STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- <A HREF="aol://4344:30.L100cG3C.5260623.678325566"> 06/29: AOL News: US offers Ecuador aid for Colombia border security</A> Want to send this story to another AOL member? Click on the heart at the top of this window. US offers Ecuador aid for Colombia border security QUITO, Ecuador, June 29 (Reuters) - The United States has pledged to give Ecuador $90 million during 2002 to help it beef up security along its border with Colombia, an Ecuadorean presidential statement said on Friday. The $90 million is part of $750 million earmarked by the U.S. administration for the Andean nation under a regional coca eradication program. The announcement came two days after Ecuador's President Gustavo Noboa and his military leaders urged the commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command to help expedite delivery of $12 million in promised U.S. military equipment they said they need to defend the 385-mile (620-km) border with Colombia. "Forty-five percent of the funds will be destined to reinforce security in the five northern border provinces and the remainder will be spent on the alternative development program," the presidential bulletin stated. The alternative development program refers to initiatives that pay farmers to plant crops other than coca, the source of cocaine. Under former President Bill Clinton, the United States committed almost $1.3 billion in mostly military aid for Colombian President Andres Pastrana's "Plan Colombia" -- a $7.5 billion plan to destroy the nation's coca fields. Friday's statement did not give details of the kind of security measures covered by the funds although Noboa and his military leaders asked U.S. Gen. Peter Pace at Wednesday's meeting to try to speed along delivery of $12 million in helicopters and other equipment. Colombia's 37-year-old war has claimed 40,000 lives and threatens to spill over into border regions like Ecuador's Sucumbios, Esmeraldas, Orellana, Napo and Carchi provinces. 19:45 06-29-01 Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
