Colombia Gets 1st Shipment of U.S. Drug Aid

Two U.S. C-130 cargo planes arrived here Sunday as part of the first shipments of a $65-million emergency aid package of military aircraft and weapons to help Colombia fight its war against powerful cocaine barons.

Also Sunday, President Virgilo Barco Vargas fired the chief of the anti-drug effort in Medellin, the headquarters for many of Colombia’s drug traffickers.

The government gave no reason for removing police Col. Antonio Sanchez as chief of a special 4,000-member anti-drug unit. But a source at national police headquarters in Bogota, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was ousted for dealing with drug traffickers.

Sanchez was the third colonel fired from the national police in a crackdown on corruption that began in January. He was replaced by Col. Humberto Canero Maldonado.

Meanwhile, police in Medellin said they deactivated a bomb placed beneath a bridge Sunday, while bomb blasts were reported in two other cities.

The radio news network Caracol said one of the bomb blasts demolished an airplane that may have belonged to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in the city of Monteria, 285 miles northwest of Bogota. It said the plane made an emergency landing two days ago at the airport and was undergoing repairs.

The report said a second bomb exploded in an apartment building in the city of Barranquilla, 420 miles north of the capital.

No casualties were reported in either explosion, the broadcast said. The radio report could not immediately be confirmed.

The two green and gray camouflaged C-130s were handed over to the Colombian military during a brief ceremony at Catam air force base, on the outskirts of the capital.

The U.S. Embassy said the two planes contained spare parts for A-37 jets that will be delivered today as part of the aid package announced by President Bush on Aug. 25.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas McNamara, on hand to welcome the transports, said the big planes “are in excellent condition and should serve the Colombian armed forces for many years.”

Soldiers Stand Guard

As he spoke, thousands of soldiers stood guard some 50 yards apart in pastures on three sides of the airport. Security was also extremely heavy at the civil aviation airport on the fourth side, and cars were halted by roadblocks about half a mile from the area.

The commander of Colombia’s air force, Gen. Alfonso Amaya Maldonado, said the C-130s “will be used in the fight in which we are engaged . . . to re-establish order.”

The C-130s can take off and land on 3,000-foot runways, even those with no paving, and presumably could be used in raids on remote coca-leaf plantations and clandestine cocaine-refining laboratories.

Also on their way to this South American country, according to the Pentagon, are five UH-1H transport helicopters and eight A-37 reconnaissance jets. The A-37s can be outfitted with machine guns and rockets.

The United States also has promised to provide Colombia with rifles, pistols, machine guns, rockets and grenades--even bulletproof vests for officials and judges who prosecute drug traffickers.

U.S. officials said 10 soldiers based in Panama arrived Friday in Colombia to arrange the unloading of equipment.

Additional U.S. military personnel are expected to train Colombians in the use and maintenance of the equipment.

Barco Views Bomb Damage

President Barco, who has vowed not to back down from the cocaine bosses, Sunday took a helicopter flight over the wreckage of the Bogota newspaper El Espectador, which was bombed Saturday by drug-cartel terrorists. One person was killed and 83 were injured in the blast.

The newspaper came out Sunday with a smaller edition that maintained its hard line against the drug barons.

“We will continue moving forward!” the front page proclaimed in Spanish. “In its 102 years, El Espectador has always gone ahead, overcoming all adversities,” said the paper, whose publisher was assassinated in 1986 by drug traffickers.

Several Bogota newspaper editorials on Sunday called on Colombia’s Congress to make permanent the special anti-drug measures decreed Aug. 18 by Barco, which provide for the extradition of drug traffickers and the confiscation of their property.

Colombia’s Supreme Court has until the end of September to determine whether these measures are constitutional. If the court says no, the government might have to release suspects being held for possible delivery to the United States to face drug charges there.

Authorities also could be forced to return some $200 million worth of villas, airplanes, cars, yachts, motorcycles and weapons summarily seized from alleged traffickers.

In a related development, newspapers reported Sunday that the government has eliminated a surtax, ranging up to the equivalent of $5 a month, for unlisted phone numbers.

Bogota’s largest newspaper, El Tiempo, said, “Due to the lack of security in our country, many telephone customers prefer to keep their names out of the phone book.” The paper said there are about 5,000 unlisted numbers in this capital of 6 million.

FINANCING THE DRUG FIGHT

Details of President Bush’s $65-million aid package to Colombia:

EQUIPMENT--Two C-130 transport planes, five UH-1H transport helicopters, eight A-37 reconnaissance and attack jets and an unspecified number of trucks, small boats, radios, grenade launchers, machine guns, rifles, pistols and other equipment. Also bulletproof vests for Colombian judges and other officials threatened by drug traffickers.

U.S. PERSONNEL--About 100, although not necessarily all at the same time, according to the Pentagon.

DELIVERY--The C-130s arrived Sunday, carrying some of the smaller items in the package. The A-37s are due today and the helicopters Tuesday. No schedule was announced for completing the delivery.

Source: Associated Press