Speech
by Rep. William Delahunt (D-Massachusetts), March 6, 2002
Mr. DELAHUNT. I thank
the gentleman for his generous words and for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, as
others have alluded to, almost 4 years ago, President Andres Pastrana
embarked on what was truly a courageous effort to bring peace to his nation.
He began negotiations with the FARC and the ELN, the country's two main
guerilla groups. He did so because he realized that, after almost 40 years
of conflict, a negotiated agreement was the only answer to end the violence.
These efforts focused
world attention on Colombia. For the first time, the international community
was brought directly into the negotiations. Hope prevailed that the brutal
violence that has plagued that nation for decades would at long last end.
I shared that hope. At President Pastrana's request, I myself went to
the so-called demilitarized zone. I met with the FARC, which is the largest
party to this conflict.
I left, hopeful
that the FARC was genuinely serious about the search for peace. They claimed
that they were prepared to work to create a new Colombia that would embrace
social and economic justice and bring peace to a population exhausted
by violence.
Sadly, they have
proven they were not serious. At great political cost, President Pastrana
gave the FARC every opportunity to prove their good faith. But they, the
FARC, could not summon the political resolve, the will, the courage, if
you may, to choose peace. Sadly, they were not serious.
From an insurgency
that once based its legitimacy on a promise of social and economic justice
for all Colombians, the FARC have degenerated into criminal syndicates
that traffic in drugs, that extort, that kidnap and that murder civilians.
The FARC have failed to meet the challenge of peace. They have failed
the Colombian people. So now I share what I know to be the profound disappointment
felt by President Pastrana and the people of Colombia.
But, fortunately,
the peace process with the ELN is still continuing. Like the FARC, the
ELN claim to want to address the social inequities that are at the root
of the conflict. But the ELN have actually proposed how to do that; and,
at least at this point in time, they appear to have the will to make peace.
However, tragically, even while negotiating, the ELN also continue their
armed campaign of kidnapping and sabotage.
But what disturbs
me most profoundly is the recent rapid growth of right-wing paramilitary
groups, commonly referred to as the AUC. They commit more than 70 percent
of the massacres in the course of the Colombian conflict, and their brutality
knows no bounds of human decency. Their leadership readily admits to deriving
most of their funding from drug trafficking. Klaus Nyholm, the head of
the U.N. drug control program in Colombia, says that they are substantially
more involved in the drug trade than the FARC.
Most significantly
for U.S. policy, the AUC, as mentioned by the gentleman from California,
the ranking member, have extensive links with the Colombian military,
according to our own Department of State report that was issued this week.
That explains the reluctance of so many of us in this body to provide
unconditional military assistance to the Colombian armed forces.
While President
Pastrana and Colombian armed forces chief Fernando Tapias deserve credit
for taking steps to professionalize the military, unfortunately, far too
many of these unsavory links remain. Until all relationships, at every
level, between the military and the AUC are ended, the U.S. can and should
condition its assistance.
Unbelievably, these
paramilitary groups rationalize their acts of terrorism as what is needed
to fight the guerillas. They say they traffic in drugs only to support
that fight. They say that what they really want is peace. They even claim
that they are the Northern Alliance of Colombia, ready to help the United
States fight the FARC.
They are not Colombia's
Northern Alliance. They are Colombia's al Qaeda.
Let us be clear.
There is no place for an AUC in a democracy. In a democratic society,
it is the exclusive role of the armed forces and the police, working under
the legitimate government, to maintain public order, to defend the nation,
and protect individual civil liberties. And there is a legitimate government
in Colombia duly elected by the Colombian people. The AUC are not the
answer to Colombia's problems. In a very real way, the AUC are cooperating
with the FARC and the ELN in sending Colombia into chaos and more bloodshed.
We know what the
FARC's position is. We have learned it the hard way. Now it is very important
for us to be clear with both the ELN and the AUC. Let me say to them,
now is the time to reveal your true selves, to show the world what you
really want for your nation. You say you want peace. You put it on your
websites. You make these public statements. Prove it. Declare an immediate,
unilateral cease-fire and an immediate suspension of all criminal activities.
Lay down your arms. You can do it today. Now.
That way, the Colombian
military can concentrate its efforts on the FARC; and the world can see
that the other parties to the conflict are willing to act for peace, not
just talk about it.
So Senor Gabino,
who is the leader of the ELN, and Carlos Castano, the leader of the AUC,
now is the time, now, to decide which side you are on. Are you with the
Colombian people who desperately want to end 40 years of horror? Or are
you with those who would drown your nation in the blood of its own citizens?
This resolution
today makes clear which side the United States is on. This is just the
beginning of our debate. We still must have an extensive review, including
hearings, on the details of any U.S. assistance, just as there should
be a peaceful debate inside Colombia on how to address that country's
very real problems, particularly its glaring social and economic inequities.
But there should
be no doubt as to which side the United States is on. We are with the
Colombian people.
As of March 7, 2002,
this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r107:@FIELD(FLD003+h)+@FIELD(DDATE+20020306)