Explain Colombia Aid

Many of Washington's international relationships are on edge--China and
Russia to name two--but perhaps none is more important right now than
Colombia, the caldron of Latin American guerrilla wars and drug production.
Continuing breakdown of government authority in the hinterlands and the big
cities raises proper fears of a total breakdown.

The United States cannot afford to stand aside; it also cannot afford a war
that might suck in U.S. troops.

Last summer, at the prodding of U.S. officials, President Andres Pastrana
outlined the needs of his government. They added up to $7.5 billon over
three years.

Colombia would contribute $4.5 billion, and the rest would come from the
European Union and the United States. This would be a tremendous outlay and
a price that Washington should examine closely before making a commitment,
expected soon. The costs of collapse of Pastrana's program would
reverberate throughout the region.

The White House and congressional Republicans have begun negotiations on a
package of $1.3 billion, with $955 million in security assistance. Most of
the funds would go to armaments for Colombian troops, locked in battle with
the drug lords and their legions west of Bogota and with FARC, a Marxist
guerrilla remnant from the 1970s and '80s. Those were the decades,
Washington will remember, when American "trainers" aided Central American
troops in bitter wars against leftist guerrillas inspired by Fidel Castro.
The issue now is not ideology; it's drugs, a curse of U.S. cities and
destabilizer of Latin American governments. The package on the table would
primarily allow Colombia to refurbish helicopters and/or buy from the
United States up to 15 Huey and 30 Black Hawk attack helicopters. The
obvious downside: increased pressure on the drug centers and FARC would
force them to increase their armories.

It also is right to question whether the balance of the proposed aid is out
of whack, with too little for building civil institutions and too much for
complex weaponry. President Clinton must make precisely clear the American
objectives and risks in bolstering Pastrana's forces.

Expanded fighting in Colombia could easily spill over to Venezuela, a major
oil producer under the erratic hand of President Hugo Chavez. There should
be a commitment from the White House that no U.S. military forces will be
drawn into a civil war, plus a mechanism to ensure that U.S.-trained
Colombian troops do not engage in human rights violations.

Colombia runs the risk of disintegrating if the insurrections and drug
cartels cannot be stopped.

Every component of the proposed aid must be examined closely.

In the end, these will be dollars well spent if they are closely monitored
and help Pastrana succeed, but the White House must make its case.