>From: "Per Rasmussen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>Fra: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Emne: MLL: Weekly News Update on Colombia #543, 6/25/00
>
>
> WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
> ISSUE #543, JUNE 25, 2000
> NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
> 339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012
> (212) 674-9499 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>*1. US SENATE PASSES COLOMBIA AID
>
>On June 22, the US Senate voted 95-4 in favor of a $934 million
>package of mostly military aid for Colombia, to be included in a
>$13.4 billion foreign aid bill which is expected to be voted on
>in both the House of Representatives and the Senate during the
>week of June 26. In addition to the money for Colombia, the total
>package includes $10.7 billion to pay for US peacekeepers in
>Kosovo and to provide relief for US victims of Hurricane Floyd in
>September.
>
>By an 89-11 vote, the Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. Paul
>Wellstone (D-MN) to take funds away from military aid and invest
>them in drug rehabilitation and treatment in the US. The Senate
>also rejected a proposal by Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) that
>would have kept military aid at previous levels, and would have
>sent only $200 million to Colombia.
>
>The same day, June 22, leaders of the Senate and House announced
>that they had agreed on a compromise Colombia package of $1.3
>billion, in negotiations to reconcile the Senate's package and
>the $1.7 billion in Colombia aid approved by the House on Mar. 30
>[see Update #531]. The precise allocation of the funds will be
>determined in conference negotiations between the House and
>Senate. Leaders of the two bodies plan to attach the entire $12
>billion spending package to a popular military construction
>spending bill that is in conference.
>
>Whatever its final form, the package will provide for hundreds of
>millions of dollars to send US advisers into Colombia to train
>and equip special "counter-narcotics" battalions in the military
>and police, and to refurbish, buy and operate 60 Huey II
>helicopters. It would also provide aid to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
>and other Latin American countries where coca leaf is grown.
>
>Speaking to reporters after the Senate vowed to endorse the
>administration plan but before lawmakers from both houses reached
>agreement, President Clinton described the aid as essential to
>preserving Colombia's struggling democracy. The Colombians are
>"in the fight of their lives for their very way of life, with the
>combined pressure of a guerrilla war that's been going on for
>decades and the rise of the narco-traffickers over the last two
>decades," Clinton said.
>
>The overall foreign aid measure approved by the Senate is $1.7
>billion less than Clinton had requested, drawing strong
>complaints--but no veto threats--from the administration. The
>Senate cut Clinton's request for $262 million for the world's
>poorest countries to just $75 million. [Los Angeles Times
>6/23/00]
>
>*2. COLOMBIA AID PACKAGE IS "MADNESS"
>
>In an editorial, the London newspaper Independent condemned the
>US military aid package approved by the Senate: "This package is,
>above all, about military spending --the last thing that Colombia
>now needs. In the Cold War era, Washington cheerfully stoked
>murderous violence in Latin America on behalf of `democracy.' It
>is regrettable that such madness has not been entirely left
>behind. (...) Washington wants [Colombian president Andres
>P*astrana Arango] to accept military aid instead of the Marshall
>Plan he had hoped for. But the [European Union] owes it to
>Colombia to ensure that more thought goes into addressing the
>problems. Colombia needs the world's help; it does not need more
>guns." [Independent 6/23/00]
>
>While most newspaper reports implied that the Colombia aid is a
>done deal, activists suggest that it could still be unraveled
>with constituent pressure, as the House and Senate remain divided
>over the details of the compromise package. Groups around the
>country are organizing emergency protests for June 26, and are
>urging people to continue calling their legislators to express
>opposition to the aid package. [Urgent Colombia Alert,
>Minneapolis Anti-War Committee 6/23/00]
>
>=======================================================================
>Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY
>339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139
>http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/wnuhome.html * [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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