----- Original Message -----
From: Pakito Arriaran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 4:39 PM
Subject: 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]
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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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