Excerpts from State Department Daily Briefing, October 1, 2001

Excerpt from State Department Daily Briefing, October 1, 2001

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC
October 1, 2001

Q On Colombia. Richard, do you have any -- I have two questions. First, a reaction to the assassination of the former Cultural minister of Colombia. And in that matter, the FARC as a terrorist group, what kind of cooperation are you giving to the government of Pastrana right now in this situation, taking the fact that in the past you mentioned that the FARC have some connections or links to another terrorist groups outside Latin America?

And my second question is, since the invocation of the Rio Treaty, what specific cooperation are you receiving from the Latin American countries? Or it was just a political statement?

MR. BOUCHER: First of all, on the murder of the former Colombian culture minister, I would say we're deeply saddened. We're outraged to learn of this cold-blooded murder by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC. Ms. Araujo was -- had been kidnapped on September 24th.

Her body was discovered by Colombian authorities late September 30th. We extend our condolences to her family and to her husband, the attorney general, and to the -- as I said, to their family.

On September 30th the FARC forcibly denied entry to the demilitarized zone to several thousand peaceful marchers that were led by a presidential candidate, Horacio Serpa. This action and the murder of Ms. Araujo highlight the FARC's brutality and the indifference to those courageous Colombians who seek a negotiated resolution to Colombia's long-standing internal conflict.

We'll have a statement to that effect to put out for you shortly after the briefing.

Q But you didn't answer my question.

MR. BOUCHER: I know; I'm bad at three-part questions. I generally choose the one I feel like answering and dispense with the others. Did you have some more?

Q Well, you don't have anything to say about the cooperation or the links between -- that you mentioned before, months ago, about FARC and a terrorist group outside Latin America?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any new information on the reports that there were links between the IRA and the FARC. Clearly, there are investigations going on in Colombia and elsewhere, and if we have any information to share, I'm sure we'd be glad to share.

As far as our cooperation with the government, we cooperate with the government of President Pastrana in many ways. And I think I'd just have to leave it at that. We've supported his efforts to try to bring peace to his country, and we'll continue to support his efforts.

Q And on Latin America --

MR. BOUCHER: On Latin America -- there's quite a few things that have been done around the world, and including in Latin America. On the financial side, for example, in Argentina, in Bahamas, in Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Uruguay, Venezuela, you've all seen -- in each of those places you've seen financial steps being taken, circulars being issued, investigations being carried out of financial matters. We've also had a great deal of information sharing with countries in Latin America.

So I think the cooperation in that part of the world has been excellent.

Q Richard, your answer on Plan Colombia was kind of intriguing, especially if you compare it to the fact that you're so -- you're tiptoeing completely around the same kind of peace initiative in Afghanistan. Do you -- is there a -- do you foresee a time when the United States is going to come down and --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think anybody's proposed a Loi Jirga for Colombia. We support the president of Colombia, who was elected by the people of Colombia, democratically. And we support him in his efforts to bring peace to his country.

Q Do you foresee a time when the United States will decide that one way or another to get a broad representative government in Afghanistan would be appropriate, or more appropriate than another?

MR. BOUCHER: It may be that this is the appropriate way. I think our point is that we're not trying to choose the government, we're not trying to specify how it has to be done. If the different people involved in the situation decide to do something, I'm sure that would be something we would support.

Okay, let's go back here.

Q President Pastrana has to decide this week if he renews the "zona de despeje" or not. Do you have something to say about that? Would you support it?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, we've said before, we're leaving the decision up to him.

Q Okay. And the other one is, how do you consider the guerrillas and the paramilitaries in Colombia in your global fight against terrorism?

MR. BOUCHER: We've listed both the -- well, three, the FARC, the ELN and the AUC, all as foreign terrorist organizations.

Q You say you support the peace efforts of Pastrana in Colombia, but at the same time, there's the message that no sanctuaries will be permitted for terrorism in the world, or, I mean, that's the concept. Isn't the demilitarized zone being used as a sanctuary for terrorism to establish links with other terrorist groups in the world and being handled by a terrorist group according to the United States?

MR. BOUCHER: I think those are all questions that President Pastrana will consider as he makes this decision.

Q Just a follow-up question. On the DMZ zone, is the United States -- isn't the United States underestimating the potential of the terror groups in Colombia, like the FARC, ELN, the AUC, with the connections that we just knew, we just learned about with the IRA and probably other groups that we still don't know? Isn't the U.S. underestimating the potential damage that they could have in the United States, realizing that a group from the other side of the world came to our country here and attacked us in our own land, being this in our own hemisphere?

MR. BOUCHER: I think the simple answer is no. We're quite aware of the capability of these groups. We're quite aware of the danger in these groups. And that is why we have moved against them in any number of ways, including by designating them as foreign terrorist organizations.

Q Since the operative phrase in President Bush's speech was "terrorist organizations of global reach," is the State Department considering redefining how it creates its lists, and the next time it puts out a list, identifying those groups that do in fact have global reach; not just foreign terrorist organizations, but those that fit the definition that the president himself made?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I'll take that suggestion on board.