09/03/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10106

COLOMBIA'S HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Colombia's new President, Alvaro Uribe [AHL-vah-ro oo-REE-bay], has promised to transform his country, which has been devastated by illegal narcotics, terrorism, and poverty. Mr. Uribe has promised to combat the drug trade. And he has promised to defeat the left-wing guerrillas and far-right paramilitary outlaws who are both linked to drug traffickers.

For more than thirty years, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been trying to overthrow the Colombian government. The FARC has seriously damaged Colombia's social and political life. It continues to compile an appalling record of human rights abuses. At the same time, right-wing paramilitary groups have used some of the same abusive tactics to counter the FARC rebels.

Through these difficult years, the U.S. has stood by the people of Colombia. The U.S. has provided funding and personnel to train Colombian counter-narcotics troops. The training puts a strong emphasis on respect for human rights. As Marc Grossman, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said, "There has not been a single credible allegation of a human rights violation against the U.S.-trained brigade in Colombia."

In addition to waging war against the guerrillas, a determined effort to reduce trafficking of drugs is crucial to the well-being of Colombians. The U.S. is providing more than one and a half billion dollars in aid to fund the anti-drug program within Plan Colombia. As Under Secretary of State Grossman said, "If [farmers] are prepared to get out of the drug business, we are prepared to help them do something different."

It is time for the Colombian government to end the tyranny of terrorists who are trying to destroy democratic institutions and the rule of law. As President George W. Bush said, "The terrorists in Colombia have made their goals clear: to kill the aspirations of the Colombian people for a free, prosperous, and democratic state. Through violence against innocents, the terrorists seek the destruction of the democratically elected government of Colombia. The United States stands with the people of Colombia in their struggle against terror."