US STEPS UP WAR ON DRUGS IN COLOMBIA

As Washington Prepares $1.6bn 'Aid', Villagers Fear Money Will Fuel
The Conflict

Bracing himself against the machine-gun at the bow of a speeding
patrol boat, the marine sergeant ratchets the magazine, and the
overgrown banks of the Putumayo river echo with the clatter of .50
calibre rounds.

Today's operation is a training exercise, but the marines can't afford
to drop their guard. The jungle of southern Colombia is a lawless zone
where thousands of guerrillas protect laboratories churning out more
than 70% of Colombia's cocaine.

Last year the 90th Riverine battalion destroyed 68 laboratories and
seized 201kg of cocaine base, and 77,700kg of coca leaves. The
battalion was among the first Colombian military unit to receive
training and equipment from the United States. Now the marines are
hoping to benefit from an extra $1.6bn in aid under debate in the US
senate.

If approved, the money will fund a two-year strategy aimed at fighting
Colombia's illegal drugs trade, reviving its ailing economy and ending
36 years of civil conflict.

US aid to Colombia has grown ten-fold since 1995, reflecting growing
concern that this Andean country is heading towards crisis. Last year
alone Colombia received $366m in equipment and training.

"US training is useful here because they gained so much experience on
the rivers in Vietnam," says Lieutenant German Arenas, who was trained
by the US Green Berets. It is a comparison that makes US politicians
wince. The US interest in Colombia is clear: 80% of the world's
cocaine and most of the heroin sold in the US comes from Colombia. But
in Washington many fear that military aid may drag the US into a
complex and unwinnable jungle war.

Officials stress that "Plan Colombia" is not just a military strategy:
it includes money for judicial reform, human rights and economic
development. But the largest element of the US aid will pay for the
loan and maintenance of 63 combat helicopters.

The aircraft will support three new US-trained anti-narcotics
battalions as they push into southern Colombia, clearing the way for
planes to spray drug crops with herbicides. Inevitably, this will
bring them into conflict with rightwing paramilitaries and the
guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), who
rake off millions of dollars in drug kickbacks and protection fees.

The 15,000-strong rebel group has participated in peace talks with
President Andres Pastrana but has refused to sign a ceasefire.

Rebel commanders say the militarisation of anti-narcotics operations
is just a pretext for stepped-up counter-insurgency action, but US
officials insist they have no interest in straying deeper into
Colombia's labyrinthine internal conflict.

In the jungles of Putumayo the distinction is harder to maintain. "We
don't differentiate between counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics
operations," says the 90th battalion commander, Lieutenant-Colonel
José Leonidas Mufloz.

About 550km northwest of Puerto Leguizamo many people in the town of
Curillo fear that US aid will fuel the war. "We're expecting the most
atrocious violence," says one villager, Emlio Vivero. "They say this
aid package is to bring peace, but it will be the peace of the tomb."

Curillo is a typical town in the southern savannah. On a hill above
the town centre is the burned-out shell of the police station,
abandoned after a Farc attack last December. A peasant leader, Lucas
Caquimbo, says: "The government doesn't care if the guerrillas are
here or not - it's got nothing to lose. The only state presence in
this town is when they collect taxes or fumigate the crops."

But despite nearly three years of spraying, coca production in
Colombia has more than doubled since 1995. Evidence suggests that
after fumigation coca growers merely move further into the jungle.

Small coca producers say that they would destroy their illegal crops
if there was a financially viable alternative. The United Nations and
the Colombian government have experimented with fruit, dairy farming
and fish breeding, but nobody has found a crop as profitable as coca.

Most youngsters face a stark choice. "They join the army, the
guerrillas or the paramilitaries. At least in the guerrillas they give
you food and clothes," says one.