A Rescue Plan for Colombia

Last year, Colombian President Andres Pastrana traveled to Washington to seek a better relationship between his country and the United States. Under his predecessor, Ernesto Samper, relations were painfully strained, largely because of the issue of drugs. Illegal Colombian drugs flowing into the United States had forced Washington to focus tightly on stopping the problem, leaving almost all other matters on hold. That approach of course proved ineffective.

When Pastrana presented proposals for positive change in Colombia, the Clinton administration was receptive. Back in Bogota, he pressed a plan calling for a close partnership among Bogota and Washington, the European Union and multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank.

This so-called Plan Colombia seeks a negotiated peace with leftist guerrillas who have been fighting the government for more than three decades. It also includes a counter-narcotics strategy that requires a closer partnership between producer and consumer nations. And it embraces an economic strategy that creates jobs and expands trade as alternatives to drug trafficking.

A much-needed restructuring and modernization of Colombia’s armed forces and national police also top the list, along with a series of social programs to foster democratic institutions.

Pastrana’s plan would require at least $7.5 billion. Colombia promises to contribute some $4 billion from its depleted treasury. An additional $700 million has been pledged by the World Bank. The rest should come from the United States and the European Union, whose societies have been damaged by cocaine from South America and elsewhere.

Pastrana’s government should run the program. America and Europe can help, but Colombians have to restore their national dignity through their own efforts. At this early stage, Washington should clearly state what it will not do. Any thought of U.S. military intervention in Colombia is out of the question.

In addition, assistance to the Colombian armed forces must emphasize respect for human rights. And any links between Colombia’s armed forces and right-wing paramilitary groups in that country must be severed.

Washington should harbor no illusion that an infusion of money will effect dramatic change. Colombia has been at war with itself for the better part of this century, and drugs and drug money are only the latest in a string of complex problems. But Pastrana’s plan deserves careful consideration in Congress and the White House. If it fails, there is no Colombian who can step into his shoes and the South American country will lose a crucial opportunity to restore its nationhood.