MISGUIDED AID FOR COLOMBIA

The Clinton administration is poised to begin sending hundreds of
millions of dollars in aid to Colombia's military. But first it must
either certify that that nation's armed forces meet certain human
rights criteria or waive those requirements in the interests of
national security. Washington will probably grant the waiver to get
counter-narcotics aid flowing, arguing that Colombia's armed forces
will soon begin to clean themselves up. This is dangerous, wishful
thinking. A stream of new helicopters, American training and
logistical support given without preconditions will remove any
incentive for the military to begin respecting civilians. The United
States will be financing, training and backing a military with a
record of killing civilians, aiding brutal right-wing paramilitary
groups and defying a well-meaning but weak civilian government.

Colombia's record on punishing or prosecuting military personnel for
human rights abuses is poor, as the State Department acknowledges in
its annual human rights report. There is evidence of military
collusion in paramilitary massacres of peasants. Carlos Castano, a
paramilitary leader and admitted drug trafficker, appears on
television, but the military seems unable to find and arrest him.
High-ranking officers credibly accused of helping the paramilitaries
remain in their jobs.

While Colombia's guerrillas have a reprehensible record of killings,
kidnappings and drug trafficking, the sudden escalation in American
support for the military is not the answer. It will only strengthen
the guerrilla hard-liners, intensify a conflict that neither side can
win, and wreck the peace process between the government and the
guerrillas, which offers the only possible hope of an end to
Colombia's endless civil war.