Press Briefing by Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, September 6, 2000

Press Briefing by Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, September 6, 2000

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Pickering

Opening Remarks

Colombia Media Seminar

The State Department

September 6, 2000

Thank you for taking time from your busy schedules to join us this morning. Colombia has been in the news a lot lately. It's a story that will not disappear anytime soon. What we are hoping to do today is to give you some context and texture to the situation in Colombia and to shed light on what we in the U.S. government are doing.

Before we get too far into our briefings, I'd like to dispel a misperception about the name "Plan Colombia." Many of us, including many within the U.S. government, have taken to referring to our $1.3 billion aid package to Colombia as Plan Colombia.

That is a misnomer. "Plan Colombia" is the $7.5 billion comprehensive package put together last year by the Colombian government. Our $1.3 billion contribution to Plan Colombia is significant, but the Colombians, themselves, have committed to spending $4.5 billion of the funds required. That's a serious contribution for a country that has been going through a recession so severe that last year its economy shrank by 5 percent and unemployment reached 20 percent. The IFI's [international financial institutions] have also contributed more than one billion dollars and more is expected. Similarly, a number of European states and Japan have made important contributions and more is expected.

The overall situation in Colombia is difficult. Imagine working in an environment where journalists are a constant target. Imagine living in Washington and being unable to drive to the Maryland shore for fear of being kidnapped by criminals or guerrillas, and imagine a 40-year insurgency taking place not far from the nation's capital being led by extremist groups on the right and left that have virtually no support among the bulk of the country's people and are financed by drug trafficking.

This is the reality in today's Colombia. Moreover, all of these problems create a vicious circle. The poor economy leads to high unemployment and creates a ready pool of discontented individuals for guerrillas, drug lords and paramilitaries to recruit from, while the violence associated with the insurgents and paramilitaries -- essentially, the absence of peace -- decreases investor confidence, worsening the economy. Narcotics trafficking feeds the coffers of the guerrillas and paramilitaries, strengthening them in their assault on the democratic institutions.

The only permanent solution is a permanent peace. The U.S. government fully supports the peace process. We agree with President Pastrana's assessment that a solution to the country's civil conflict is essential to the solution of all the other problems facing Colombia.

The U.S. government has made an extraordinary commitment to help Colombia in this time of crisis. Our aid package is comprehensive in scope. Not only does it help Colombia deal with the threat of narcotics trafficking and the armed guerrillas and paramilitaries who protect and profit from the trafficking, it also includes substantial funding for alternative development assistance and voluntary eradication of illicit crops, topics you will hear more about later this morning. But there is a great deal more. It also provides significant assistance for internally displaced persons, for environmental protection programs, resources for local governance and improvement of governing capacity, and programs to help improve the administration of justice and, very importantly, to protect human rights.

We believe respect for human rights is as centrally vital and important to the people of Colombia as it is for the people of the United States. Colombia, under President Pastrana, has made important strides in this regard, but a lot more remains to be done. There can be no tolerance for those who violate human rights or who collaborate with or condone such violations. The Pastrana Administration has taken a number of important measures to improve the human rights situation and here the certification process can help and is working hard to move the peace process forward. That process offers the greatest hope of eliminating for good human rights violations in the long run.

I would also emphasize that all U.S. assistance to Colombian military and police forces is provided strictly in accordance with Section 564 of the FY 2000 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act -- the so-called Leahy Amendment. No assistance is provided to any unit of the security forces for which we have credible evidence of the commission of gross violations of human rights. We are firmly committed to the Leahy Amendment. We have a rigorous process in place to screen those units being considered for assistance.

One of the major reasons we have focused so much attention on Colombia of late is our awareness of the potential threat Colombia's problems pose throughout the region. Success in lowering by 60 percent cocaine production in Peru and Bolivia has its lessons for Colombia. The first is that these programs can work. The second is that success in one place tends to shift the focus to other countries, just as success in Colombia could shift the focus of production deeper into the jungle in Colombia and clearly beyond.

Also, Colombia's insurgency significantly threatens violence and instability in the border regions of its immediate neighbors, such as the Darien region of Panama, northern Ecuador and western Venezuela. Moreover, the recent increase of narcotics cultivation and trafficking in Colombia, related to guerrilla and paramilitary control in southern Colombia, is a far greater threat to the entire region than somewhat misplaced fears that Colombian violence would spill over the border. The truth is, if we don't deal with it, it is certain to expand and spill over the border. If all of us in the region and beyond do deal with it, we can get a leg up on the regionalization of trafficking. The contamination of drug abuse and narcotics trafficking, with their attendant violence and corruption, has posed and now poses a threat to virtually every nation in the region from Mexico to Argentina and throughout the Caribbean. For this reason, in our support for Plan Colombia, we now -- and will, in the coming years -- direct significant funds from our support package to help Colombia's neighbors, as we seek to stem cultivation and trafficking throughout the region. If last year the focus was on support for Colombia, this year it needs to be also on the [surrounding] region.

In that regard, we regularly consult at every level with our neighbors throughout the region on counternarcotics and security matters related to the situation in Colombia and have sought their support for President Pastrana's peace process. I note that in addition to President Clinton's trip to Colombia last week, Secretary [of State] Albright visited five countries in the region just three weeks ago. Increasingly, our regional partners recognize that the crisis in Colombia represents an Andean and even a hemispheric problem in which they have a direct and immediate stake. They said so clearly in their statement issued in Brazil last week at the end of the South American Presidents' summit.

Finally, let me emphasize that the United States does not provide counterinsurgency support to the Government of Colombia.

This is not another Vietnam. As President Clinton has stated clearly, our policy in Colombia is to support President Pastrana's efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the country's longstanding civil conflict and to work with the Colombians -- along with our regional partners -- on fighting illicit drugs and restoring civil society. No U.S. soldiers are being sent into combat. That, the Colombians can and must do, with our training and equipment. The military aspects of our effort to combat drugs will more than absorb the military support we are providing for the forseeable future.

I will be back at the end of this morning's briefings to discuss any final questions you might have. I hope you find these sessions informative and useful. Thank you.

As of September 11, 2000, this document was also available online at http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/geog/ar&f=00090603.lar&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml