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FALL, 2001: Volume 6, Issue 3 U.S.
Military Aid To The Andes Makes its Way Through U.S. Congress by
Catherine Stratton Treadway, Friends Committee on National Legislation
U.S. military and security assistance to Colombia and the Andean region,
intended to fight a war against illegal drugs, is instead adding more
fuel to the fire of a decades-old civil war in Colombia. The violence
in the region has escalated along with the increasing flow of weapons
and military training to the region. Thousands of civilians are dying
in the cross fire each year many of them community leaders and activists
who are targeted for assassination. The U.S.-sponsored cocaine fumigation
campaign has left people ill, food and alternative cash crops wilted,
drinking water supplies contaminated, and aquatic life destroyed. Millions
have been driven from their homes by the violence, fumigation campaign,
and resulting poverty.
In late March, the Bush Administration announced an $800 million request
for fiscal year (FY) 2002 for “Andean Regional Initiative” (ARI) to
continue funding counter-drug efforts in Colombia (known in previous
years as Plan Colombia) and to expand such aid to Colombia’s Andean
neighbors. Much of this aid is in the form of military and security
assistance. Colombia would receive the largest portion of the military
aid—over half. Colombia’s neighbors—Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela,
Brazil, and Panama—would receive significant increases in military aid
over previous years. This package is being considered by the U.S. Congress
as part of the regular FY2002 foreign operations appropriations bill.
Additional aid to the region—about $200 million—would be delivered through
defense department counter-narcotics accounts.
In late July, the House debated and voted on the foreign operations
appropriations bill. Reps. McGovern (MA), Hoekstra (MI), Pelosi (CA),
Morella (MD), and Jackson-Lee (TX) offered an amendment to cut $100
million in military aid to Colombia and transfer it to international
programs to fight tuberculosis and support maternal and child health.
Despite a good debate, the amendment was defeated 179-249. An amendment
offered by Rep. Conyers (MI) to end funding for the fumigation campaign
was eventually withdrawn without a vote. In spite of the failure of
the U.S. House to pass these amendments, many representatives were openly
critical of current U.S. drug policy and escalating U.S. military involvement
in the Andean region. This was the first public debate in the U.S. Congress
about the human and environmental impact of the U.S.-funded fumigation.
An amendment offered by Rep. Conyers to maintain the limit on U.S.
troops and civilian contractors in Colombia to a total of 800 people,
a cap the administration had sought to remove, was accepted on a voice
vote.
That same week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved their
version of the foreign operations appropriations bill. Their version
currently provides only $567 million to Colombia and surrounding countries
(a decrease from the administration’s original request), includes some
human rights conditions, emphasizes the importance of alternative development
funding, and encourages compensation for farmers whose legal crops are
fumigated or who suffer health damages due to aerial fumigation. Nonetheless,
the Senate Appropriations Committee bill maintains support for forced
aerial fumigation of coca and poppy fields and includes large-scale
funding of the Colombian military. The full Senate will debate and vote
on the bill after they return from Labor Day recess in September.
The Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobby in the
public interest, works in coalition with like-minded groups to oppose
current U.S. policy towards Colombia. We believe that the emphasis of
U.S. drug policy should be on reducing demand in the U.S. through expanded
prevention and treatment programs and through programs that increase
economic and educational opportunities in U.S. communities beset by
drug addiction and drug-related violence and crimes. We urge members
of Congress 1) to oppose continued military and security assistance
to Colombia and the Andean region and for the fumigation campaign, and
2) to support increasing U.S. assistance to the region for sustainable,
community-based, economic development and for the strengthening of democratic
and civil society institutions.
We urge you to contact your senators with this message between now
and the Senate vote in September. Also, please thank your representative
if s/he voted in favor of the McGovern amendment to cut military aid
to Colombia and transfer it to global health accounts.
Check here to see how your member voted: http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2001&rollnumber=263
See the FCNL website for more information: http://www.fcnl.org/issues/int/colindx.htm
Write a letter to your senator from the Legislative Action Center on
the FCNL website: An extensive list of peace team groups working in Colombia, information
sources, and US and Colombian officials’ contact information is available
at Resources/Contacts
for Colombia or by mail if you send a SASE to FPT, PO
Box 10372, San Antonio TX 78210-0372.
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