U.S.-trained battalion to attack dealers, rebels
BOGOTA -- The Colombian army plans to launch a U.S.-backed military onslaught against leftist insurgents and drug traffickers in coming weeks, American officials said, adding that the operation is almost certain to plunge the country into a new round of bloodshed.
The attacks are being planned for the southern province of Putumayo, where U.S. military trainers are in the final stage of training and outfitting a new 900-member Colombian army anti-drug battalion, the officials said.
Using 18 U.S.-supplied helicopters and other weapons, the battalion will launch attacks on drug laboratories, clandestine airstrips and cultivation fields, taking particular aim at the insurgents who protect them, U.S. officials said.
A primary target will be the nation's largest insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, although diplomats say other groups, including right-wing paramilitary militias, could be targeted as well.
Officials of both countries hope next week's inauguration of the new battalion - the first of its kind in Colombia - will mark a turning point in a war on drugs that neither government claims to be winning so far.
U.S. officials forecast a doubling or tripling of cocaine production from Colombia in the next two years over 1998 levels. Proceeds from coca cultivation are helping finance the explosive growth in firepower and troop strength of Colombia's biggest insurgent groups.
"I think perhaps the seriousness of the situation has begun to become known in Washington," a U.S. Embassy official said, adding that the government has known for years about an expected, sharp increase in cocaine production. "I don't mean to play it lightly that we saw it coming, but it's a major, big deal."
The anti-drug battalion's performance also could determine whether the army begins receiving a greater share of the nearly $300 million Colombia receives in U.S. counternarcotics support. The army has been blocked from receiving most U.S. aid because of questions about human-rights abuses and allegations of collusion between army officers and right-wing paramilitary groups.
The Clinton administration says it wants to boost aid for Colombia to as much as $1.5 billion next year. But much will depend on the new battalion's success as well as resolution of apparent disagreements between the U.S. and Colombian militaries over planning for two additional counternarcotics battalions.
Sources in the U.S. Southern Command say that serious disputes have developed in recent weeks between senior Colombian and U.S. military commanders over the composition and duties of the two additional units, which are expected to become operational over the next two years.
Gen. Charles Wilhelm, head of the U.S. Southern Command, threatened as recently as last week to withdraw U.S. support for the additional battalions unless he was given effective control over their design and assignment of responsibilities, a Southern Command source said.
Gen. Wilhelm's Colombian counterpart, armed forces chief Gen. Fernando Tapias, has refused to relinquish control over his own forces and was prepared to forgo future U.S. assistance if Gen. Wilhelm persisted in his demands, the source said. The source declined to be more specific about the nature of the dispute.
Gen. Tapias declined an interview request. Raul Duany, spokesman of the Southern Command, said he was not aware of any disagreement.
"In conversations early in November, there were some recommendations that were made, and they [Colombian military officials] were very receptive to our suggestions," Mr. Duany said. "We have no indication that there has been any kind of disagreement or much less a threat to withdraw any type of funds. . . . This is their program, their initiative. We are supporting them."
Another Southern Command source described the disagreement as a clash of egos between the two military leaders and said that Gen. Tapias' preferences for the composition of the new battalions would probably prevail over those of Gen. Wilhelm.
Notwithstanding such a disagreement, Gen. Wilhelm is expected to attend ceremonies launching the new battalion late next week at the battalion's headquarters at Tres Esquinas in Putumayo.
Putumayo is a major stronghold of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and also is one of the country's most-entrenched zones for drug-trafficking activities.
A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent said Putumayo is home to some of the biggest cocaine labs ever encountered, including some capable of producing more than a ton of cocaine per day. Traffickers typically pay top-dollar salaries to insurgents to protect the labs, airstrips and river routes used for exporting the drugs. Colombia's National Police, the main recipient of U.S. anti-drug aid, so far have been unable to match the insurgents' firepower or combat capabilities.
"Putumayo is the largest nucleus of coca cultivation in this country. You'll find the largest concentration of laboratories and clandestine airstrips and also a very heavily armed FARC presence in this zone," the U.S. Embassy official said. He added that the battalion's primary purpose will be to attack and secure any drug targets so police can make seizures and arrests.
Diplomats and other military observers cautioned, however, that the increased military muscle in Putumayo is likely to be accompanied with a sharp surge in bloodshed as the two heavily armed forces clash. They described the Colombian army as typically a reactive force that has tended to pursue insurgents only after being attacked.
The new battalion is designed to go on the offensive, the embassy official said. He acknowledged that the new strategy would likely cause an upsurge in fighting, even at a time when President Andres Pastrana is trying to keep FARC leaders engaged in peace negotiations.
"I don't see how you can avoid it," he added.
A non-U.S. diplomat said the Clinton administration could be deceiving itself if it believes the FARC will not put up a fight. "It's not going to be a walkover. The guerrillas are very well-trained and strategically positioned. . . . My only concern is that there could be collateral damage. It could result in levels of violence increasing, perhaps even nationwide."
Political scientist Rito Alejo Vargas, vice rector of the National University, said he expected to see widespread social unrest in Putumayo if the battalion succeeds in severing the link between the insurgents and drug traffickers. Without the insurgents' protection, peasant farmers will be cut off from a major source of income - coca cultivation.
Eventually, he said, the U.S.-backed battalion could be instrumental in moving the stalled peace process forward.
"It is not possible to advance the peace process without the existence of an armed force that can show its ability to strike first as well as respond to attacks," he said.
Despite repeated expressions of optimism about the battalion's prospects by Gen. Tapias and other top officials, some experts are skeptical. Retired Gen. Harold Bedoya, the former armed forces commander, described the battalion as "farcical" and said it was too poorly equipped and staffed to be successful.
"I don't think the United States understands the problem. They are trying to send us into the arms of defeat," he said. "It's absurd to think that 18 helicopters and 900 troops will win this war. . . . Militarily, it's absurd. Mr. Clinton is deceiving the world. He's the one sending these soldiers to their deaths."
A Southern Command officer agreed that without a broader U.S. military commitment to Colombia and to the drug war, the new battalion's successes could be limited.
"There's not a widespread view [in the military] that this administration really wants to win the drug war," the officer said. He added, however, that the equipment and helicopters being provided to the battalion should be sufficient for its needs.
Luis Moreno, chief of the U.S. Embassy's narcotics affairs unit, stressed that once the training is finished, no U.S. personnel would be involved in the battalion's operations.
"Absolutely none. There will be no U.S. presence on any of these operational things. And that includes even the guys we, the State Department, have contracted who are training the Colombians in helicopter maintenance," Mr. Moreno said. "They will not be on any operational missions. That's going to be a very fast and steady rule, I can guarantee you."