File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1998/marxism-international.9804, message 12


Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 15:22:18 -0600 (CST)
From: Dennis Grammenos <dgrammen-AT-prairienet.org>
Subject: M-I: AFP: US defends military aid to Colombia



		---------- Forwarded message ----------
		Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 15:15:52 -0600 (CST)
		From: Dennis Grammenos <dgrammen-AT-ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
		To: csn-l-AT-postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu
		Subject: AFP: US defends military aid to Colombia

				=================================				"To the extent that guerrillas are 
				narcotics traffickers, they would
				obviously face the prospect of 
				American-assisted Colombian police
				and Colombian military"...
____________________		=================================AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Friday, 3 April 1998

		US defends military aid to Colombia 
		-----------------------------------

WASHINGTON -- The United States is helping Colombia fight narcotics
trafficking but some of its military aid may be used against guerrillas
involved in the drug trade, the State Department said Friday. 

"This aid will go to fight narcotics, not to fight a civil war,
spokesman James Rubin said. 

"To the extent that guerrillas are narcotics traffickers, they would
obviously face the prospect of American-assisted Colombian police
and Colombian military," he added. 

The United States provides training to Colombian troops and equipment
including fixed-wing aircraft, spare parts, river patrol aircraft and
communications equipment, he said. 

The equipment is provided to military units which have been subjected 
to an "extensive vetting process to detect human rights abuse," Rubin
added. 

The State Department also brushed aside suggestions that its military
program with Colombia could help the government in its battle against
guerrilla forces. 

Rubin told the insurgents that if they don't want to confront
US-assisted forces in Colombia, "they should get themselves out 
of the narcotics business." 

The State Department spokesman also said that American Thomas Fiore, 
who had been held since March 23 by the left-wing Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC), "is safe." 

But officials declined to give details about the US national who escaped
this week, citing concerns for the safety of the other hostages including
three Americans. 

	Copyright 1998 Agence France Presse
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