CAPITOL HILL DIVIDED OVER COLOMBIAN AID APPEAL
Nation's President Wants $3.5 Billion For Wars On Drugs, Rebels

(Washington) -- Beset by one of the world's longest civil wars and by
his nation's reputation as the world's biggest cocaine exporter,
Colombian President Andres Pastrana came to town Wednesday seeking
billions in economic and military assistance.

The Clinton administration and lawmakers seem willing to give it to
him, and World Bank President James Wolfensohn added his support. But
there is disagreement over what the money should buy.

Democrats want the aid focused on drug exports, and they urge the
Bogota government to negotiate an end to the civil war. But
Republicans told Pastrana bluntly: No money as long as your government
is negotiating with rebels who support narcotics traffickers.

Colombia is seeking $3.5 billion in U.S. assistance over the next
three years or a combination of U.S. aid and support from European
countries. That kind of money would put the South American nation in a
class with Israel and Egypt as leading recipients of U.S. foreign aid.

As it is, Colombia is getting about $300 million in U.S. aid this
year. The Clinton administration has made no formal commitment, but
officials say the latest U.S. proposal is for about $1.5 billion over
three years.

As large as the proposed sum appears, lawmakers of both parties said
the money would barely keep pace with the cocaine-generated cash flow
available to rebel groups who are in league with Colombia's
drug-export industry.

The problem being weighed at the White House and on Capitol Hill is
how to stem the flow to the U.S. of Colombian cocaine and heroin
without being drawn into the 40-year insurgency that has left a chunk
of Colombia the size of Switzerland in rebel hands.

In an interview with reporters Wednesday before touring Capitol Hill,
Pastrana said it is impossible to separate the two.

"If we defeat narco-trafficking, we are also defeating the
guerrillas," Pastrana said. "The worst enemy of the peace process is
drug trafficking."

A U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
there is no question that rebel forces in Colombia gain financial
support from the drug trade, although he added that the level of
support is difficult to pinpoint. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers were
quoting a figure of nearly $1 billion per year flowing from drug
traffickers to rebel forces.

"This is our war as much as Colombia's war," said Rep. Dan Burton
(R-Ind.), a member of the House International Relations Committee.
"The billions we're talking about for dealing with the drug problem
down there is not enough."

From the opposite end of the political spectrum, Sen. Christopher Dodd
(D-Conn.), a Latin American specialist on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said he is concerned about excessive U.S. involvement in
the rebel war. But he said the problem the guerrillas pose to the
Colombian government can't be exaggerated.

"Colombia is a country that is on the brink of losing its
sovereignty," Dodd said.

Pastrana said he wants U.S. military equipment, technical support,
training and intelligence as his government assembles a special
battalion of 950 members dedicated to helping police fight
narco-traffickers. The force could grow to 4,000 within three years,
he said.

As an example of how the force might work, Pastrana described a
scenario in which police using helicopters to spray defoliants on coca
crops came under fire from rebels on the ground--a common occurrence
in Colombia.

The proposed counter-narcotics battalion could be used to suppress the
hostile fire, serving both a counterinsurgency and counter-narcotics
role.

This gray area between the war on drugs and the war on cocaine has
some lawmakers worried. Language approved by the House Armed Services
Committee and accompanying the House-passed defense authorization bill
for next year says the committee supports the war on drugs but
"remains concerned about the prospect of U.S. military personnel being
drawn into Colombia's war."

According to figures provided to the committee, about 200 U.S.
military personnel, most of them Special Forces, are involved in
training the Colombian military for anti-drug and anti-rebel
operations. That number is expected to grow.

In August, Army Secretary Louis Caldera told an interviewer: "It is
hard to separate the missions, because a lot of the insurgents are
involved in drug trafficking. If they are involved in drug
trafficking, then we have to go after them, regardless of whether that
line gets blurred or not."

State Department spokesman James Rubin said last week that the
Pentagon is required to plan for various military contingencies,
including possible use of force in Colombia. But that does not mean
such an option is actively being considered by the administration. He
said the guerrilla situation and the drug problem are linked, but the
priority for U.S. policy is narco-trafficking.

"We do not intend to provide counterinsurgency aid to the government
of Colombia," Rubin said.

According to the most recent State Department report, Colombia either
produces or processes 80 percent of the world's cocaine and is playing
a growing role in U.S.-destined heroin traffic.

Colombia is seeking international banking support, as well as direct
aid from U.S. and other governments, and is requesting a total in
foreign aid and international banking credits of $7.5 billion.

The World Bank's Wolfensohn said Wednesday that his institution and
the Inter-American Development Bank want to help Colombia "deal with
the social impact of the anti-drug campaign and the country's other
economic problems."

In his meeting with reporters, Pastrana said Colombia must develop
strategies to find alternative employment for the thousands of people
involved in cocaine production.

Pastrana, 44, a former journalist facing growing criticism of his
policies in his second year in office, has taken a conciliatory stance
toward the rebels.

One of his first acts after taking office was to withdraw government
troops from a large region contested by the rebels. In effect, the
move created a Marxist state within Latin America's oldest democracy.

That move enraged Republicans on Capitol Hill.

"Support for increased military aid to Colombia should be dependent on
the restoration of government access to the narco-guerrillas'
16,000-square-mile zone of impunity," Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.),
chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said after
meeting with Pastrana.