SHIFTING COLOMBIA'S AID: U.S. FOCUSES ON REBELS

BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug. 9 - Just as a new president, Alvaro Uribe Velez,
begins his term determined to combat Colombia's leftist guerrillas, the
Bush administration has delivered a powerful new tool: authorization to use
nearly $1.7 billion in American military aid directly against the rebels.

Under a little-remarked provision in the antiterrorism package President
Bush signed last week, President Uribe can now use dozens of
American-supplied helicopters as well as Colombian soldiers who were
trained by United States troops in operations against the rebels and also
right-wing paramilitaries. Previous guidelines limited the use of the
helicopters and soldiers to antidrug operations, restricting Colombia's
armed forces from using some of its best equipment and troops to fight the
rebels.

The policy shift, coming at a time of escalating guerrilla violence,
represents a significant intensification of United States involvement in
the long and intractable conflict in this country. This week the rebels
launched a mortar attack here in the capital during Mr. Uribe's inauguration.

The redirection of aid came after Colombian officials and their American
supporters in Congress and the Bush administration argued that the change
was part of the global campaign against terrorism.

American troops will continue to be barred from participating in Colombia's
38-year-old conflict, but the package includes $6 million for an oil
pipeline protection program that will involve the training of a new
Colombian Army unit by American soldiers. The pipeline, which is crucial to
Colombia's economy, is frequently bombed by rebels.

The legislation, part of a broad $28.9 billion supplemental package, says
that military aid already provided to Colombia "shall be available" against
"activities by organizations designated as terrorist organizations" by the
State Department. Those organizations are identified as the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest guerrilla group; the
National Liberation Army, a smaller left-wing insurgency; and the nemesis
of both, the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which is
financed by landowners to battle the rebels.

All three groups have drawn much of their financing from protecting or
participating in the drug trade. Officials in Washington said the new
guidelines take into account the reality that drugs and terrorism are
combined in Colombia.

"There has been a mistake in trying to identify those who are in drugs and
those that are not," said John Walters, the White House drug policy chief.
A State Department official said the legislation "removes an ambiguity in
the law." He explained that under previous guidelines American-trained
troops using American helicopters could not attack a guerrilla column or
stop a rebel attack.

"That has all changed." Now they can go after guerrillas, he said, although
the equipment and troops will still be used against drugs. "The equipment
is now available for both," he said.

American congressional aides familiar with the legislation said the
authorization goes into effect immediately. But there are requirements for
Mr. Uribe, a technocrat who won election in May by promising to bring order
to Colombia. Under the terms, which the government has accepted, it must
devote more money to the army while establishing comprehensive policies to
combat drugs, bring government authority to rural areas and ensure respect
for human rights.

Colombian officials say the change greatly enhances the army's combat
capability. Most of the benefits come from 53 helicopters, 14 of them
high-tech Black Hawks, that Colombia's army has received as part of the
$1.1 billion Plan Colombia aid package Washington approved in 2000. Another
19 helicopters, all of them Huey II's, will arrive by mid-fall.

The guidelines also mean that Colombia will be able to use a 3,000-man
counterdrug brigade trained by American Special Forces directly against the
rebels. The brigade has, until now, focused on securing dangerous,
drug-controlled regions to allow crop dusters to fumigate without being
attacked by rebel forces.

"It will give us more mobility, much more capacity, much more firepower,"
Francisco Santos, Mr. Uribe's vice president, said in an interview this
week. " It helps to change the military balance, and it helps to contain
the violent ones."

Bush administration officials emphasize that the equipment and
American-trained troops will still primarily be used for counterdrug
operations. Congress will decide if $500 million in military and police aid
being proposed in 2003 can also be used directly against the rebels. Since
1999, the United States has provided Colombia with $1.7 billion in military
aid, making this nation the third-largest recipient of American assistance.

The shift in policy has concerned human rights groups and some members of
Congress, who say escalating violence may become a byproduct of the
redirected aid.

But it became clear through spring and early summer that a growing number
of lawmakers on Capitol Hill had sided with the Bush administration's call
for a shift in tactics for two fundamental reasons. The antidrug fight here
has not worked as planned, with coca plantings continuing to rise, and
there was a general feeling that something drastic needed to be done to
help Colombia battle the surging rebels.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the chairman of the foreign operations
subcommittee and a Vermont Democrat who has criticized American policy
toward Colombia, said he supported the legislation because the new policy
called for the aid to also be directed against the paramilitaries and
requires that human rights conditions be met by Colombian units that use
the assistance.

"It is what the majority of Congress is willing to support," he said.