Clinton Visit Inaugurates Plan Colombia

 
It took 10 years for a US president to set foot again on Colombia soil. The last time a US chief executive visited was in 1990, when George Bush and his Bolivian and Peruvian counterparts met with then-President Virgilio Barco to announce the creation of an "anti-drug cartel" backed by a US aid package.

A decade later, the visit of another US leader was linked to the battle against illicit drugs, this time within the framework of the so-called Plan Colombia. According to President Clinton, his August visit to the city of Cartagena was intended "to bring a message of friendship and solidarity from the people of the United States, and to deliver a message of support to President Andrés Pastrana and the Plan Colombia."

Illegal Drug Trafficking and Armed Conflict
 
To highlight the importance of the plan, during Clinton's visit the Colombian Ministry of Defense released a report to El Tiempo newspaper stating that of Colombia's 32 departments, "20 have illicit coca cultivation and half of those have both coca and opium poppies." The report claimed that the 122,500 hectares devoted to coca cultivation in Colombia produce four big harvests every year. Colombia's production capacity exceeds 870 tons of cocaine annually, more than enough to supply the 300 tons consumed in the United States. To make a dent in this production, the report recommended tripling anti-drug efforts, as well as stepping up the fight against guerrilla and paramilitary forces that increasingly finance themselves with drug money.

These recommendations underline the impossibility of separating the issue of drug trafficking and Colombia's armed conflict. This link, along with the worsening of the fighting lately, is what worries neighboring countries about the Plan Colombia. Even in the US, the New York Times published an editorial during Clinton's visit warning that his trip "could inaugurate a misguided expansion of US backing for Colombia's security forces."

In response to such criticism, Clinton stressed over and over again that the purpose of his visit was the defense of democracy. "We come here today to say that the United States-the executive and the legislature, Republicans and Democrats, the House and the Senate-is standing alongside Colombia in its fight for democracy," the president said in an official statement. "Our plan is against drugs and in favor of democracy," he added later.

Pastrana took the opportunity to emphasize that the Plan Colombia "was designed by Colombians and will be implemented by Colombians, albeit with the help of the international community…As long as I am president, there will be no foreign military intervention in Colombia," he added.

Trade Preferences
 
During his short visit, Clinton also discussed trade issues with his hosts. Pastrana is asking that the US afford Colombia the same preferential tariff treatment for textiles that it offers to some Central American and Caribbean countries.

"Peace in Colombia is linked to prosperity, economic growth and the broadening of opportunities for all of our citizens," Pastrana said. "This can be achieved in part through the expansion of trade."

Clinton promised that his administration will support a proposal in the US Congress to grant Colombia the preferential tariffs it seeks, but "it all depends on the legislative vote," he noted.

Effects and Reactions
 
Colombia's guerrilla forces made themselves felt during Clinton's visit, committing twice their usual number of atrocities. Nine civilians and several policemen died in a single day as a result of actions by the FARC and ELN. One incident in particular highlighted the violence: a grenade thrown by a "student" during protests against the Clinton visit killed an 18-year-old policeman. Isolated protests by peasants, indigenous groups and labor unions also broke out during Clinton's stay.

For some segments of popular opinion, Clinton's visit strengthened US-Colombian relations, helping the US leader to see the reality of the Colombian situation and giving a clear boost to the Plan Colombia. For others, it provided support for Pastrana to consolidate his domestic power base. In geopolitical terms, argued political scientist Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, the Clinton trip "symbolized the crossing of a delicate line. The United States is attempting to protect its sphere of influence beyond the Caribbean Basin by building a cordon sanitaire around Colombia with the resigned assistance of Panama and Ecuador and the ambiguous support of Peru. In the meantime, Brazil and Venezuela are arming their borders with Colombia, but with different objectives than those of Washington."

Coverage of the Clinton visit in the international press ranged from interpreting it as a clear US commitment to combat drug trafficking to discussing neighboring countries' fears with regard to the Plan Colombia.

In Europe, the headline in the French newspaper Le Monde read, "Bill Clinton supports Colombia's war against drugs, although some sectors of civil society fear that the Plan Colombia could result in an increase of violence in the country." Spain's El Mundo titled its coverage, "Vietnam Reappears in Colombia," and predicted that Clinton's visit would change the country's future "for better or worse."

An editorial in the Washington Post read, "The Pastrana government must regain control over its territory and be capable of pressuring the guerrillas to negotiate in good faith. Only the United States can provide it with the elements to do this. It could be risky, but so would be leaving Colombia to its fate."

Newspapers in Venezuela (El Nacional) and Argentina (La Nación) referred to comments by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who has argued that the Plan Colombia could lead to a Vietnamization of the region. Chile's El Mercurio and Peru's La República emphasized Clinton's call for support for the plan and his statement that "if we turn our backs on Colombia's problems, drug trafficking will spread like a cancer all over the country."

Clinton was in Colombia for a total of 10 hours. Thirty-six people accompanied him on his visit, including the leader of the US House of Representatives, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the "drug czar" and 22 aides. It was clear that the trip marked the beginning of Plan Colombia's implementation. Less clear was whether this effort to achieve peace and battle drug trafficking will find true international support, or will result in more war and additional deaths.