Secretary of State Colin Powell, Interview with RCN Television (Colombia), Washington, December 3, 2002

Secretary of State Colin Powell, Interview with RCN Television (Colombia), Washington, December 3, 2002
Interview on RCN TV with Sandra Vergara

Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
December 3, 2002

MS. VERGARA: Good morning, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning.

MS. VERGARA: The US Government has been supportive of the Colombian Government in helping to fight narcoterrorism. Is there any other way, maybe more aggressive, to show that support to the Colombians to help stop violence and terrorism?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we are going to do everything we can. We are firmly committed to President Uribe and his new national security strategy. We are going to work with our Congress to provide additional funding for Colombia. We have gotten some authority from our Congress so we can not only help with narcotrafficking, but narcoterrorism as well.

We want to do everything we can to make President Uribe successful in his efforts to defeat these threats to the Colombian people, these threats to Colombian democracy.

MS. VERGARA: Now, Mr. Secretary, what is the US position on the possible negotiation between the Colombian Government and the paramilitaries? What is your opinion on the AUC's unilateral ceasefire proposal?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, it was noteworthy that the AUC has decided upon a unilateral ceasefire, and I look forward to talking to Colombian leaders on my trip tomorrow and get their reaction to it and how serious is it. It's one thing to declare a ceasefire; it's another thing to actually bring it into place. But I think this is a positive development. I think it perhaps shows some understanding of the commitment that President Uribe has made to dealing with these kinds of organizations.

The AUC is considered a terrorist organization on our part and we believe that we have to have respect for human rights, we have to use the democratic and constitutional process in a democratic nation such as Colombia to deal with the problems in the country and not use violent paramilitary organizations.

MS. VERGARA: The AUC has demanded that the US Government stop any legal process against its members, such as Carlos Castano and Salvatore Mancuso. Is the US Government willing to accept these as a sign of supporting the Colombian Government?

And let me ask you something else. Is there any possibility of the US taking off the international foreign terrorist list if they made the commitment to stop the violence?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, let's see what happens. All we have right now is a statement. But the individuals who are still under indictment and wanted here in the United States will remain under indictment. And all we have had so far is a declaration, a unilateral declaration of a ceasefire. Let's see whether or not AUC actually starts to break up and does it return to its proper place, that the members of the AUC and the organizations within the AUC return to its proper place within a democratic society.

For those individuals under indictment, of course, I do not have any authority to waive those indictments.

MS. VERGARA: So will this stop their extradition?

SECRETARY POWELL: I've answered the question.

MS. VERGARA: All right. Mr. Secretary, I just wanted a last message to Colombian people. What is your message?

SECRETARY POWELL: I look forward to visiting Colombia very much. This will be my third try. I was going to visit Colombia on the 11th of September 2001, and you know what happened on that terrible day and I couldn't go from Lima to Bogota. And then another time I was hoping to visit, but a crisis emerged.

But this time I am going to visit Colombia. I want to meet with President Uribe and the other leaders and I want to make my own assessment so that I come back and present what I see to our Congress and to the President to gather more support for the new administration in Colombia and to gather more support from the United States for the Colombian people to help them with their dream of living in peace and security, and investing in their nation and investing in their people, and getting rid of narcotrafficking and narcoterrorism.

As of January 8, 2003, this article was also available online at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2002/15630.htm