COLOMBIA AID MAY INTENSIFY REBEL FIGHTING

BOGOTA, Colombia - The passage in the U.S. Senate on Thursday of a $1
billion aid package for Colombia to fight drugs came as a relief for the
government of President Andres Pastrana.

Critics here, however, warn that far from helping to pacify this Andean
nation, the U.S. funds will sink Colombia into a more intensified war.

The U.S. Senate passed the assistance for Colombia in a 95-4 vote. The
package must be reconciled with the House version, which allotted $1.7
billion to support Colombia's war against drugs. An agreement reached
Thursday between Senate and House leaders would set the aid at $1.3 billion.

The U.S. funds are key to the Colombian government's strategy to fight
drugs, seek peace with leftist rebels, fund social programs and pull the
country out of economic doldrums. The effort is known as Plan Colombia.

Some analysts say the plan could backfire and step up the war with leftist
rebels.

"The U.S. aid is going to trigger a total crisis and stimulate the war,"
political analyst Alejo Vargas says. "The drug crops will just be moved
elsewhere."

The bulk of the U.S. money is earmarked for military aid to train and equip
anti-narcotics battalions to push into Colombia's largest coca-growing
region in the south. The area holds about half of the country's 300,000
acres of coca crops. They are harvested and processed under the encouraging
eye of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (known by its acronym in
Spanish, FARC), the country's most powerful rebel group.

The rebels reap millions of dollars a year in profits from "taxing" and
"protecting" drug operations in areas the FARC controls. The army estimates
the business accounts for 60% of the FARC's income, which funds its 36-year
war against the state.

Colombia supplies about 80% of the world's cocaine market, and it is the top
supplier of heroin to the USA.

The FARC has called the U.S. military aid a "declaration of war." Military
experts warn that the guerrillas have been building their forces in
preparation for open battles with the U.S.-trained battalions.

At the same time, the FARC has been on a diplomatic campaign to undercut
international support for Plan Colombia. The European Union, upon which
Colombia is counting to provide further funds for Plan Colombia, expressed
reservations this week about the emphasis on military efforts to fight
drugs. EU leaders said more money should be put into alternative crop
programs.

Increased drug spraying and expected battles with the rebels are expected to
drive thousands of people to flee the coca-growing region. That would add to
Colombia's critical problem of internal refugees. Neighbors Peru and Ecuador
are bracing for a possible refugee crisis.

"The spraying will trigger a social catastrophe that will drive thousands of
families from their homes," Vargas said.