Cannabis News NORML - It's Time for a Change!
  Administration Tries To Steer Course in Colombia
Posted by FoM on August 29, 2001 at 17:32:06 PT
By Jared Kotler, Associated Press 
Source: Associated Press 

justice A high-level U.S. delegation arrived in Colombia on Wednesday to try and steer a course for the Bush administration in a nation whose drug trade is fueling Latin America's longest-running civil war.

The U.S. group including Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman and Gen. Peter Pace, the commander of U.S. military forces in the region is arriving amid rising anger here at leftist guerrillas, increasing support for the military and calls for President Andres Pastrana to take a tougher stance in peace talks.

''I have come to try to convey that Colombia matters very much to the United States,'' Grossman told reporters outside the foreign ministry in Bogota's colonial downtown, before heading into meetings.

Moments before the Americans touched down, a U.N. peace envoy appealed for dialogue instead of what he called growing sentiment in favor of military solutions to the 37-year conflict.

''Those who criticize the search for peace should carefully consider the alternative,'' the diplomat, Jan Egeland of Norway, told a press conference in the capital, Bogota. ''You cannot shoot your way to reconciliation.''

Recent criticism from the State Department about rebel activities in a safe haven Pastrana granted to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has prompted speculation that the Bush administration is considering widening its assistance to help the Colombian army battle the rebels directly.

Currently, U.S. aid supports a controversial aerial fumigation program against coca and poppy plantations. The guerrillas and a rival right-wing paramilitary militia tax the drug crops to fund their operations.

Many Colombians welcome aid from Washington. But about 70 protesters gathered Wednesday outside the fortress-like U.S. Embassy, where they unfurled a huge Colombian flag and chanted slogans against Pastrana's U.S.-backed drug-fighting strategy.

The protesters, many of them college students, said the fumigation campaign is harming Colombia's environment and is unfair to farmers who scratch out a living growing coca, from which cocaine is made, or heroin-producing poppies.

Demonstrators also said the United States should be supporting peace efforts, not criticizing them.

Pastrana faces political pressure to take back the Switzerland-sized safe haven in southern Colombia unless peace talks taking place inside the zone begin yielding results.

State Department officials last week accused the FARC of abusing war prisoners, storing kidnap victims and engaging in drug operations inside the area.

The rebels have also staged attacks from the zone and allegedly received training in explosives there from three suspected Irish Republican Army members, who are currently in a Bogota prison.

After meeting with Pastrana on Wednesday, the American delegation is scheduled to tour military bases Thursday near rebel territory, where U.S. Special Forces have trained Colombian army units and where aerial drug eradication operations are based.

The visit is also aimed at helping set up a trip to Colombia by Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sept. 11-12.

Colombia is the world's leading cocaine-producing nation and a top supplier of heroin to the United States. The country's long war claims at least 3,000 lives a year, is crippling the country's economy and has displaced some 2 million people in the past decade.

Complete Title: With High-Level Visit, Bush Administration Tries To Steer Course in Rocky Colombia

Source: Associated Press
Author: Jared Kotler, Associated Press
Published: August 29, 2001
Copyright: 2001 Associated Press

Related Articles & Web Site:

Colombia Drug War News
http://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htm

Many Colombians Back Decriminalization
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10752.shtml

Colombian Officials Cooling on Drug War
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10751.shtml

Powell To Travel To Colombia
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10745.shtml


Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help

 
Comment #1 posted by Charlie on August 29, 2001 at 17:49:53 PT
Reving up...
...the propaganda machine. Truth will continue to get mangled in the gears. Leave it to the AP to tow the line.

[ Post Comment ]

  Post Comment
Name:        Password:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comment:   [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]

Link URL:
Link Title:


Return to Main Menu


So everyone may enjoy this service and to keep it running, here are some guidelines: NO spamming, NO commercial advertising, NO flamming, NO illegal activity, and NO sexually explicit materials. Lastly, we reserve the right to remove any message for any reason!

This web page and related elements are for informative purposes only and thus the use of any of this information is at your risk! We do not own nor are responsible for visitor comments. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings on this site are made available without profit for research and educational purposes. Any trademarks, trade names, service marks, or service names used on this site are the property of their respective owners. Page updated on August 29, 2001 at 17:32:06