A RESCUE PLAN FOR COLOMBIA

Last year, Colombian President Andres Pastrana traveled to Washington to
seek a better relationship between his country and the United States. Under
his predecessor, Ernesto Samper, relations were painfully strained, largely
because of the issue of drugs. Illegal Colombian drugs flowing into the
United States had forced Washington to focus tightly on stopping the
problem, leaving almost all other matters on hold. That approach of course
proved ineffective.

When Pastrana presented proposals for positive change in Colombia, the
Clinton administration was receptive. Back in Bogota, he pressed a plan
calling for a close partnership among Bogota and Washington, the European
Union and multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank.

This so-called Plan Colombia seeks a negotiated peace with leftist
guerrillas who have been fighting the government for more than three
decades. It also includes a counter-narcotics strategy that requires a
closer partnership between producer and consumer nations. And it embraces an
economic strategy that creates jobs and expands trade as alternatives to
drug trafficking.

A much-needed restructuring and modernization of Colombia's armed forces and
national police also top the list, along with a series of social programs to
foster democratic institutions.

Pastrana's plan would require at least $7.5 billion. Colombia promises to
contribute some $4 billion from its depleted treasury. An additional $700
million has been pledged by the World Bank. The rest should come from the
United States and the European Union, whose societies have been damaged by
cocaine from South America and elsewhere.

Pastrana's government should run the program. America and Europe can help,
but Colombians have to restore their national dignity through their own
efforts. At this early stage, Washington should clearly state what it will
not do. Any thought of U.S. military intervention in Colombia is out of the
question.

In addition, assistance to the Colombian armed forces must emphasize respect
for human rights. And any links between Colombia's armed forces and
right-wing paramilitary groups in that country must be severed.

Washington should harbor no illusion that an infusion of money will effect
dramatic change. Colombia has been at war with itself for the better part of
this century, and drugs and drug money are only the latest in a string of
complex problems. But Pastrana's plan deserves careful consideration in
Congress and the White House. If it fails, there is no Colombian who can
step into his shoes and the South American country will lose a crucial
opportunity to restore its nationhood.