CLINTON SAYS AID PROPOSAL IS URGENT FOR COLOMBIA DRUG EFFORT

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 - The Clinton administration today announced a $1.3
billion, two-year emergency aid package to fight narcotics in Colombia,
deepening American involvement in that country's long war against both
narcotics traders and rebels.

President Clinton said the aid was "urgently needed" to help Colombia and
to keep "illegal drugs off our shores."

The plan received immediate praise from Congressional Republicans, who said
it mirrored their legislation, introduced last autumn, with the exception
that Mr. Clinton wants to spend even more money.

Most of the money that Mr. Clinton asked for would be spent on military
training and equipment for the Colombian armed forces and police in their
drug effort. But significant money would also go to improving the judicial
system and institutions protecting human rights and to bolstering the economy.

The Colombian government, which already is the third largest recipient of
American aid, could begin receiving the money as early as March.

President Andres Pastrana welcomed the program, saying that fighting the
narcotics trade is a "shared responsibility."

The Colombian military would receive 30 Blackhawk helicopters and 33 Huey
helicopters to ferry soldiers into two southern provinces that have become
the center of coca production.

In addition, $600 million set aside for military assistance would include
money to train and equip two more counternarcotics battalions.

Colombian farmers who grew coca or poppy and villagers displaced by the
drug effort would receive $145 million to help find new livelihoods and new
homes. And $93 million would be spent to strengthen Colombia's judicial
system in its drive to protect human rights, enforce drug laws and crack
down on money laundering.

"This is a comprehensive approach that could be the basis for the peace
process," Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright said today at a news
conference.

"It is based on the program President Pastrana has developed." Dr. Albright
will visit Bogota this weekend to go over the program and to figure out how
to persuade other countries to contribute, said James P. Rubin, the State
Department spokesman.

Republicans said today's proposal showed that the president had come to
accept many of their ideas for combatting drugs before they reach the
United States. Representative Bill McCollum, Republican of Florida,
applauded Mr. Clinton's proposal, saying it took many ideas from his own
legislation that became law in 1998.

Senator Mike DeWine, Republican of Ohio, also welcomed the plan. He had
offered somewhat more modest legislation, co-sponsored by Senator Paul
Coverdell, Republican of Georgia; it called for spending $1.6 billion, but
over three years.

Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, said the administration has "benefited from the debate" with
Republicans. He said he expected that both sides could reach an accord on
immediate aid.

But some Democrats cautioned that this strategy would require many more
years and billions of dollars - with no assurance that the United States
could avoid being tainted by or even drawn into the dirty side of a civil
war that has killed tens of thousands of people over 40 years.

"Everyone wants to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States,
but we have spent billions trying to do that, and the flow has gotten
worse, not better," said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont.
"What we are seeing is a dramatic ratcheting up of a counter-insurgency
policy in the name of counterdrug policy."

The drug trade underwrites the insurgency. The rebels earn as much as $100
million a year from the narcotics trade.

Another problem voiced by human rights groups is the right-wing
paramilitary groups that protect and profit from traffickers and have ties
to officers in the Colombian Army.

"We're talking about giving money to an army that is deeply wedded to
paramilitary groups that are the main human rights abusers," said Robin
Kirk of Human Rights Watch. "This is a very dirty war, and you have to ask
where will U.S. tax dollars ultimately end up."

Colombia already receives $300 million from this year's budget; with the
new money, the two-year package would total $1.6 billion.