Failed Colombia Policy Up for Renewal
by Jennifer Trowbridge
Latin America Working Group June 10, 2005: Plan Colombia is set to expire at the end of this year. Originally
a six-year U.S. aid package - approved by Congress in 2000 - to reduce production
of drugs and to improve the rule of law in Colombia, the plan has achieved none
of its goals, despite spending $4 billion on mostly military aid to this Andean
nation amidst its decades-old civil conflict.
The military focus of the assistance is especially troubling, as 80 percent
of the aid has gone to Colombian security forces, implicated in numerous human
rights violations.
Congress will debate and vote on renewing Plan Colombia at the end of June.
You have an opportunity to ask your representative to change course.
At the center of Plan Colombia's counter-narcotics strategy is aerial crop
eradication. Based on drug production figures, this has proven to be costly and
ineffective. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) estimated at
the end of 2004 that despite spraying 130,000 hectares of land, coca production
remained "statistically unchanged" from the beginning of the year.
The flow of drugs into the United States has continued as freely during Plan
Colombia as in the years previous. Cocaine is still readily available in the
U.S. and street prices continue to drop. 1
Not only is aerial crop eradication in Colombia ineffective, it is also harmful
to rural populations. The spraying is inaccurate, and aerial drift contributes
to the contamination of water sources, pollution of the environment, and destruction
of food crops. Contrary to the claims of the Bush Administration and the Colombian
government, the answer to cutting drug production does not lie in more aerial
eradication, but in providing alternative development options for poor farmers.
In a positive vein, 55,000 farmers have been helped to switch to legal crops
through U.S. assistance, according to USAID. 2 This is a significant accomplishment,
and the model should be expanded upon to accommodate the hundreds of thousands
of farmers who have not had access to this assistance. By providing more funding
for humanitarian aid and alternative development, the United States could help
alleviate poverty and reduce coca production in Colombia.
The human rights situation in Colombia is extremely grave. The 2004 report
of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights noted an increase since 2003 in "allegations
regarding extrajudicial executions and violations of due process" by public
servants, including members of the security forces. The U.N. office also denounced "continued
reports received by the office of cases in which coordinated operations have
been carried out by members of the security forces and paramilitary groups." Equally
troubling are "cases in which the victims had been detained by members of
the paramilitary forces and subsequently reported by the army as having been
killed in combat." 3
Given the amount of aid that it is providing, the United States has considerable
political leverage with the Colombian government. This leverage could be used
in part to insist upon the strengthening of rule of law in Colombia and the punishment
of human rights violators. The Bush Administration, however, has not sufficiently
urged the Colombian government to improve its human rights record. Currently,
an extremely small percentage of reported human rights abuses - including abuses
by Colombian security forces - are prosecuted.
One positive step being taken, however, is that the State Department is presently
not releasing a portion of the 2004 military aid, based on allegations of human
rights violations by the Colombian military. A decision was expected in early
March, but three months later it is still pending. Seventy-five percent of military
assistance destined for Colombia each year is sent unconditionally, with no regard
to the human rights situation. But in order to release the remaining 25 percent,
the State Department must certify twice a year (releasing 12.5 percent at a time)
that Colombia is indeed taking steps to improve human rights.
Much of the State Department's delay on a certification decision stems from
the February 22 massacre in San José de Apartadó, where human rights
defender Luis Eduardo Guerra and his family were brutally murdered along with
a neighboring family. Among the eight people who died were three small children
and a 17-year-old girl. The community holds the Colombian military responsible,
based on accounts of various witnesses, while the Colombian government blames
left-wing guerrillas. The State Department is taking this and other recent cases
seriously in the certification process, and a decision is likely this summer.
But until a full, transparent investigation of the massacre takes place, and
those responsible are prosecuted, a portion of the military aid to Colombia should,
by law, be withheld.
Although Plan Colombia ends this year, the Bush Administration is proposing
to continue aid in 2006 at the current rate, which would provide Colombia with
at least another $742 million. Yet U.S. involvement through Plan Colombia - initially
justified through the War on Drugs - has seen an increase of human rights violations
by Colombian security forces, has not reduced drug crop production, and has not
brought Colombia any closer to an end of its civil conflict. Plan Colombia is
failing, and a comprehensive reform of U.S.-Colombia policy is urgently needed.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on aid to Colombia the
week of June 27th as part of the foreign operations appropriations bill. Republican
leadership will presumably follow the administration's lead when drafting the
bill, asking for millions of dollars in military assistance. Rep. Jim McGovern
(D-MA), however, will propose a positive amendment to the bill - which will either
cut the amount of military aid destined for Colombia, or cut military aid and
transfer it to social/economic aid.
Members of the House have been discussing the continuation of Plan Colombia
since late May. Colombia is one of only a handful of issues that will be seriously
debated in relation to the Foreign Operations appropriations bill. The Senate
is expected to mark up its version of the bill in July after the House vote,
though a floor vote in the Senate is unlikely.
U.S. policy toward Colombia could be greatly improved by reorienting the millions
of dollars in military aid that the administration intends to send. The policy
should be driven by trying to help find a peaceful solution to Colombia's armed
internal conflict. U.S. assistance that has helped internally displaced peoples
and others severely affected by the conflict, for example, has been one of the
most positive elements of the current aid program. Increasing the amount of humanitarian
and development aid in Colombia and sending a message on human rights by cutting
military aid would contribute to a lasting peace.
Congress is expected to vote on $742 million more in aid to Colombia for 2006
as early as June 27th. Plan Colombia's time has expired - tell your representative
not to support the continuation of military aid to Colombia.
Take Action! June
20-24 Action Days for Colombia 5 days of Action for 5 years of failed Plan Colombia
Monday, June 20: Fax and Movie
Watch a flash movie on Colombia, and follow the
link to send your representative a fax asking him/her to cut military aid to
Colombia.
Tuesday, June 21: Media Day
Make the realities of U.S. involvement in Colombia public! Send a letter to
the editor in your local paper.
Wednesday, June 22: Phone a Friend
Talk to two friends about the importance of resisting Plan Colombia in order
to triple the impact of Thursday's call-in day. Then help them contact Congress
during the call-in day.
Thursday, June 23: CALL-IN DAY
Call your members of Congress at (202) 224-3121 to urge a NO vote on $742
million in military aid to Colombia. The Latin
America Working Group offers a
sample script.
Friday, June 24: Solidarity Actions
Light a candle for Colombia, share your knowledge of Colombia with a friend,
or incorporate Colombia solidarity into your evening activities and church gatherings.
Please participate in as many actions as you can!
Peace in Colombia offers
more information and help on how to carry out these actions.
General Assembly
On Colombia: Efforts to stamp out Colombian drug operations by destroying
coca crops are ineffective. Colombian Christian sources report that in 1999,
16,000 hectares of coca were destroyed by herbicides - but the estimated area
of total plantings increased to 22,000 hectares in 2000. This statistic illustrates
a cruel irony of the Colombian "war on drugs" - crop destruction does
not reduce the coca supply, but merely disperses coca growing into remote areas.
In addition to the war's human rights abuses, this raises concerns about rainforest
destruction and spread of the problem to neighboring countries. Furthermore,
military aid does nothing to alleviate the problems of poverty and social injustice
that encourage peasants to resort to coca growing in the first place.
The 205th General Assembly called for the demilitarization of U.S. drug war
policies in foreign lands and an emphasis on drug prevention and treatment at
home. The General Assembly has also called on the U.S. government to provide
strong support for human rights through its international economic policies,
especially foreign assistance and trade policies ("Hope for a Global Future:
Toward Just and Sustainable Human Development," Minutes, 1996, p. 102).
(Minutes, 2001, pp. 471-472.)
Footnotes:
- U.S. Department of Justice, National Drug Intelligence
Center (NDIC), National Drug Threat Assessment 2004 (April 2004)
- USAID/Colombia, Progress Report for
4th quarter FY2004, and
U.S. State Department, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (March
2005)
- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights on the human rights situation in Colombia (February 2005), p. 23
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