MEMORANDUM

April 7, 2006

To: Interested Colleagues
From: Adam Isacson, Center for International Policy
Re: Response to Rep. Crowley's April 6 Colombia Memorandum

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"I look forward to an honest discussion later this year when Congress debates the reauthorization of Plan Colombia," reads an April 6 memo to colleagues from Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-New York). (This memo's text is at the end of this message.). "But all sides must avoid using misleading claims when discussing this important initiative."

Yet Rep. Crowley's memorandum itself contains misleading claims.

 

MISLEADING CLAIM: "Last year, 1 journalist was killed in Colombia and 21 since 2002 according to the State Department. ... The situation in Colombia for journalists has vastly improved over the past four years."

FACT: According to the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), three Colombian journalists were murdered in 2005. That is just below Colombia's average of four murdered journalists per year since 1993.

FACT: In a March report, the IAPA also notes "an escalating wave of threats and attacks" against media targets during the previous six months. "Thirty journalists from different parts of the country reported receiving death threats" during that period. "In just the first two months this year, five journalists were forced to flee their provinces resulting in an adverse affect on reporting, and there has been an increase in self-censorship in local media." Self-censorship is a major concern; there are numerous topics that Colombian reporters can touch only at great personal risk.

FACT: The IAPA also notes that those who murder journalists are rarely punished, and this situation of impunity has not improved at all. A recent IAPA resolution contends "that 34 percent of the cases of murder between 1993 and 2005 involving 55 journalists killed as a result of their profession remain in the same stage of the initial gathering of evidence—in some cases for almost 10 years—and that some cases have merely been filed away or put on hold in a clear demonstration of impunity."

To characterize Colombian reporters' situation as "vastly improved" is to commit a misrepresentation of stunning proportions.

 

MISLEADING CLAIM: "Plan Colombia has made measurable progress in Colombia's security, as seen through decreases in violence, murders and kidnappings as well as the eradication of drug crops."

FACT: Plan Colombia does not get credit for recent reductions in some of Colombia's violence statistics. U.S. assistance under Plan Colombia has been focused almost entirely on counter-narcotics, the protection of an oil pipeline, and a military offensive in a remote jungle region that, after two years, has shown mixed results at best. Only a slim trickle of aid has gone to anything that could be construed as "decreasing violence, murders and kidnappings" against Colombian citizens. The Colombian government's own security expenditure - which is over seven times larger than the United States' mostly counter-drug military-aid contribution - gets much more of the credit for any recent reductions in violence.

Official coca cultivation data for the Andes since 1988

FACT: Drug crops have been eradicated in Colombia, but hardly reduced. The State Department's own data show that in 1999, the year before Plan Colombia began, 122,500 hectares of coca were grown in Colombia. By the end of 2004 - after five years, $3.2 billion spent, and 524,000 hectares sprayed with herbicides - Colombia had 114,000 hectares: a reduction of only 8,500 hectares or 7 percent. Record levels of eradication in 2004 failed to reduce coca-growing in Colombia by one square inch, and, while data for 2005 are still unavailable, several sources indicate that cultivation probably increased last year. Meanwhile, coca cultivation last year increased by 8 percent in Bolivia and 42 percent in Peru.

FACT: Regions of Colombia where U.S. military assistance has been most focused have seen a sharp increase in guerrilla violence in the past year. Most U.S. effort has been expended in the guerrilla-dominated, drug-producing departments of Putumayo, Arauca, Caquetá and Guaviare, where the situation today is at least as dire as it was when Plan Colombia began. In these zones, the FARC has faced few obstacles in carrying out a bloody campaign of attacks on military and civilian targets, sabotage, threats against local officials and - for more than two months in some areas - outright bans on vehicle travel. In priority areas for the United States' mostly counter-drug aid, the security situation has grown more serious.

 

We too hope for an honest discussion when Congress debates assistance to Colombia, without misleading claims. However, we must take issue with Rep. Crowley's estimation of Plan Colombia, a program that has fallen far short of its initial goals.

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April 6, 2006

Reject Misleading Facts and Stereotypes about Colombia

They are Winning their War on Terror and Keeping their People Safe

Dear Colleague:

Recently, a Dear Colleague letter was distributed highlighting a press report of the death of a journalist in Colombia. While the death of any journalist is tragic, that Dear Colleague presented an inaccurate picture of the dangers facing journalists in Colombia, feeding negative stereotypes about that Andean nation.

MISLEADING CLAIM: Colombia is the second most dangerous country for journalists, after Iraq, with 55 reporters murdered since 1993.

FACT: Last year, 1 journalist was killed in Colombia and 21 since 2002 according to the State Department. While sad, this death toll has steadily decreased every year since that time. While still too high, the facts prove that the democratically-elected government of President Alvaro Uribe is fighting a winning battle against terrorism in Colombia, making his country safer for all of its citizens.

FACT: In 2000, the Colombian government created the Journalists Protection Program to protect journalists from attack. During 2005, the Direction of Human Rights of the Ministry of Interior and Justice provided direct protection to 113 journalists.

FACT: The situation in Colombia for journalists has vastly improved over the past four years. This success is owed both to the security initiatives implemented by their democratically-elected President, as well as the support provided by the United States under Plan Colombia.

Plan Colombia has been a foreign policy success for the USA and a domestic security success for Colombia. Started by President Clinton and continued by President Bush, Plan Colombia has made measurable progress in Colombia's security, as seen through decreases in violence, murders and kidnappings as well as the eradication of drug crops.

I look forward to an honest discussion later this year when Congress debates the reauthorization of Plan Colombia, but all sides must avoid using misleading claims when discussing this important initiative. The facts prove that Plan Colombia has been a success for the USA and Colombia.

Sincerely,

/s/

Joseph Crowley

Member of Congress