U.S. READIES HUGE AID PACKAGE FOR COLOMBIA

$1.3 billion to provide training, equipment for anti-drug fight

BY FRANK DAVIES Mercury News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration Tuesday announced a massive
infusion of aid to Colombia, totaling $1.3 billion during the next two
years, to cripple drug production and smuggling, and shore up a government
besieged by guerrilla attacks and economic woes.

``Strengthening stability and democracy in Colombia, and fighting the drug
trade there, is in our fundamental national interest,'' President Clinton
said. ``We must and we will intensify this vital work.''

At a White House briefing, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and drug
czar Barry McCaffrey described the aid package as a ``good mix'' of
military, security and economic assistance. They also defended it as a
necessary part of the U.S. drug war.

``This will not just benefit the 36 million people of Colombia, but American
children,'' McCaffrey said. ``We are experiencing an explosion of cocaine
and heroin from Colombia flowing to the 4.1 million Americans addicted to
drugs.''

The biggest component in the aid proposal would help the Colombian military
and national police take aim at narco-traffickers and guerrilla groups that
control about 40 percent of the country, especially in the south. Coca
production in that region has almost doubled in the past two years.

About $600 million in the next two years would help train and equip two more
anti-drug military units to join a battalion that is about to begin
operations. The aid package includes 30 Black Hawk helicopters and 18 more
Huey copters for the units.

Albright said the assistance is aimed at combating drug traffickers, not
insurgents -- a difficult distinction in a messy civil conflict in which
they often work together.

``This is not a counterinsurgency program,'' Albright said. ``This is a
counternarcotics program.''

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have accused the administration of
foot-dragging in preparing the aid package, which was requested by Colombian
officials last summer. Two GOP senators, Paul Coverdell of Georgia and Mike
DeWine of Ohio, proposed their own aid plan in the fall.

But those two senators were generally supportive Tuesday. ``I finally
welcome the White House plan to provide timely and needed assistance,''
DeWine said. ``There is simply too much at stake not to take action.''

Administration officials said the aid plan was worked out in detail with
President Andres Pastrana, whose $7.5 billion Plan Colombia seeks
significant help from the United States, European nations and international
agencies. They also said Tuesday's announcement may give Pastrana more
leverage in his efforts to negotiate with guerrilla groups.

McCaffrey emphasized the importance of aid to Colombian farmers to wean them
off coca production. Such programs, along with crop eradication, have scored
major successes in Bolivia and Peru, but also pushed more of the drug
production into southern Colombia.

Colombia already receives about $150 million a year in U.S.aid, ranking
behind only Israel and Egypt as an aid recipient. But U.S. officials said
the big boost in aid would not lead to an increase in U.S. forces stationed
in Colombia.

There are about 130 U.S. military and security personnel in Colombia, with
many of them involved in training programs.

Several organizations that monitor human rights warned Tuesday that the
Clinton proposal was too heavily weighted toward military and security aid,
citing links between the Colombian military and paramilitary groups that
have committed massacres.

``U.S. military aid to Colombia is tantamount to underwriting the Colombian
`dirty war,' '' said Carlos Salinas of Amnesty International.