The
2003 aid request
Relevant text of the 2003
aid package legislation (the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill,
which includes most aid for Colombia and its neighbors):
On February 13, 2003,
more than four months into the federal government's fiscal year 2003,
the U.S. Congress passed the 2003 foreign aid bill. The legislation was
combined with ten other appropriations bills, containing much of the federal
budget, whose consideration had been seriously behind schedule. The procedure
allowed neither house an opportunity to debate any of its provisions -
including the Bush administration's aid request for Colombia.
Aid amounts
The administration
got most of what it asked for. The "Andean Counterdrug Initiative"
request, which contains much of the military and economic aid that Colombia
receives, was cut from $731 million to $700 million. However, the administration
can re-instate these cuts - which would be spread out among Colombia and
six of its neighbors - by taking counter-drug aid money from the budget
for non-Andean countries. In February 2003, the administration estimated
it would give Colombia $439 million from the "Andean Counterdrug
Initiative" account, $284 million of it for the military and police,
the rest economic and social assistance.
Congress allowed
the administration to provide Colombia with $93 million in Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) to help its army protect the Caño Limón-Coveñas
pipeline in the department of Arauca. Colombia would get another $1.2
million in International Military Education and Training (IMET) funding.
The "Andean
Counterdrug Initiative" aid contains several other earmarks. $5 million
must go to a Colombian military unit that would be dedicated to arresting
paramilitary leaders. $3 million will buy the Colombian police "web
monitoring software" and train them in its use. $1.5 million would
go to the Procurador human rights unit. $3.5 million would help Colombia's
National Park Service to protect natural areas.
The bill continues
language that first appeared in H.R. 4775, the 2002 emergency anti-terror
supplemental appropriation bill. For the duration of fiscal year 2003,
the bill expands the mission of all past and present counter-drug aid,
allowing it to be used in counter-insurgent (or "counter-terror")
operations.
Limitations
As in previous years,
the aid comes with restrictions. Twenty-five percent of the aid will be
held up until the Secretary of State certifies that the Colombian military
is complying with several human rights standards. This is a weakening
of human rights conditions that applied to 2002 aid, which held up all
aid until the State Department issued its certifications (which human
rights groups widely disputed).
The law also holds
up eighty percent of funding for herbicides until the State Department
certifies that aerial fumigation of drug crops is occurring within a series
of guidelines for health, environment, compensation for those unjustly
sprayed, and availability of alternative development "where security
permits." This is also a weakening of last year's conditions, which
applied to all aid (and also produced a disputed certification).
The presence of U.S.
military personnel and private contractors in Colombia is again held to
a maximum of 400 each. While the "cap" only applies to U.S.
personnel in Colombia "in support of Plan Colombia," Bush Administration
officials have pledged to respect the limit - except in special cases
like search-and-rescue missions.
Reports
No "Andean Counterdrug
Initiative" funds can be spent until the State Department and the
U.S. Agency for International Development give Congress a report on the
proposed uses of all funds "on a country-by-country basis for each
proposed program, project, or activity." This report is due by the
end of March.
The conference committee's
non-binding narrative directs the State Department to report by May 13
about changes to its procedures and operations in Colombia as a result
of the expansion in the mission of U.S. aid from counter-narcotics to
counter-terrorism.
The committee's narrative
also asks for a thorough report by May 13 on steps taken to mitigate the
health and environmental effects of herbicide fumigation.
Previous steps
The
House Appropriations Committee met
on September 5 and September 19 to "mark up" (basically, write
and approve the text of) its version of the bill, H.R. 5410.
Read relevant
text from the bill and from the committee's narrative report.
- The Committee
approved the Bush Administration's entire $731 million request for the
Andean Regional Initiative (ARI).
- The "Andean
Regional Initiative" countries sharing this outlay are Colombia,
Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
- Not all ARI
aid is military. (The administration's region-wide request was for
$440 million in military/police aid and $291 million in economic
and social aid.)
- The bill would
require the President to return to the United States any helicopter
"used to aid or abet the operations of any illegal self-defense
group or illegal security cooperative."
- The Committee
approved the administration's request for $98 million to help Colombia's
military protect the Caño Limón - Coveñas oil
pipeline.
- The Committee's
bill includes language requested by the Bush Administration that would
expand the mission of U.S. military aid beyond counternarcotics
to encompass "counter-terrorism."
- The bill includes
human rights conditions similar to those in 2002
law. The conditions specify that assistance to Colombia's armed
forces and police may be released after the Secretary of State certifies
that:
- Colombia's
armed forces are suspending members credibly alleged to have committed
gross violations of human rights, including extra-judicial killings,
or to have aided or abetted paramilitary organizations;
- The Colombian
armed forces are cooperating with civilian and judicial investigations
and prosecutions of armed forces members credibly alleged to have
committed gross violations of human rights, including extra-judicial
killings, or to have aided or abetted paramilitary organizations,
and Colombia's armed forces are cooperating with civilian prosecutors
and judicial authorities;
- Colombia's
armed forces are "taking effective measures" to severing
links at all levels with paramilitary organizations; and
- Colombia's
armed forces are "taking effective measures" to execute
orders to apprehend the leaders of paramilitary organizations.
Unlike the 2002 conditions and the Senate's version of the 2003 conditions,
which require certifications twice per year, the House conditions
would need only be invoked once each year.
At least
ten days before the certification decision is made, and every 120
days thereafter, the State Department must meet with internationally
recognized human rights organizations.
-
The House bill
does not include conditions on the aerial fumigation program, unlike
the 2002 law and the Senate's version of
the 2003 law.
- The bill preserves
"caps" on the number of U.S. military and civilian
contractor personnel who can be present in Colombia (400 of each).
The Senate Appropriations
Committee made the first move on July 16 and July 18, when it "marked
up" the foreign aid bill, S. 2779, first in subcommittee and then
in full committee.
Read relevant
text from the bill and from the committee's narrative report.
- The Committee
cut the Bush Administration's $731 million request for the Andean Regional
Initiative (ARI) back to $637 million (with an option to transfer
an additional $35 million by cutting counter-narcotics programs elsewhere
in the world).
- The "Andean
Regional Initiative" countries sharing this outlay are Colombia,
Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
- Not all ARI
aid is military. In fact, the Committee's bill would require that
$215 million of the $637 million go directly to the U.S. Agency
for International Development.
- The Committee
would require that at least $5 million from ARI and Foreign Military
Financing funds go to setting up a Colombian armed forces unit dedicated
to apprehending paramilitary leaders.
- The Committee
would require at least $2 million in ARI funds for "vehicles,
equipment, and other assistance for the human rights unit of the
Procurador General."
- The Committee
would require at least $3.5 million in ARI funds for the Colombian
National Park Service "for training, equipment, and other assistance
to protect Colombia's national parks and reserves."
- The bill would
forbid use of assistance to fund U.S. military or contract personnel
participating in combat operations.
- The bill would
require the President to return to the United States any helicopter
"used to aid or abet the operations of any illegal self-defense
group or illegal security cooperative."
The Committee's
narrative report, which accompanies the bill, is quite critical of
Plan Colombia's performance so far:
The
Committee is disappointed with the results of "Plan Colombia,"
which has fallen far short of expectations. Neither the Colombian
government nor other international donors have lived up to their financial
commitments, and the amount of coca and poppy under cultivation has
increased. In addition, peace negotiations have collapsed, the armed
conflict has intensified, and the country is preparing for a wider
war which few observers believe can be won on the battlefield. It
is estimated that one million Colombians have been displaced from
their homes. Alternative economic development programs have produced
few tangible results, and the Colombian government's role in this
effort has not inspired confidence. The Committee expects the Colombian
government to significantly improve its efforts in social and economic
development.
- The Committee
approved $88 million for the administration's proposal to help Colombia's
military protect the Caño Limón - Coveñas oil
pipeline. This was a $10 million cut from the administration's request
of $98 million. Of the $88 million, up to $71 million may pay for helicopters.
The Committee would allow the pipeline-protection money to come from
both the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program and the Andean Regional
Initiative (ARI) account.
- The Committee's
bill includes language requested by the Bush Administration that would
expand the mission of U.S. military aid beyond counternarcotics
to encompass "counter-terrorism."
- The bill includes
human rights conditions similar to those in 2002
law. The conditions specify that 60 percent of all assistance for
the year to Colombia's armed forces and police may be released after
the Secretary of State certifies that:
- Colombia's
armed forces are suspending members credibly alleged to have committed
gross violations of human rights, including extra-judicial killings,
or to have aided or abetted paramilitary organizations;
- The Colombian
Government is prosecuting and punishing armed forces members credibly
alleged to have committed gross violations of human rights, including
extra-judicial killings, or to have aided or abetted paramilitary
organizations, and Colombia's armed forces are cooperating with
civilian prosecutors and judicial authorities;
- Colombia's
armed forces are severing links at all levels with paramilitary
organizations; and
- Colombia's
armed forces are apprehending the leaders of paramilitary organizations.
The certification
must happen again after June 1, 2003, when the other 40 percent of
aid could be released. At least ten days before the certification
decision is made, and every 120 days thereafter, the State Department
must meet with internationally recognized human rights organizations.
The main difference from the 2002 conditions is that they would apply
to police aid as well as military assistance. In addition, the language
requiring "apprehending the leaders of paramilitary organizations"
is more clearly stated (current law calls for executing "outstanding
orders for capture for members of such groups").
- The bill includes
fumigation conditions similar to those in 2002
law, but tightened somewhat with a few changes. According to the
Committee's conditions, the U.S. government cannot buy chemicals, equipment
or services for coca fumigation until "the Secretary of State,
after consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency and, if appropriate, the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention," certifies that:
- aerial coca
fumigation is being carried out in accordance U.S. and Colombian
laws and regulations (including EPA regulations and the Colombian
Environmental Management Plan for aerial fumigation);
- effective
monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are being utilized in Colombia
to ensure compliance with these laws and regulations;
- the chemicals
used in the aerial fumigation of coca, in the manner in which they
are being applied, do not pose unreasonable risks or adverse effects
to humans or the environment;
- procedures
are available to evaluate local citizens' claims that their health
was harmed or their licit agricultural crops were damaged, and to
provide fair compensation for meritorious claims; and
- in departments
where fumigation is planned, the U.S. Agency for Alternative Development
and the Colombian government have developed alternative development
programs in consultation with communities and local authorities,
and that programs are being implemented in departments where coca
fumigation has been conducted.
Key differences
from the 2002 conditions include the "trigger" - the current
conditions only apply to purchases of chemicals - and the specification
that the U.S. Agency for International Development be funding alternative
development programs in areas to be sprayed. (Current law could be
interpreted, for example, as allowing spraying in areas where alternative-development
programs funded by third countries exist.)
- The bill preserves
"caps" on the number of U.S. military and civilian
contractor personnel who can be present in Colombia (400 of each).
Sources:
- Appropriations
Committee report 107-219 [Plain
text | Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
format]
- S.2779,
as placed on calendar in the Senate
- Appropriations
Committee press
release, July 18, 2002
The Bush Adminstration's
request, submitted February 4, 2002:
Overall numbers
The Foreign Operations
appropriation request, which includes the vast majority of aid for the
region, would provide Colombia with about $374 million in military aid
and $164 million in social and economic aid. (The Defense budget appropriation,
which includes additional counter-drug aid, does not estimate how much
aid each country would get. In 2001, however, Colombia's military and
police got an additional $154 million through the defense budget, according
to a February 2002 communication from the Defense Department.)
69.5 percent of
the Foreign Operations request is military and police assistance; if Colombia
gets defense-budget aid similar to an average of 1999-2001 levels, the
2003 request from all sources would be 75.1 percent military and
police assistance.
|
Program
|
Military
/ Police Aid
|
Economic
/ Social Aid
|
International
Narcotics Control (INC
- Andean Regional Initiative)
|
$275,000,000
|
$164,000,000
|
Foreign
Military Financing (FMF)
|
$98,000,000
|
-
|
International
Military Education and Training (IMET)
|
$1,180,000
|
-
|
|
Foreign
Operations Budget Request Total
|
$374,180,000
|
$164,000,000
|
Defense-Budget
Counternarcotics Aid (Known as "Section
1004" and "Section
1033"), estimated by averaging 1999-2001 levels
|
$119,720,000
|
-
|
|
Estimated
Overall 2003 Total
|
$493,900,000
|
$164,000,000
|
|
Troop
cap "loophole": The original 2000 "Plan Colombia"
aid package law included a provision limiting
the U.S. presence in Colombia to a maximum of 500 military personnel
and 300 contractors (the 2002 foreign aid law changed the figures
to 400 and 400).
The
law specified, however, that the cap only applied to US personnel
in Colombia "in support of Plan Colombia." It defined
"Plan Colombia" as "the plan of the Government of
Colombia instituted by the administration of President Pastrana
to combat drug production and trafficking, foster peace, increase
the rule of law, improve human rights, expand economic development,
and institute justice reform."
Since
some activities now being proposed, such as pipeline protection,
do not fit within the definition of the original "Plan Colombia,"
the troop cap technically does not apply to them.
During
the House Armed Services Committee's May 1 debate of the 2003 National
Defense Authorization Act, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Mississippi) proposed
an amendment to implement a more comprehensive 500-person military
cap. It was approved, but severely weakened by a provision allowing
the Secretary of Defense to waive it.
|
Foreign Military Financing
For the first time
since the Cold War, Colombia may get a significant amount of non-drug
military assistance. The Bush administration has signaled a willingness
to cross the "invisible line" between counter-narcotics and
counter-insurgency, providing aid that would target Colombian armed groups
without regard to drug activity.
The Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) program
-- used in recent years mostly to provide grant military aid to the Middle
East -- would provide Colombia with $98 million in 2003. This money would
help Colombia's army establish (or re-train) a new brigade to protect
economic infrastructure. According to press reports, the brigade will
be supplied with about twelve UH-1 "Huey" utility helicopters.
In particular, the
FMF-aided unit would be charged with protecting the Caño Limón-Coveñas
pipeline, which runs from Arauca department to Sucre department in northeastern
Colombia. Much oil in this pipeline belongs to Los Angeles-based Occidental
Petroleum. The pipeline was attacked by Colombian guerrillas 166 times
in 2001.
In a February 4,
briefing, State Department Western Hemisphere official Curt Struble sought
to downplay the shift in emphasis away from counternarcotics, noting that
"We have, for example, through our anti-terrorism assistance program
assistance that goes to both the Colombian police and the Colombian armed
forces directed against kidnapping." Yet the Anti-Terrorism Assistance
(ATA) program to which
Mr. Struble refers has provided Colombia with $1 million or less per year,
all of it training.
The
Andean Regional Initiative request
The aid request would
provide Colombia and its neighbors with an additional $731 million in
International Narcotics Control (INC)
assistance, both military/police and economic.
|
Country
|
Military
/ Police
|
Economic
/ Social
|
Total
|
|
Colombia
|
$275,000,000
|
$164,000,000
|
$439,000,000
|
|
Peru
|
$66,000,000
|
$69,000,000
|
$135,000,000
|
|
Bolivia
|
$49,000,000
|
$42,000,000
|
$91,000,000
|
|
Ecuador
|
$21,000,000
|
$16,000,000
|
$37,000,000
|
|
Brazil
|
$12,000,000
|
-
|
$12,000,000
|
|
Venezuela
|
$8,000,000
|
-
|
$8,000,000
|
|
Panama
|
$9,000,000
|
-
|
$9,000,000
|
|
Total
|
$440,000,000
|
$291,000,000
|
$731,000,000
|
The
outlay of $275 million for Colombia's military and police would include
funding to establish a second counternarcotics brigade, in addition
to the Putumayo-based unit created with funds from the 2000-2001 "Plan
Colombia" aid package. This new brigade may be based in the eastern
departments of Guainía and Vichada, though this information is
still not completely certain.
Human
rights certification
Colombia's security
forces cannot receive any assistance until the State Department certifies
that they meet three human rights conditions (described in point 10 of
CIP's annotated explanation
of the 2002 Foreign Operations law). In late February, the State Department
is expected to announce its decision.
On February 5, 2002,
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Washington Office on
Latin America released a document
with extensive evidence proving that Colombia's security forces meet
none of the conditions in the law.
Source
documents
|
