US TO PUMP DOLLARS 1.3BN INTO DRUGS FIGHT

Leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate yesterday broke a
long-standing deadlock on proposed spending to help Colombia's war against
drugs, freeing some Dollars 1.3bn of aid to help cut down the flow of
illegal drugs from South America to the US.

Colombian cocaine exports have doubled in the past two years and now
constitute more than 80 per cent of the US market.

The House of Representatives approved a Dollars 1.7bn emergency package in
March but it was held back in the Senate for months in political and
procedural disagreements. The Senate bill had initially earmarked only
Dollars 934m of aid for Colombia - almost half what the administration asked
for and what the House approved.

But an agreement negotiated late in the afternoon yesterday, as the Senate
voted 95 to 4 to endorse the bill, increased the amount to Dollars 1.3bn.
Dennis Hastert, the House Speaker, is hoping the negotiated spending package
can be approved in the House next week.

The bulk of the Colombia money would go towards training special
counter-narcotics battalions in the Colombian military and for dozens of
American-made helicopters. However, there is continuing controversy over
funding allocated for helicopters.

The Clinton administration wants to give the Colombian military 30 Black
Hawk helicopters and 33 Hueys, arguing that the longer-range Black Hawks,
which are faster and capable of flying at higher altitudes, would be more
effective. However, the legislation only allows the use of 60 older and less
expensive Huey helicopters.

Senior army officers in Colombia have been dismayed by the Senate's
decision. General Mario Montoya, commander of Colombia's anti-narcotics
joint southern task force that will be one of the principal recipients of
aid, has said the Blackhawk is the best aircraft for his unit's counter-drug
battalions.

The anti-drugs task force, which the US aid would support, operates in
Colombia's remote southern jungles, accessible only by air or river, where
most of the country's 100,000 hectares of coca fields are located.

Leftwing guerrillas and rightwing paramilitary groups are struggling for
control of the area and its drugs trade.

The Senate appropriations committee has said it would have trouble procuring
the Black Hawks before the end of 2001 and the Hueys provided a less
expensive alternative. Administration officials are hoping those helicopters
will be restored to the aid package when the two chambers meet in a
Senate-House conference to discuss the final package.

President Clinton praised the Senate for rejecting efforts to trim the funds
and voting in favour of the spending. He called for quick passage of the
plan, saying it was needed to help Colombia's government maintain social
order.

"They're in the fight of their lives for their very way of life, with the
combined pressure of a guerrilla war that's been going on for decades and
the rise of the narco-traffickers," he said.

The US aid is part of President Andres Pastrana's Dollars 7.5bn plan to try
to end Colombia's armed conflict and tackle the drugs trade.