BILLION DOLLAR ANTI-DRUG AID SOUGHT FOR COLOMBIA

The Clinton administration and Congress, fearing the growing power of
Marxist-led guerrillas financed by the drug trade, are near agreement
on a three-year military aid package for Colombia that will total more
than $1 billion, according to officials.

Colombia produces 80 percent of the world's cocaine and about
two-thirds of the heroin consumed in the United States. In recent
years, both the guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary bands have
engaged in the drug trade, earning tens of millions of dollars and
gaining control of more than half of the country's territory.
Colombian and U.S. officials stressed that the U.S. aid would be aimed
at fighting drug trafficking, not at "counterinsurgency" operations
against the guerrillas. But officials acknowledge that, in many areas
of Colombia, the distinction is so blurred as to be
meaningless.

Undersecretary of State Thomas R. Pickering, who is coordinating the
administration's policy toward Colombia, told the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee on Thursday that aid is essential because
"Colombia's national sovereignty is increasingly threatened by
well-armed and ruthless guerrillas, paramilitaries and
narco-trafficking interests, which are inextricably linked."

A Colombian delegation led by Defense Minister Luis Ramirez has spent
the past three days lobbying the White House, Capitol Hill and the
Pentagon for more aid.

Gen. Fernando Tapias, commander of the Colombian military, told
reporters yesterday that he is requesting an upgraded helicopter fleet
to transport counterdrug battalions being trained by U.S. Special
Forces; intelligence training and equipment; improved communications
technology; and money to upgrade the Colombian air force's aging fleet
of A-37 jets so it can pursue a new strategy of shooting down
airplanes suspected of carrying drugs and that defy orders to land.

Barry R. McCaffrey, the Clinton administration's drug control policy
director, told the Foreign Relations Committee that the president's
final proposal would "range between a billion and two billion plus"
dollars.

Republican leaders, who have often accused the administration of
ignoring Colombia, struck a conciliatory note and presented their own
plan for $1.5 billion in aid. The Republican plan was written by Sens.
Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.) and Mike DeWine (R-Ohio).

Both sides said they would have final bills to present to Congress
before adjournment this year.

"There is obviously common ground upon which we can work with the
administration," Coverdell said.

All of the figures being proposed would represent a sharp increase in
U.S. military aid to Colombia, which totaled $289 million in fiscal
1999, making Bogota the third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid,
after Israel and Egypt.

Human rights groups warned against deepening U.S. ties to a military
that is linked to human rights abuses and violent paramilitary
organizations. "An aid package that does not meaningfully address the
paramilitary question is a failed package," said Carlos Salinas of
Amnesty International USA.

The GOP and administration proposals would sharply upgrade the
Colombian military's firepower and involvement in the counterdrug
effort. Among the points of agreement are U.S. training and equipment
for three elite, 1,000-man army battalions, which will try to retake
vast areas of the country under guerrilla control, where the
cultivation of coca--the raw material for cocaine--is rising rapidly.
The first battalion would be operational by the end of the year, and
two more would be trained next year.

The first battalion is to receive 18 aging UH-1N helicopters, and the
Republican plan would provide funds to upgrade the fleet with 15
Blackhawk helicopters. Both plans would provide assistance in
intelligence gathering and would boost aid to the Colombian air force
as it pursues its shoot-down policy.

"This crisis is not overstated," Coverdell said. "The situation in
Colombia is indeed dismal and is reaching emergency proportions. I
firmly believe U.S. assistance is needed, and needed now, to address
the situation."