EUROPE'S ROLE IN COLOMBIA

In Madrid tomorrow, officials from industrialized nations and international
organizations are meeting to discuss what, if anything, the rest of the
world should do for Colombia now that Washington is giving it $1.3 billion
- -- much of it in the form of helicopters. The group, which is largely
European, will not spend the money to match Washington's influence in Colombia.

But a well-financed European program with input from Colombian society can
help to minimize the chance that the military aid will weaken the civilian
government, increase violence against peasants and harm the peace process.

Although Washington's package does contain $200 million to strengthen
Colombia's threadbare civilian government -- such as aiding the judicial
system -- these programs could be crushed by an infusion of military aid at
a time when the civilian leadership is dangerously weak.

Military aid strengthens armies, and officers may become even more willing
to defy the government.

The American package contains conditions that require respect for civilian
rule. For example, officers must stop aiding the brutal paramilitary groups
moving into the coca regions. The president, however, can waive these
conditions on "national security" grounds. The Europeans should insist this
waiver not be used, and they should make their own financial contribution
to improving the justice system.

Washington's aid also depends heavily on fumigation of coca-growing areas,
possibly with a risky new biological agent, according to a report in
today's Times by Tim Golden.

Fumigation has driven coca production farther into the jungle and turned
peasants into supporters of the guerrillas.

European nations should finance pilot crop substitution projects, which
could be more effective and lasting.

Europe should also support the peace process, which may not survive a
widening of the war. European nations should use their credibility with the
guerrillas to emphasize the importance of ending kidnappings and coca
trafficking.

They can also finance development projects, which the Colombian government
has endorsed and which can make peace talks more acceptable to the guerrillas.

One of the biggest obstacles to peace is the guerrillas' fears that they
will be massacred if they become civilian politicians -- the fate of
thousands of former guerrillas in the mid-1980's.

Europe should support human rights programs and strengthen the government's
efforts to prosecute death squads.