COLOMBIA TO ASK $3.5 BILLION MORE IN FOREIGN AID

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Responding to concern in the United States about
surging drug production and guerrilla activity here, the Colombian
government Friday unveiled a plan for "peace, prosperity and
strengthening the state" that calls for $3.5 billion in aid from the
United States and other allies during the next three years.

Aides to President Andres Pastrana, who is scheduled to leave today
for a visit to the United States, said he intended to discuss the
proposal with President Clinton when they meet in New York next week.

They said he also planned to lobby Congress on behalf of the plan,
which includes diplomatic initiatives, trade liberalization measures
and requests for a big increase in U.S. aid.

On Friday, Jaime Ruiz, Pastrana's closest aide and an architect of the
proposal, said "a bit more than half" of the money budgeted is
intended for "strengthening and restructuring of the army" or
combating drug trafficking.

Colombia's two main left-wing guerrilla groups have fought the
government for decades, and in recent years have taxed drug
traffickers to obtain money to buy weapons.

Colombia is earmarked to get $289 million in U.S. aid in the fiscal
year about to end.

But in July, after a guerrilla offensive that forced Pastrana to
impose a limited curfew in one-third of Colombia, Defense Minister
Luis Fernando Ramirez visited Washington to request an additional $500
million in military assistance.

Since then, two U.S. delegations, one led by drug czar Gen. Barry
McCaffrey and the other from the State Department, visited Colombia to
assess what Washington sees as a deteriorating situation.

While maintaining that "we have always had a strategy," Ruiz said the
revamped program envisions spending $7.5 billion in the next three
years.

Colombia had about $4 billion already budgeted and expected $750
million soon from international lending agencies for social programs,
he said, but will need foreign help if the program is to be fully effective.

"We are saying, `Here is our strategy, and this is how much money we
are short,' " Ruiz said.

He also said the revised strategy, though ambitious, would not be
sufficient to end the military conflict or wipe out the drug trade.

"With this I am not going to resolve the problem," he said. "But it
can make a difference at a crucial moment."