U.S. Anti-Drug Czar To Visit Colombia
M I A M I, Aug. 9 -- U.S. anti-drug aid will help Colombian forces establish security, but American forces will steer clear of direct involvement in the fight against drug cartels and rebels, U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey said today.
McCaffrey, on his way to Cartagena for a meeting with President Andres Pastrana on implementing Colombia’s $7.5 billion drug war, reiterated the U.S. commitment to support Colombia’s drug fight.
The United States in July pledged a record $1.3 billion to help Colombia. The package includes 60 helicopters — 18 sophisticated Black Hawks and 42 Hueys — to deploy U.S.-trained army battalions against traffickers and rebels protecting drug plantations in southern Colombia.
“I think we’re giving the police and the armed forces the ability to establish security on the ground,” he told reporters at a news conference in Miami.
“There is zero probability of the U.S. armed forces being drawn into the internal conflict in Colombia,” he added.
Clinton to Visit
McCaffrey, accompanied by U.S. Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering and Gen. Charles Wilhelm, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, will spend about a day in Colombia.
To underscore Washington’s commitment to the drug war, President Bill Clinton is scheduled to visit Colombia later this month. Due to security concerns about spending a night in Colombia, he will fly back to Washington the same day, Aug. 30.
Colombia’s powerful Marxist rebels, some 26,000 strong, control up to 50 percent of the country. They have condemned the Washington package as counterinsurgency aid disguised as anti-drug aid. Critics have said the aid will take Washington deeper into a Vietnam-style expeditionary war.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s biggest rebel army, accused the United States of providing Colombia with resources for war and called on Clinton to respect Colombia’s national sovereignty.
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