Clinton Spares Colombia From Sanctions Despite Drug Links : Narcotics: President tells Congress that national interest requires waiver. Republicans call for penalties.

President Clinton on Wednesday spared Colombia from American sanctions against governments implicated in narcotics trade, despite what officials called “pervasive corruption” of the South American nation’s political and judicial systems by cocaine cartels.

In his annual report to Congress, Clinton said Colombia’s anti-drug effort fell far short of what is required, but he waived economic penalties set by American law because he concluded that it is in the U.S. national interest to continue normal dealings with the country--including flawed but better-than-nothing cooperation against drug traffickers.

Overall, Clinton certified that the governments in 18 of the world’s 29 narcotics-producing or -transporting countries have “cooperated fully” with international anti-narcotics efforts. At the other end of the scale, he imposed sanctions on five countries, denying them American foreign aid and export-import bank credits and requiring Washington to veto loans to them from the World Bank and other international lending institutions.

In a middle group were six countries in which anti-narcotics efforts were found to be inadequate but from which the Administration decided to withhold penalties. Besides Colombia, the waivers were granted to Bolivia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Paraguay and Peru.

Most American aid to Colombia and to the coca-producing countries Bolivia and Peru is in the form of assistance to anti-narcotics programs. So if the Administration imposed sanctions specified by U.S. law, the result would be to further damage already crippled law-enforcement programs.

Sanctions were ordered for Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iran, Nigeria and Syria. Of those five countries, Iran and Syria are also on the State Department list of countries that support international terrorism--a list that imposes the same sanctions required by the drug law.

All three lists were little changed from a year ago.

Robert Gelbard, assistant secretary of state for narcotics and law enforcement, was unstinting in his criticism of Colombia, although he said Washington cannot simply walk away from the pivotal country in the Administration’s Western Hemisphere narcotics-control strategy. Besides dominating 80% of the cocaine market, traffickers in Colombia reportedly control about 12% of the heroin smuggled into the United States.

On Capitol Hill, Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called on Clinton to impose sanctions on Colombia. Gelbard said the President determined that such a step would be counterproductive.

“We are seriously concerned that there have been no major drug prosecutions in Colombia,” Gelbard said. Even when drug figures are prosecuted, he added, the courts let them off with a “slap on the wrist.”

“We are hopeful that in 1995 we will see better performance by Colombia,” he said.

At the same time, Gelbard said, the U.S. government is aware of reports that Colombian President Ernesto Samper has close links to the Cali cocaine cartel. He said that Samper recently apologized to the cartel because police interrupted the birthday party of a cocaine figure. Gelbard said Samper’s action provoked “our very great concern.”

He said that American officials have discussed the issue with senior members of the Samper government in recent weeks.

In Bogota, the Colombian capital, Samper’s government issued a statement lamenting Clinton’s criticisms and once again urging consumer nations like the United States to do their fair share.

“The Colombian government regrets the decision adopted by the U.S. government in giving (Colombia) a certification for reasons of national interest,” said the statement, read over national radio. “It ignores the magnitude of the nation’s efforts in the war against drug trafficking, with a high cost in human life and economic resources.”

Times special correspondent Steven Ambrus in Bogota contributed to this report.