Excerpts from State Department Daily Briefing, February 13, 2001

Excerpts from State Department Daily Briefing, February 13, 2001
Daily Press Briefing

February 13, 2001

BRIEFER: Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, D.C.
(On The Record Unless Otherwise Noted)

MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here.

I think you all saw the statement we issued this morning about the secretary's meeting with Foreign Minister Ivanov will take place in Cairo on the 24th of February. So that adds another little piece to the trip.

Let me also say a few words about Colombia. I can go into a readout of the meeting with the foreign minister. But let me start by noting something that happened down in Colombia, and that was the decision yesterday by the Colombian tribunal to convict and sentence a retired general for failing to prevent the July 1997 massacre of at least 22 people by paramilitary forces. It's long been our position that cooperation between members of the Colombian armed forces and the paramilitary groups is unacceptable, and we welcome this decision by the courts.

So we'll have a formal statement out on that.

Should I just go right into the meeting, maybe? (Pause.) Okay. The secretary met this morning for about half an hour with Colombian Foreign Minister Fernandez. I think the fundamental aspects, the primary aspect of the meeting is that this relationship between the United States and Colombia is a strategic relationship for both of us. It's fundamental to our domestic situations as well as to our foreign relations. And it's a very important part of policy for both our governments and we want to work very closely together. That was the theme of many of the specific discussions during the meting.

The secretary expressed our strong support, our strongest support for Plan Colombia and the efforts that the Colombian government was making to bring peace, stability, development and an end to trafficking to Colombia, and in turn recognized that the problems that beset Colombia, particularly from the narcotraffickers, have at their origin the demand for drugs in the United States, and said we would be working on that as well.

They talked a lot about the progress being made. The foreign minister updated the secretary on the implementation of Plan Colombia, noting specifically in the area of Putumayo Province in the South that they have made considerable progress in eradicating coca production. He gave figures of something like 30,000 hectares, some 50 percent of the production in that province having been eradicated recently, and noted also that this is not taking place with some massive outflow of people or hardship to the small farmers.

Much of this is taking place in large industrial-size growing areas, and that the government has been successful in working with families, working with communities, and working with several thousand, I think, families who have accepted alternative development models.

So it was basically talking about how the experience in this province is showing that the model of Plan Colombia, of eradication but also alternative development and economic and social development with communities, can in fact work in these areas. And that was good news to us, and the secretary expressed our strong support.

They also talked about continuing to work and how we go forward on these issues; the secretary expressing once again, as he has in public, I think, his desire to sort of look at also the regional picture -- the Colombian foreign minister saying that was a good thing -- and that looking at the whole Andean situation, as well as supporting Plan Colombia, would be important.

They talked about working with the Europeans, and especially looking for more European support for what's called the "soft side" of the Plan Colombia, the economic and social development aspects, which the Europeans have been interested in. So the secretary promised to do what we could to help them out with that. They have some meetings coming up with the Europeans, I think, in a month or two.

And in part of the discussion, as well, they talked about the need to support democracy and human rights in Colombia. I think the Colombian foreign minister first mentioned that as among their priorities. The secretary supported him on that, reiterated the need to keep the focus on democracy, on human rights and control of the paramilitary groups; made quite clear that that had to be an aspect of the plan as it went forward, as well.

So I would say it was a very positive, somewhat detailed discussion with the Colombians of how Plan Colombia is working, how Plan Colombia is achieving some success, and how we can go forward in the future.

George?

Q You said that eradication -- 30,000 hectares eradicated recently. Do you have any information as to whether eradication is outstripping production or not?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I have that -- he didn't talk about it in those terms. That may be the case.

He talked about, I think, 50 percent of the production of the cultivation in that province having been eradicated. So I would assume that means the answer is yes, but he didn't specifically say it, and I think the government of Colombia probably would be better at analyzing the figures than I am.

Q Is there a review of Plan Colombia? The secretary said last month that a number of issues are being reviewed. Is Plan Colombia one of them?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think he talked about it in terms of any formal review. This is obviously an area of interest to the secretary and, particularly, looking at the possibilities, looking at what we do with neighboring countries, how we make it an Andean sort of strategy; in addition to our continuing support, looking at ways we can continue to support Plan Colombia. That clearly has been something on the secretary's agenda and he's been, you know -- it was discussed in this meeting today.

Q Richard, the foreign minister, when he left, said that President Pastrana would be coming at the end of this month to meet with President Bush, and I'm just wondering if during the -- during the -- was there any discussion regarding an invitation for Secretary Powell to go down to Colombia? He said in his confirmation hearings that he wanted to get down there at an early -- early point. Is that still the case?

MR. BOUCHER: I can't remember it being a major issue, or not (accepted/excepted ?), but I don't remember precisely whether at some point he said he'd asked -- suggested the secretary might want to come to visit. I can't say absolutely not, but I think it's assumed that this is one of the places the secretary would like to go to, and they talked about upcoming cooperation, so -- I don't remember it specifically, but I can't say for absolutely sure that it didn't come up in passing.

Q Well, can you confirm that Pastrana is coming?

MR. BOUCHER: No, that would be for the White House to do.

Q On this same -- (off mike) -- did Secretary Powell ask the foreign minister whether or not it's -- and I don't know, does this administration think the Colombians have made any progress, the Colombian government, in controlling the paramilitary and their alleged human rights abuses? Have they made any progress since Plan Colombia was started?

MR. BOUCHER: What the foreign minister mentioned and the secretary emphasized was the need for a commitment to keep working in practical terms on control of the paramilitaries, improving democracy, making respect of human rights an integral part of this entire program. The secretary said very clearly, "We want you to keep the focus on these things," after the foreign minister said that he would focus on them.

I think the evidence that they are doing some of that and, obviously, our human rights report in other areas will be quite clear about where it is happening and where it's not happening. But the specific thing that I cited today in terms of this court conviction I think is some evidence that there is a focus and that they are dealing with some of these issues.

Q And on the DMZ, the demilitarized zone, there are reports that there's been -- that the FARC has been using that area to cultivate more coca plants. Is that something that the U.S. thinks is in fact happening and did Secretary Powell raise that with --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know if the issue is more -- I can't tell you the exact size of production or cultivation in that area. What I think is important is that the government is aware of the need to eliminate coca production from that part of the -- of Colombia, and that in fact in the understanding that was reached with the guerrillas, with the FARC, there was provision for continued eradication programs in those areas, as well as alternative development proposals.

So that's something that's been on my mind -- on our minds, as well as theirs.

Q So there -- sorry. There is cultivation going on within the demilitarized zone, of coca plants?

MR. BOUCHER: And an understanding that there will be continued eradication in those areas as well.

Okay. Over here.

Q Richard, there have been a lot of complaints coming from -- by campesinos down in Putumayo that the spraying is not only hurting the coca crop but also just regular crops. I'm wondering, in today's discussion, whether there was any talk about how this could be avoided in the future. Any concern about that?

MR. BOUCHER: That didn't come up, and nobody said that in the meeting, one way or the other. What did come up was the fact that there are several thousand families who have accepted the alternative development schemes. And you know, I think, in our view, generally, this has not been harmful for small farmers, but rather really been targeted on large cultivation areas, and that as for small farmers, as the foreign minister said today, the government has been successful in terms of working with families, with communities, with small farmers to move them into new crops where they can prosper.

More back there?

Q (Off mike) -- the situation about the FARC, narco- trafficking, and the guy from the FARC that was arrested in Mexico recently?

MR. BOUCHER: They didn't discuss that particular situation, but once again, the general question of the links between the FARC and the narco-traffickers, and the need for the FARC to eliminate those ties, came up. And that was seen as very important to making progress and making progress in the peace process as well.

Q (Off mike) -- now, now that the general has been punished for the massacre? It is actually the first time that something like that happened with a high-ranking member of the military, but there is more to be done, according to the last report of the human rights in the State Department. So I'll guess that there is advice to do some work and not stick with just the last -- the punishment for General Uscategui?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, as I said, the secretary raised this in the meeting -- not this particular case, but said it is important to keep the focus on democracy, human rights, controlling the paramilitaries. We would certainly describe this decision yesterday as an important step, but we would also say that it's -- we do look forward to more signs in the months ahead that the government of Colombia is actively severing its links -- severing the links between paramilitary groups and the military.

Q Did the question of formal human rights certification come up in the talks? And could you kind of fill us in where that is at this point in -- through Plan Colombia?

MR. BOUCHER: No.

Q Could you fill us in where that is right now?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we dealt with that a month or two ago --

Q Yeah, I know.

MR. BOUCHER: -- and I don't think there's anything new to say at this point. I'll check in and see if there's anything new on the certification process for Colombia, but I'm not aware of anything at this stage.

Q Richard, we never quite wrapped up on Colombia. I was wondering if we could do this quick question.

MR. BOUCHER: (Off mike.)

Q Ambassador Moreno has said that in addition to the $1.3 billion we're providing under Plan Colombia that Colombia will need at least another $500 million. I'm wondering, was that discussed at all today?

MR. BOUCHER: No, not in those terms, or in specific monetary terms. The discussion centered on the desire of the United States to continue to support Plan Colombia. There was actually considerable discussion of trade and the need for the opportunity to trade and, frankly, to go forward in the whole hemisphere with the free trade agreements to provide the kind of economic opportunity that Colombia would need in the future. So the subjects of economic development, trade and support for Plan Colombia was discussed, but nothing in those kind of specific terms.

Elaine?

Q Can we move on from Colombia? I'd like to go back to the story about Ukraine. The European Union, Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh has said that they're also concerned about media freedoms, but they wouldn't consider imposing -- or, they're unlikely to consider imposing sanctions on Ukraine. I wondered if, apart from calling on Ukrainian leadership to conduct a proper inquiry into the disappearance of Georgiy Gongadze, if the United States is considering any additional ways of trying to encourage them to do so?

Q It's in Colombia again. The last agreement between President Pastrana and the FARC said that there will be an international commission on the DMZ zone next month. I wonder if the United States wants to be in that group of countries checking the peace process?

MR. BOUCHER: That wasn't discussed this morning in those terms; U.S. participation wasn't discussed this morning. I'll check and see if there's anything to say on it.