Colext/Macondo Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior -------------------------------------------------- Note: Michael Shifter is senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C. U.S. NEEDS A LONG-RANGE STRATEGY FOR COLOMBIA More will be required, both from Bogota and Washington. When President Bill Clinton traveled to Colombia last week, he should have taken a cue from his boyhood idol, John F. Kennedy. In 1961, Kennedy toured South America to launch the Alliance for Progress for social reform and development. However one judges the alliance's success, the Kennedy administration gave it a clear purpose and strategy. The same cannot be said for the Clinton administration's $1.3 billion aid package to Colombia. To be sure, the package satisfies an itch to "do something" about drugs and drug-fueled violence at home and in Colombia. But at best it only partially responds to the dramatic deterioration in Colombia. The United States needs as well to devise a long-range strategy toward Colombia. Drugs are only one among many elements in Colombia's complex crisis. In a country where about 70 percent of the world's kidnappings take place, the core problem has to do with rampant lawlessness and insecurity. The Colombian government can't now protect its citizens. External support is essential. Thoroughgoing social and political reforms are also critically important, but no government can pursue reforms in a climate of chaos. It is hard to be optimistic about Colombia if the government doesn't gain greater control of its territory and command greater respect. The police and military need better training to deal with the serious threats posed by many violent forces. Their function is to protect Colombians, and they must do so within the rule of law and human-rights standards. The aim should be to help produce what President Andres Pastrana and most Colombians desperately want -- a political solution. Professionalizing the security forces would help level the playing field in Colombia, changing the calculations of the guerrillas and making them more inclined to negotiate in good faith. The peace process, struggling for the past 18 months, would get a much-needed boost. There is no contradiction between providing security assistance and supporting the peace process; on the contrary, if done with a clear, strategic purpose in mind, these goals reinforce one another. Critics rightly point out that U.S. drug policy is of questionable efficacy, and that assistance runs the risk of dragging the United States into a quagmire. They offer no realistic options, however, for dealing with Colombia's security crisis. About 75 percent of all political killings in the country are committed by paramilitary forces, some with reported links to the military. Through greater engagement, the United States can seek to sever such links. There is no guarantee that U.S. pressure will produce the desired results. But without it, the atrocities are almost sure to mount; the "dirty war" will become dirtier still. Leaving the security challenge unattended could yield the worst outcome yet for human rights in Colombia. A more-constructive, balanced U.S. strategy in Colombia is one that includes support for institutional reforms, humanitarian assistance, alternative development efforts, and economic and trade benefits. However, it will succeed only if Colombia gets the sustained, high-level political attention usually reserved for the Middle East or Europe. To forge an effective policy, more is required, both from Bogota and Washington. -------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with UNSUBSCRIBE COLEXT as the BODY of the message. Un archivo de colext puede encontrarse en: http://www.mail-archive.com/colext@talklist.com/ cortesia de Anibal Monsalve Salazar