Text: State Department Official on U.S. Support for Plan Colombia

31 August 2001

Text: State Department Official on U.S. Support for Plan Colombia

Says U.S.-Colombian partnership will contribute to peace, prosperity

The United States strongly supports Plan Colombia, the strategy designed by Colombian President Andres Pastrana to curb illicit drugs and re-establish civil order in his country, says Marc Grossman, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs.

Grossman, on a three-day visit to Colombia, held a press conference August 31 to discuss U.S. assistance to Colombia and to other countries in the vicinity. "When President Pastrana asked us to provide security and development assistance to support Plan Colombia, with bipartisan support in the U.S Congress, we provided a $1.3 billion assistance package," he noted.

Furthermore, "to continue and broaden the scope of that support, President Bush has proposed a $880 million Andean Regional Initiative that will help address the regional problems of instability and poverty, and prevent drug trafficking from moving across borders from Colombia to its neighbors, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil and Panama," he said.

Much remains to be done, Grossman stressed. But he added that thanks to Plan Colombia, positive changes are underway. To date, "scores of narcotics fields and [drug laboratories]" have already been shut down in southern Colombia, he declared. Social and government reform programs are in progress, he said, and alternative crop development is helping to provide former coca farmers with a legitimate source of income.

He also raised the issue of safety concerns surrounding aerial crop-eradication efforts, which have focused on the use of the chemical glyphosate to spray (and obliterate) coca fields. "Enormous quantities of glyphosate-based formulations are safely used worldwide in agriculture each year, including in the United States, which has some of the strictest environmental regulations in the world," Grossman said. "In Colombia, the government, with U.S. support, carries out a spray program with stringent guidelines, safeguards and verification measures to prevent damage to the health of Colombians and the environment."

Additionally, the United States wants "to work with Colombia and its neighbors to increase trade to provide a permanent alternative to harvesting drugs," he declared. "If we act with resolve and skill, we can fashion an outcome that benefits everyone: a strong, stable, democratic Andean region at peace and free from the plague of drugs."

Following is the text of Grossman's opening remarks at the press conference, as prepared for delivery:

(begin text)

OPENING STATEMENT

UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE MARC GROSSMAN

PRESS CONFERENCE
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
AUGUST 31, 2001

Thank you for being here this morning. Let me introduce myself. I am Marc Grossman, under secretary of state for political affairs. I am part of a team made up of people working on the United States government's effort in Colombia.

This is my first visit to Colombia. I want to thank President Pastrana and the many other distinguished Colombians I have met for their hospitality and their insights. I also wish to salute Ambassador Patterson and her mission [personnel]. They do a great job.

Our conversations have given me a better understanding of the situation in Colombia that I will convey to Secretary Powell as he prepares for his visit to Colombia.

President Pastrana's government is engaged in a struggle that matters to everyone in this hemisphere because Colombians are fighting to re-establish two things that almost every citizen of our hemisphere wants: peace and prosperity.

Let me highlight one other thing before we continue. Drugs are a challenge to society shared by producing and consuming countries. As President Bush noted last May, "The most effective way to reduce the supply of drugs in America is to reduce the demand for drugs in America."

Colombia matters to the United States. When President Pastrana asked us to provide security and development assistance to support Plan Colombia, with bipartisan support in the U.S Congress, we provided a $1.3 billion assistance package.

To continue and broaden the scope of that support, President Bush has proposed a $880 million Andean Regional Initiative that will help address the regional problems of instability and poverty, and prevent drug trafficking from moving across borders from Colombia to its neighbors, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil and Panama.

We support Plan Colombia because:

-- Plan Colombia recognizes that a negotiated settlement is the only way to achieve peace.

-- Plan Colombia recognizes the effect of drug trafficking; it is the main source of supply for continued unrest in this country. The FARC, ELN and AUC are all involved in the drug trade.

-- Plan Colombia recognizes that jobs and economic opportunity must be created to help turn turbulence into stability. I visited a hearts-of-palm factory in Putumayo yesterday.

-- Plan Colombia recognizes that without full protection for human rights, no democracy is complete.

With all the discussion there's been on Plan Colombia, it's easy to forget that U.S. assistance to Plan Colombia is less than a year old. There are positive things to say:

-- More than 34,000 farm families have already signed manual eradication pacts. The first tranche of a 5-year $222.5 million USAID agricultural assistance package is now beginning to arrive to help them make a living with legal crops instead of drugs.

-- Social and government reform programs have begun. For example, out of 40 planned Casas de Justicia, or community legal service centers, 18 are now active.

-- U.S. assistance has strengthened Colombia's ability to deal with internally displaced persons and human rights violations. There is a pilot early-warning system to prevent guerrilla and paramilitary massacres, now being tested in the field. Satellite human rights units are being established around the country so police and prosecutors are able to respond rapidly to suspected human rights violations.

-- In southern Colombia, the U.S.-trained Counter-Drug Brigade has shut down scores of narcotics fields and labs -- without a single credible charge of human rights violations against the soldiers who took part.

-- The combination of aerial spraying of coca plantations and voluntary, manual eradication for farmers who sign crop substitution pacts with the government has had a serious impact on drug production in southern Colombia. Fifty thousand hectares of coca plantations have been sprayed from the air nationwide in what we believe is a safe and environmentally sound manner.

-- Let me talk for a moment about glyphosate. Enormous quantities of glyphosate-based formulations are safely used worldwide in agriculture each year, including in the United States, which has some of the strictest environmental regulations in the world. In Colombia, the government, with U.S. support, carries out a spray program with stringent guidelines, safeguards and verification measures to prevent damage to the health of Colombians and the environment.

-- The governments of the United States and Colombia also would welcome a review of our procedures, a study of our materials, and any other aspect of the coca eradication program -- consistent with the need to maintain the security of individuals in the program -- so long as we are confident that such a review is carried out by persons who are neutral, credible and scientifically qualified.

Does more need to be done to implement Plan Colombia? Of course. We need:

-- A stronger push to modernize and strengthen Colombia's criminal justice system;

-- More alternative development programs for former small-scale narcotics producers;

-- Increased effectiveness of government human rights units and programs to counter kidnapping, money laundering, and corruption; and

-- Additional support for Colombian programs to rehabilitate child soldiers and protect human rights and labor union officials who have been targeted for violence. We are concerned about attacks against civil society by the guerrilla groups and illegal self-defense groups. The Colombian police and military face many challenges, but they need to do more to protect these courageous people who are trying to improve the lives of Colombians.

-- Have the anticipated 35 helicopters arrive in Colombia to increase the mobility and effectiveness of the government's counter-narcotics battalions.

We also want to work with Colombia and its neighbors to increase trade to provide a permanent alternative to harvesting drugs. Key to that will be renewing the Andean Trade Preferences Act. The Bush Administration will work with Congress to renew, enhance, and expand ATPA before it expires in December of this year.

Why are we doing all this? Because Colombia matters. Colombia is a fellow democracy, the second most populous country in South America. Colombia is the fifth-largest export market for the U.S. in Latin America, with two-way trade last year exceeding $11.1 billion. Colombia exported $3.6 billion worth of oil to the U.S. last year, making it our seventh-largest supplier. The U.S. has more than $4.5 billion in direct commercial investment in Colombia. Colombians deserve the right to live in peace and freedom.

So what happens in Colombia matters. If we act with resolve and skill, we can fashion an outcome that benefits everyone: a strong, stable, democratic Andean region at peace and free from the plague of drugs.

(end text)