CONGRESS MUST ACT ON COLOMBIA

Last September, Colombian President Andres Pastrana presented the
White House a comprehensive plan intended to rescue his country from
the violence of drug lords, guerrillas and paramilitary forces.
Included were programs for economic development, democratic
institution-building, judicial reform, human rights protections and
peace negotiations.

Pastrana's approach has been well received in the White House and, for
the most part, in Congress. There is a consensus in Washington that
Colombia and its problems are an important issue for the United
States. There is also a sense that the United States can work with
Pastrana, though the White House must assure that no U.S. military
personnel are drawn into combat.

Yet despite the emergent consensus, the urgency of Pastrana's plan has
not, so far, moved Congress to act decisively. The negotiations on
when and how to deliver a $1.3-billion military aid package proposed
by the White House have been bouncing from door to door in Congress,
never reaching the House or Senate floors, and the delays are dangerous.

A major South American power, Colombia faces the often
indistinguishable problems of drugs and insurrection that demand
prompt action. Cocaine coming from the highlands has flooded the
United States for years despite past U.S.-supported eradication
efforts. Coca cultivation is estimated to have increased 140% in the
past five years.

In Colombia, drugs beget violence. About 35,000 people have been
killed in drug-related violence in the past decade, and more than a
million people have been driven from their homes. Under these
circumstances, the White House and Congress should be justifiably concerned.

The U.S. proposal anticipates a two-year program of support, and the
problems of Colombia cannot be resolved in that short period. The
White House's benchmarks of success--diminution of violence and coca
production and a strengthened government in Bogota--over the period
should be closely monitored by Congress.

What Colombia needs is decisive and prompt action. Congress should
move now to deliver the arms, equipment and other elements of the
program to suppress lawlessness in the countryside. At stake is
proliferation of the cocaine plague and potential collapse of one of
Latin America's proudest countries.