WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration Tuesday announced a massive infusion of new aid to Colombia, totaling $1.3 billion over the next two years, to cripple drug production and smuggling and shore up a government besieged by guerrilla attacks and economic woes. "Strengthening stability and democracy in Colombia, and fighting the drug trade there, is in our fundamental national interest," President Clinton said. "We must and we will intensify this vital work."
The huge boost in aid was generally well-received in Congress, which must approve the proposal. GOP leaders welcomed the announcement while some criticized the administration for moving too slowly. Human rights groups warned that the aid package was weighed down by too much military assistance.
Colombian President Andres Pastrana welcomed the aid plan. The U.S. assistance, he said, demonstrates "how we can and will cooperate to rid our societies of the scourge of illegal drugs and drug-related violence."
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and drug czar Barry McCaffrey described the aid package at a White House briefing as a "good mix" of military, security and economic assistance. They also defended it as a necessary part of the drug war in the United States.
"This will not just benefit the 36 million people of Colombia, but American children," McCaffrey said. "We are experiencing an explosion of cocaine and heroin from Colombia flowing to the 4.1 million Americans addicted to drugs."
The biggest component in the aid proposal would help the Colombian military and national police take the offensive against narco-traffickers and guerrilla groups that control about 40 percent of the country, especially in the southern region. Thats where coca production has almost doubled in the last two years.
About $600 million in the next two years would help train and equip two more special anti-drug military units to join a battalion that is about to begin operations. The aid package includes 30 Black Hawk helicopters and 18 more Huey helicopters to make the units more mobile.
Albright also pledged that aid would not go to military units implicated in human rights abuses, and that the assistance is targeted at drug traffickers, not insurgents -- a difficult distinction in a messy civil conflict where they often work together.
"This is not a counter-insurgency program," Albright said. "This is a counter-narcotics program."
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have chided the administration for foot-dragging in preparing the aid package, which was requested by Colombian officials last summer. Two GOP senators, Paul Coverdell of Georgia and Michael DeWine of Ohio, proposed their own aid plan in the fall.
But those two senators were generally supportive Tuesday. DeWine said: "I finally welcome the White House plan to provide timely and needed assistance. There is simply too much at stake not to take action."
But at least one critic on Capitol Hill said he was unconvinced by the Clinton proposal. Rep. Benjamin Gilman, the New York Republican who chairs the House International Relations Committee, complained that aid already approved for Colombia, including several helicopters, has taken too long to get there.
"Until the administration shows a willingness to deliver aid effectively to the Colombian police, their credibility on fighting drugs at the source remains in doubt," Gilman said.
Sen. Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, said he expected some disagreement in Congress on what should be emphasized in the aid plan, but predicted eventual approval.
"There is not a partisan division on what we want to accomplish," said Graham, who has worked on the issue with Coverdell and DeWine. "There will be debate about specific tactics, or the right mix, but this is a lot of money, a major commitment. I expect broad agreement on many points."
Graham, like others in Congress, also approved of the plans overall emphasis on military aid: "The situation there is very dangerous, and the immediate threat is the destabilization of that society, with the merger of drug traffickers and guerrillas."
Administration officials said the aid plan was worked out in detail with Pastrana, whose $7.5 billion Plan Colombia seeks significant help from the United States, European nations and international agencies. They also said Tuesdays announcement may give Pastrana more leverage in his efforts to negotiate with guerrilla groups.
McCaffrey emphasized the importance of aid to farmers in Colombia to wean them off coca production. Such programs, along with crop eradication, have scored major successes in Bolivia and Peru, but also pushed more of the drug production into southern Colombia.
Officials stressed that the big boost in aid -- Colombia already ranks third behind Israel and Egypt as an aid recipient -- would not lead to an increase in U.S. forces. There are about 130 U.S. military and security personnel in Colombia, with many of them involved in training programs.
Several organizations that monitor human rights warned Tuesday that the Clinton proposal was too heavily weighted toward military and security aid, citing links between the Colombian military and paramilitary groups that have committed massacres.
"U.S. military aid to Colombia is tantamount to underwriting the Colombian 'dirty war, " said Carlos Salinas of Amnesty International.