>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rick Rozoff) >Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 13:53:43 -0600 (CST) > >STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > >[Why no comparable delegation, comprised as it is of several top >government officials, has ever visited Kosovo, Albania and Turkey, the >new Golden Triangle of world heroin trafficking, is never questioned by >the press, Congress and world leaders. But we know why, don't we?] > >Monday, November 20 4:46 PM SGT >Washington steps up rhetoric in fight against Colombian guerrillas >BOGOTA, Nov 20 (AFP) - >The United States hardened its stance against Colombian guerrillas >Sunday, dismissing them as little more than drug traffickers, as the >rebels continue to stall peace talks in protest of the >Washington-sanctioned Plan Colombia. >Washington ratcheted up its attacks on the leftist Revolutionary Armed >Forces of Colombia (FARC) as a delegation of US officials prepared to >meet government and rebel representatives for talks here about the >ambitious 7.5 billion-dollar anti-drug Plan Colombia partially financed >by the United States. >US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Pickering, and >anti-drug chief Barry McCaffrey are leading the delegation on a visit, >which ends Tuesday. >Other members of the US delegation include: Deputy Assistant Attorney >General Mary Lee Warren; Harold Koh, the assistant secretary of state >for democracy, human rights and labor; and General Peter Pace, the >commander in chief of the US Southern Command. >Representatives from the government of conservative President Andres >Pastrana include Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez and Foreign >Minister Guillermo Fernandez de Soto, as well as various police, >military and humanitarian officials. >On Sunday, McCaffrey met with FARC leaders and urged them to resume >negotiations toward an eventual cease fire with Pastrana, who was forced >to cancel a trip to Europe because of the heightened tensions between >the government and the rebels. >The protracted negotiations that began in October 1999 were suspended >last Tuesday by FARC until Bogota clamps down on right-wing >paramilitaries, the guerrillas' long-time foes. >FARC, Colombia's largest rebel insurgent group, has operated in a 42,000 >square kilometer (16,200 square mile) demilitarized zone south of the >capitol since November 1998, an area optimistically designated as a >"laboratory for peace." >In an interview with the Colombian daily El Pais on Sunday, US >ambassador to Colombia Anne Paterson said that at their heart, FARC >rebels had once had ideological motivations for their decades-long >struggle. >She said however, that they now were little more than a band of drug >traffickers, and held the group as at least partly responsible for >producing and exporting more than 520 tonnes of cocaine and six tonnes >of heroin each year, 90 percent of which is destined for the United >States. >Plan Colombia, which Bogota hopes to put into action in the next several >months, is an attempt not only to staunch the flow of drugs from the >world's largest cocaine-producing country but to eradicate the 120,000 >hectares (297,000 acres) of coca-leaf plantations. >The United States has committed 1.3 billion dollars in resources to Plan >Colombia, including helicopters equipped with aerial fumigation devices >to level the coca fields, and will put 500 US observers on the ground to >monitor its progress. >Neighboring Latin American countries, some of whom share FARC's >apprehension that Plan Colombia could result in "another Vietnam" are >speaking up about the potential ramifications of the plan, which could >result in violence and drug traffic creeping over the borders. >Ecuador is already the unwilling recipient of more than a thousand >Colombian refugees who have fled the southern Putumayo region, the heart >of the coca-leaf plantations. >Nevetheless, President Pastrana is forging ahead with his plan, sending >more than 500 troops to the coca-rich Putumayo region and setting up >outposts along the jungle floor to catch drug traffickers. >Coca-leaf farmers in recent months have coordinated a rash of protests >at the thought of losing their traditional livelihood and their most >lucrative crops. In one of the most recent attack this past Friday, a >bomb exploded in the Putumayo region. >Despite less-than-enthusiastic support for Plan Colombia outside of the >official cadre of government representatives, Pickering -- Washington's >third-highest ranking diplomat -- and Paterson remain optimistic that >Plan Colombia will be successful in its efforts to purge the country of >cocaine. >A successful implementation of Plan Colombia will help dry up funds that >have helped financed rebel activity in the country, opined Paterson in >El Pais, not the least of which has been traffic in illegal arms. >The civil war that has raged in Colombia for 36 years has left nearly >130,000 people dead, while an average of 3,000 people every year are >kidnapped. > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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