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S. HRG. 106±299 CRISIS IN COLOMBIA: U.S. SUPPORT FOR PEACE PROCESS AND ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 6, 1999 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 61±871 CC WASHINGTON : 2000 VerDate 11-SEP-98 14:14 Mar 24, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 61871 SFRELA1 PsN: SFRELA1 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS JESSE HELMS, North Carolina, Chairman RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware PAUL COVERDELL, Georgia PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts ROD GRAMS, Minnesota RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming BARBARA BOXER, California JOHN ASHCROFT, Missouri ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey BILL FRIST, Tennessee STEPHEN E. BIEGUN, Staff Director EDWIN K. HALL, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate 11-SEP-98 14:14 Mar 24, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 61871 SFRELA1 PsN: SFRELA1 CONTENTS Page Coverdell, Hon. Paul, U.S. Senator from Georgia, Chairman, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, Narcotics, and Terrorism, Foreign Relations Committee ............................................................................................ 2 DeWine, Hon. Mike, U.S. Senator from Ohio ........................................................ 8 Prepared statement of ...................................................................................... 9 McCaffrey, Hon. Barry, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy .......... 14 Prepared statement of ...................................................................................... 18 Responses to additional questions for the record from Senator Coverdell .. 53 Pickering, Hon. Thomas R., Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Department of State ............................................................................................ 31 Prepared statement of ...................................................................................... 39 Responses to additional questions for the record from Senator Coverdell .. 53 APPENDIX Plan ColombiaÐPlan for Peace, Prosperity, and the Strengthening of the State. Submitted by Secretary Pickering for inclusion in the record .............. 55 (III) VerDate 11-SEP-98 14:14 Mar 24, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 61871 SFRELA1 PsN: SFRELA1 CRISIS IN COLOMBIA: U.S. SUPPORT FOR PEACE PROCESS AND ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1999 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m., in room SD±419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Hon. Jesse Helms (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senators Helms, Coverdell, Dodd, Feingold, and Wellstone. Also present: Senator DeWine. The CHAIRMAN. The meeting will come to order. Today's hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee will focus on Colombia. Weakened by an economic recession, Colombia is vir- tually alone in fighting guerrilla terrorists allied with the global drug cartels. And, because Colombia is the source of more than 80 percent of the cocaine and much of the heroin flooding America's streets and school yards, what happens there is certainly a primary interest, or should be, to every one of the rest of us. Without U.S. help, Colombia could lose this war, or the sad alter- native of seeking to appease the narcoguerrillas. Either scenario would spell disaster for Colombia, their neighbors, and most impor- tant, to us, the American people. Since taking office, President Pastrana has pursued peace. The guerrillas have responded with a relentless campaign of violence. These guerrillas thrive on lawlessness, collecting more than $1 bil- lion a year from drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortion, and ran- soms. The guerrillas obviously stand to profit from prolonged war and chaos, and they will never surrender at the peace table what they cannot lose on the battlefield. Until the Colombian Government has the resources, training, and intelligence capability to raise the cost of war for the guerrillas, peace will remain out of reach. What is the U.S. Government doing to help? Too little, and maybe too late. We must pray that the latter is not the case. In any event, almost all of the support the United States sends to Co- lombia goes to the anti-drug efforts of the Colombian National Po- lice, and only recently has the United States finally begun to pro- vide some meager support to a new army counterdrug battalion. Now, while it is true that Colombia is now a large U.S. foreign aid recipient, the vast majority of this anti-drug assistance ap- proved by Congress last year, over the administration's objections, (1) VerDate 11-SEP-98 14:14 Mar 24, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 61871 SFRELA1 PsN: SFRELA1 2 I might add, has yet to reach Colombia. The U.S. Government can and must do better. First, just as the United States delegitimized the corrupt Samper regime, the United States must now mobilize international support behind Colombia's new government, its democratic institutions, and most of all, the rule of law. Second, we must boost the Colombia security forces, beginning with its counterdrug battalions, to fight the well-armed narcoterrorists. I note that the United States law justifiably re- quires that any military units receiving U.S. aid must beÐand I use the word carefully, because this is officialÐmust be scrubbed for human rights violations. If the United States fails to act, Co- lombia will continue to hurdle toward chaos, and that would jeop- ardize not only the human rights of all Colombians, but those of the American victims of Colombia's poison peddling drug lords. The ranking member is not yet here, so we will proceed with a Senator whom I greatly admire since the first day I saw him in the U.S. Senate. Senate Paul Coverdell chairs the Western Hemisphere Sub- committee of the Foreign Relations Committee, and he does a re- markable job with it. We will later be joined by Senator Mike DeWine, of Ohio, who is working with Senator Coverdell to draft a Colombia anti-drug bill. Our second panel will consist of the drug czar, as he is called, a fine gentleman, General Barry McCaffrey, and then Ambassador Thomas Pickering, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Senator Coverdell, we welcome you. Please proceed. STATEMENT OF HON. PAUL COVERDELL, U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMI- SPHERE, PEACE CORPS, NARCOTICS, AND TERRORISM, FOR- EIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE Senator COVERDELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for those kind remarks. It is a pleasure to appear before you and the full committee today to discuss Colombia policy at such a piv- otal time in that country's proud history. The fact that you are chairing this hearing is a testament to the importance that you place on this issue and the need to make it a priority. As you know, I am offering my thoughts on this issue from my perspective as chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and over the past several months, my subcommittee has examined the Colombia situation closely. We have held hearings, we have met with Colombian leaders, and have visited the country itself. My conclusions are simple. Colombia needs are immediate and sub- stantial assistance. Before outlining the specifics of this assistance, I think it is im- portant to frame the situation. Colombia is a sovereign and demo- cratic government in violent conflict with a powerful guerrilla force. I might add, it has a rich history in democracy. I have been sad- dened to watch the casualties and the decay that this conflict has brought to these great people. These rebel forces could number up to 25,000. Their violence is fueled less by ideology than by the lust for staggering amounts of VerDate 11-SEP-98 14:14 Mar 24, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 61871 SFRELA1 PsN: SFRELA1 3 drug and kidnapping proceeds. Clearly, this is less of a civil war than a reign of domestic terrorism. The Colombian people, Mr. Chairman, overwhelmingly support their current government. Data suggests only 4 percent of the pop- ulation supports insurgent groups. This clearly distinguishes the present conflict from others we have seen in the region over the past decades. We should keep central in our minds this fact as we pursue our strategy for Colombia. I repeat, that the insurgents do not share a broad and ideological population. The population seeks demo- cratic principles. It seems that some want to downplay the Colombia situation, maintaining that this crisis is overstated, and that U.S. assistance is not warranted. I disagree unequivocally with this thinking. The internal conflict in Colombia has produced numbers of displaced persons similar to those we saw in Kosovo. Over 800,000 of this population are displaced since 1995, and the conflict has killed over 35,000 people. Colombia is home to one-third of all acts of terrorism worldwide, and had over 2,600 people kidnaped last year alone. Sadly, there is a fear in the air that permeates the country, and just the day before yesterday, another 40 or so people were kidnaped at a road- block. We hope that their fate will be OK. While in Colombia recently, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of business executives from large U.S. corporations with Colombian subsidiaries. Each one relayed their pessimism on Co- lombia security and future investment in the country. They were all worried about the future of the government and the country, and one executive shared with me that he had sent his wife and daughter to live in the United States, no longer feeling that it is safe for them to be there. It was just too dangerous for his family to stay. As I said to these business people, investment does not flow to- ward insecurity, it runs from it, which, of course, doubles the im- pact of the economic crisis that the country faces now.