Colext/Macondo
Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior
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Parte de los apuntes sobre la conferencia, como fu� publicado en el sitio
mencionado en el anterior mensaje:
NEWS FROM THE
House International Relations Committee
Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman
DATE: September 21, 2000
FOR RELEASE: Immediate
Contact: Lester Munson, Communications Director (202)225-5021
STATE DEPT. ROLE IN AID TO COLOMBIA QUESTIONED BY GILMAN
WASHINGTON (September 21) � U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (20th-NY),
Chairman of the House International
Relations Committee, made the following statement today at a Western
Hemisphere Subcommittee hearing on
counter-drug assistance to Colombia:
Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling these very timely hearings on the
situation in Colombia. We had believed that the
administration was about to sign contracts for the drug fighting choppers,
for which we provided the monies in Plan Colombia.
The delays we are hearing about today are alarming to say the least.
How those choppers are configured and how other monies Congress provided
under Plan Colombia are spent will make a
major difference in Colombia. The answers to these questions will
determine whether we accomplish our twin goals of
reducing drugs from abroad and helping save Colombian democracy from the
�self sufficient� and well-armed narco-terrorist
insurgencies of the ELN and the FARC.
If the Administration�s track record of failing to get the right aid to
Colombia in a timely fashion is any indication, we ought to be
very concerned.
By comparison, the Russian-speaking mafia -- in conjunction with the drug
traffickers -- got the steel, tools and manuals down
to Colombia to build a pressurized double-hull submarine to move drugs
into our nation. Our State Department ought to be
able to deliver our counter-drug aid at least that well. If not, we are in
big trouble.
In July, the State Department Inspector General�s office released an audit
of the Colombian anti-drug program. That report
was requested by Chairman Burton and me last March, after we saw that the
Huey II choppers were improperly configured for
the Colombian National Police.
That IG�s audit makes it clear there was a lack of consultation by the
State Department with the Colombian police, the
front-line fighters against drugs, on how their choppers were to be
configured.
Even worse, the Inspector General�s report revealed that the Bell 212
choppers that were given to the Colombian cops could
not fly because the INL Bureau failed to give the police the spare parts
they needed.
As we know, the Colombian police have the lead in drug fighting in that
troubled country. The police have lost nearly 5,000
officers in the last decade fighting drugs, and many of their elite
anti-drug unit were lost or captured when their choppers were
shot down by the narco-terrorists.
Congress had to lead the way in providing both good choppers and the
correctly configured Black Hawks for the police. We
thank Speaker Hastert for leading the way in that effort. We helped to do
it right, I am pleased to report today.
Through mid-September of this year, the police have record eradication
levels, and drug interdiction has soared, all without the
loss of one policeman�s life because we gave them Black Hawks with the
right defensive weapon -- the GAU 19 Gatling gun. I
would like to note that this very same defensive weapon was just chosen by
the United States Marine Corps to protect its new
21st Century troop transport.
The police have done an amazing job with eradicating opium production.
They have managed to eradicate five times the
amount of poppy that they eliminated in all of 1998. This was done
without any loss of life in the rugged high Andes.
I have long had a healthy skepticism of Plan Colombia, both in its
implementation by our State Department based on State�s
past performance, and the over-emphasis on our aid to the Colombian
military instead of the Colombian police�s excellent
anti-drug unit.
As we approach the provision of nearly one billion dollars in aid to
Colombia, I need to be convinced that the mistakes of the
past will not be repeated.
I look forward to hearing testimony from today�s witnesses from the
Administration. I hope they will provide answers on
whether we can get it right this time. If not, the future of Colombian
democracy is at grave risk, along with that of American
families and children.
## 30 ##
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mauricio Realpe, Bi�logo, M.Sc.
Candidato a Doctor en Ciencias Bioqu�micas
Instituto de Biotecnologia (IBT)
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
..." lo que Bol�var dej� sin hacer, sin hacer esta hasta hoy,
porque Bol�var tiene que hacer en Am�rica todav�a"
Jos� Mart�
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