.

He also leveled his criticism at the European Community for failing to
provide resources for Plan Colombia, which will also target drug
eradication and try to offer economic alternatives for farmers who grow
coca and heroin-producing poppy.