STILL NOT OUR FIGHT

Colombia: Presidential Vote Shows People Want Peace, And It's Up To
Them To Achieve It

Human rights organizations have reacted with shock and concern at the
election of Alvaro Uribe Velez as Colombia's new president, according
to many reports. An avowed hard-liner who promised to crack down on
the brutal left-wing insurgents who have kept the nation mired in a
38-year civil war, Uribe won an unprecedented majority on the first
round of elections, thus avoiding the usual run-off.

His 53-percent majority suggests that the Colombian public is sick and
tired of the leftist incursions that have led to 1 million people, out
of a population of 40 million, being displaced from their homes.
According to published reports, 3,500 people were killed in guerrilla
fighting last year. Many villages exist in a no-man's land, where the
government cannot protect them from rebel incursions.

For instance, the left-wing FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia) insurgents, with their 18,000-troop army, threatened to
destroy entire villages if any residents voted in the recent elections.

As the BBC reported, this month FARC rebels bombed a church where
villagers were fleeing fighting - killing 119 people, mostly women and
children. This backdrop helps explain why the Colombian people gave
Uribe a strong showing, especially after the government of Andres
Pastrana failed to achieve peace through concessions.

The Pastrana approach essentially handed over 40 percent of the
country to the rebels. FARC used the land to stage bigger and deadlier
attacks. Along comes Uribe, who according to The Washington Post, "has
become the most popular politician in the country by promising to
double defense spending, give the military a freer hand, enlist
civilians deeply in the war effort and perhaps call up as many as
30,000 reservists."

Most controversial is his plan to reinstate neighborhood committees to
help battle the rebels. Similar committees have been tied to
right-wing paramilitaries, which often matched the rebels for brutality.

We certainly understand the Colombian electorate's willingness to try
an aggressive approach after a peaceful one failed, although we too
fear an approach that tramples on human rights.

Our main concern is Uribe's call for more American aid, not just to
fight drug trafficking, but to fund direct military operations. We
wish Uribe the best, but this is not America's fight.