WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #427, APRIL 5, 1998
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339
LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499
*8. MORE US ARMS, TRAINING FOR COLOMBIA?
According to a Mar. 28 article in the Washington Post, US officials are
debating whether to supply sophisticated communications
equipment, intelligence support and training to Colombian military
battalions operating in the southern region of the country. Officials
are also considering a Colombian request to buy 12 Cobra attack
helicopters. If the deal goes through, Colombia would be the first
South American country to buy high- tech US weapons since US
president Bill Clinton lifted a ban on such sales last year.
The US government has become increasingly open about redirecting
its anti-drug aid for use against leftist rebels in Colombia. Officials
from the National Security Council and State and Defense
departments charge that thousands of guerrillas in Colombia's
southern region are protecting drug traffickers and may be engaged
in drug production themselves. National security officials say that the
line between fighting drug traffickers and fighting rebels has become
blurry. [WP 3/28/98] However, Thomas Constantine, head of the US
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), admitted on Mar. 26 at the
XVI International Drug Control Conference organized by the DEA in
Costa Rica: "We have not found links between the [Colombian]
guerrillas and international drug trafficking." [Agencia de Noticias
Nueva Colombia (ANNCOL) 3/29/98, quote retranslated from
Spanish]
While the US government is still trying to use the anti-drug cover for
its counter-insurgency aid, the Post cites Pentagon documents
showing that 726 Colombian troops received training-- most of it not
designated as counternarcotics courses--from the Defense
Department's Special Operations Command in fiscal 1996. The
instruction--including small unit river and coastal operations and
light infantry techniques--was conducted by Army special operations
forces and Navy SEALS, according to the documents. The training,
which continues this year, was exempted from restrictions on US
military aid to Colombia. Colombia is the largest recipient of US
counternarcotics aid in South America, including 200 US troops
stationed mostly at radar sites that monitor suspected drug-carrying
aircraft. [WP 3/28/98] According to a report in the London Times,
the US military and counter-drug presence in Colombia has almost
doubled so far this year to more than 200 officials involved in
counter-insurgency training, intelligence gathering and civilian
spraying of drug crops. [Times 3/20/98]
US assistance to the military and to the Colombian National Police
tripled from $28.5 million in 1995 to nearly $100 million in 1997,
much of it transfers, repairs or upgrades of helicopters needed in the
jungle as well as field gear and counternarcotics training, according
to State Department figures. The Defense Department is sending
Colombia $30 million worth of equipment, including three Boston
Whaler-type boats, 20 UH-1H helicopter hulks for spare parts, 15
utility vehicles and 1.1 million rounds of ammunition for weapons
recently mounted on helicopters. Starting next year, up to $20
million a year is earmarked for riverine training by Navy SEALS.
The Defense Department is set to send the Colombian military $2.5
million in used radio equipment, 1,000 M-16A1 rifles and 500 M-60
machine guns. This and other equipment, however, have been held
up because Colombia has failed to move quickly to screen members
of its army brigades for human rights abuses, the stipulation the
Clinton administration attached to military aid last summer. [WP
3/28/98]
US Southern Command chief Gen. Charles Wilhelm warned recently in
Washington that Colombia's leftist rebels are threatening the security
of five neighboring countries: Venezuela, Panama, Brasil, Peru and
Ecuador. [Clarin 4/3/98] House International Relations Committee
chair Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) tried to paint an even more dire
picture in his opening comments at a Committee hearing on Mar. 31:
"A raging war that is based upon and financed by narcotics is placing
the future of Colombia and the stability of the entire region at risk.
Our own vital national interest and that of the good Colombian people
who are engaged in the struggle hang in the balance. The frightening
possibilities of a narco-state just three hours by plane from Miami
can no longer be dismissed." Gilman introduced National Police
director Gen. Jose Serrano to the committee as "our good friend."
Serrano, explained Gilman, "is a cop's cop; and we're proud to have
him with us today." [Rush transcript of Committee hearing 3/31/98
by Federal News Service]
US birdwatcher Thomas Fiore, kidnapped along with 17 other
foreigners and Colombians by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) during a roadblock operation on Mar. 23, was
released by the rebels on Apr. 2 with a message for the US
government. Initially his release was reported as an escape. US
ambassador to Colombia Curtis Kamman would not reveal any details
of the FARC's message. The kidnapped Colombians have already been
released. FARC leader "Marco Aurelio" announced on Apr. 3 that
three other US citizens kidnapped with Fiore will be released
imminently, since "no proof has been found linking them" to US
intelligence or espionage agencies. [La Tercera (Chile) 4/4/98; El
Diario-La Prensa 4/5/98 from EFE]
In other news, the 24-year old leftist mayor of Fortul municipality,
in the eastern Colombian department of Arauca, was murdered in his
home on Mar. 29, in front of his wife and 18- month old baby.
Ernesto Celis Garcia was an active member of the Colombian
Communist Youth (JUCO), and served as the town's mayor in
representation of the Patriotic Union (UP) party. The murder
occurred at a time when the town is under heavy military
occupation, and it is believed to be in retaliation for the town's strong
stand against paramilitary groups in the region. More than 4,000
active members and leaders of the UP, JUCO and the Colombian
Communist Party have been murdered since 1985. [PCC Communique
3/30/98; Agencia de Noticias Nueva Colombia (ANNCOL) 3/31/98]
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