Pubdate: Tue, 29 Aug 2000
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company
Contact:  229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036
Fax: (212) 556-3622
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/
Section: Letters
Author: Oscar Arias
Note: Oscar Arias, the former president of Costa Rica, won the Nobel Peace 
Prize in 1987.
Bookmark: additional articles on Colombia are available at 
http://www.mapinc.org/latin.htm

AID TO COLOMBIA: UNLEARNED LESSONS

To the Editor:

Re "Neighbors Fear Fallout of Aid to Colombians" (front page, Aug. 25):

The United States has apparently learned nothing from the horrors of El 
Salvador and Nicaragua, where vast amounts of military aid only served to 
intensify conflicts that neither side was going to win. Now, Congress and 
President Clinton have confirmed that they will make the same error in 
Colombia by sending $1.3 billion, almost all in military aid.

Haven't the last 20 years shown us that as long as there is a market for 
drugs in the United States, somebody will find a way to get them there? 
Cutting down on the demand side in the United States would do much more to 
curtail drug production than a bloody military campaign. By providing 
military aid rather than substantial social and economic assistance, the 
United States is missing an opportunity to address the real roots of 
insurgency and drug production in Colombia.

OSCAR ARIAS
San Jose, Costa Rica,
Aug. 25, 2000

The writer, the former president of Costa Rica, won the Nobel Peace Prize 
in 1987.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Thunder