• Colombia Congress Passes Paramilitary Bill, Human Rights Groups Express Concern After weeks of domestic and international debate, the Colombian Congress passed a controversial bill to govern the paramilitary demobilization process. The bill, which offers jail sentences no longer than eight years to paramilitaries who voluntarily disarm, calls on leaders to confess their crimes, return stolen goods, and compensate victims. Although recent pressure from the international community compelled President Uribe to propose changes to the bill, human rights groups point out that paramilitary leaders are still protected from adequate jail terms for serious human rights crimes, do not face punishment for lying to investigators and likely will not face extradition to the U.S. nor punishment at home for drug-related charges. While government Peace Commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, said that “never before in peace processes anywhere in the world have there been so many requirements as those we are imposing during negotiations with the armed groups,” critics insist that the demobilization bill lacks substance and will allow paramilitary structures to remain intact and leaders will be virtually unpunished for their crimes. Jose Miguel Vivanco, head of Human Rights Watch-Americas Division, said that “the law has nothing to do with peace or justice, and it’s not going to ensure the dismantlement of the criminal structures of these mafia that are deeply engaged in drug trafficking.” Despite the controversy, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Wood remained hopeful that “members of the paramilitaries turn themselves in.” According to Colombian government officials, the bill is intended to encourage paramilitaries to disarm, yet it could possibly be offered to guerrillas as well, provided that they choose to participate in a future peace process.

• National Taxpayer’s Union Calls for Changes in U.S. Foreign Policy At a Capitol Hill briefing, the National Taxpayer’s Union expressed their concern over Plan Colombia and called on Congress to re-evaluate the policy and dramatically reduce or eliminate Colombia spending in the 2006 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. Paul Gessing, the NTU Director of Government Affairs, cited recently released Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) data and said that coca production remains “statistically unchanged” and street prices in the U.S. for cocaine and heroin are near all-time lows. Gessing emphasized that after $4.5 billion in aid to Colombia since 2000, Colombia is not any closer to the program’s goals of sustainable peace or stability. Gessing was joined at the briefing by representatives from the Cato Institute, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Institute for Policy Studies. The speakers questioned continued funding for a U.S. policy in Colombia which has failed to reduce the flow of drugs from Colombia to the U.S. Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN) and John Duncan (R-TN) also voiced concern about U.S. policy in the region at the briefing. NTU cited the projected $370 billion budget deficit for 2006 and said that “a serious reassessment of our overall spending priorities is in order for even the most effective programs. Unfortunately, by all measurable criteria, Plan Colombia’s effectiveness is dubious.” Read a letter by taxpayer advocates on U.S. policy in Colombia: http://www.ntu.org/main/letters_detail.php?letter_id=326

• Drug Policy Success in Colombia Questioned While the Bush administration claims that Plan Colombia is a success and that coca production has decreased nearly 30 percent in the past three years, both a U.S. government task force and the United Nations suggest that the Bush administration’s statistics are misleading and that cocaine production has, in fact, increased. The discrepancies in numbers have prompted two Republican lawmakers, Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, to request that the General Accounting Office evaluate Plan Colombia and the Bush administration’s statistics. David Murray, special assistant to drug czar John Walters, defended White House figures and insisted that fumigation efforts in the Andean region have been successful and stressed that there will be a lag time before the cocaine supply drops and prices rise in the U.S. Although Murray acknowledged that “there’s an enormous amount of cocaine in the pipeline,” he attributed it to “production from previous years.” Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice also defended the policy, saying “you don’t stop something that been very effective.” Despite Murray and Rice’s claims, some experts disagree. Sandra Calvani, head of the Colombian bureau of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said that “the trend in the Andean region has not been good,” while the Florida-based Joint Interagency Task Force South, comprised of the Air Force, Coast Guard, and DEA officials, estimated that cocaine production could have been several hundred tons more than what the White House estimated for 2004. Despite the discrepancies in cocaine production statistics, experts emphasize that the supply and price of cocaine on U.S. streets have been unaffected, and this is the most significant figure as lowering the supply and increasing the price of cocaine in the U.S. is the ultimate goal of Plan Colombia.

• Clinton Says Success in Colombia is Vital to U.S. At a Bogota conference, former President Clinton, whose administration formulated and implemented Plan Colombia, said that Colombia’s success is “vital” to the United States. Clinton, saying that he was “absolutely convinced that it was vital to American interests that Colombia succeed,” emphasized that Colombia is important not only because the country supplies the majority of the cocaine in the U.S., but also because “it is the oldest democracy (in the Americas) and democracy is under challenge all across the world.” Clinton also confessed that “the war on drugs (in Colombia) is not over, but it is going in the right direction.” This was Clinton’s first visit to Colombia since 2000 when he announced the start of Plan Colombia.

• U.S. Creates Security Advisor Position to Assist Colombian Police In an effort to assist the Colombian National Police in protecting police stations and counter-narcotics bases throughout the country, the U.S. State Department created a new Security Advisor position. The advisor will help train personnel, assist in the “hardening of facilities,” strengthen interdiction efforts in Colombia, and help consolidate a police presence throughout the country.

Upcoming Events and Seminars in the U.S.

If you have news of upcoming events in your area please forward them to jess_hunter@usofficeoncolombia.org

Due to staff travel, CTW will not be distributed this week. We apologize for any inconvenience.