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Clinton leaves Colombia after defending aid package

Clinton and Pastrana watch the celebration in the streets of Cartegena, Colombia

In this story: 'A massive undertaking' Bipartisan collaboration Clinton seeks to assure neighbors Bomb-making materials seized RELATED STORIES, SITES

CARTAGENA, Colombia (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton climbed aboard Air Force One on Wednesday night to return to Washington after a day spent meeting Colombians and defending Colombian President Andres Pastrana's "Plan Colombia" amid claims that it could draw U.S. troops into a South American war.

Earlier, Pastrana and Clinton held a joint news conference to challenge the idea that the initiative will result in the use of U.S. combat troops.

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"This is not Vietnam; neither is it Yankee imperialism," Clinton said in defending a controversial $1.3 billion U.S. aid package to help Colombia's war on drugs. "A condition of this aid is that we are not going to get into a shooting war," he said. "Those are two of the false charges that have been hurled at Plan Colombia, so that won't happen."

The Colombian president was even more emphatic: "While Andres Pastrana is president, we will not have a foreign military intervention in Colombia."

'A massive undertaking'

Clinton's trip to Colombia, the first in a decade by a U.S. president, lent support to Pastrana's $7.5 billion initiative to break the grip that drug traffickers hold on the nation. Pastrana's plan also seeks to make peace with Marxist insurgents financed by drug profits, rev up the economy and strengthen the justice system.

"I hope the people of Colombia will understand it and be patient with him," Clinton said. "He's trying to do two things that no one's ever tried to do at once, but without it I don't think that either problem can be solved. He's trying to fight the narcotrafficking and find a way to have a diplomatic solution to the civil unrest that has dogged Columbia for 40 years. It is a massive undertaking."

Reiterating the U.S. position on the use of troops, Clinton said, "There won't be American involvement in a shooting war because they don't want it and because we don't want it."

However, under his policy, U.S. pilots and military advisers will be training Colombian forces for anti-drug operations.

Clinton dances in the streets during a celebration in Cartegena, Colombia

Security was heavy for Clinton's entourage wherever it traveled in this Caribbean port city. Snipers stood atop buildings at the airport, and armed guards stood watch in patrol boats along the shoreline.

But those concerns didn't prevent Clinton from mingling with a crowd of thousands that lined the streets in a poor neighborhood where he visited a freshly painted community justice center. The center, known as the Casa de Justicia, is a one-stop shop for Colombians needing help resolving criminal and civil problems. "Clinton, Clinton," the crowd chanted.

At one stop, Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, played with a small child while her father talked to residents, often using Pastrana as a translator.

Bipartisan collaboration

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican instrumental in getting the aid through Congress, appeared in Colombia with Clinton, saying "for the sake of our children and our grandchildren, we can't afford to let this fail."

It was a rare show of international policy collaboration in support of Pastrana's plan.

Other U.S. officials accompanying Clinton included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Attorney General Janet Reno, and U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware.

Pastrana said Clinton's visit "leads us to know that we are no longer isolated in our struggle," and he praised the U.S. president as "one of his generation's most dedicated peacemakers."

Clinton said there must be an end to human rights abuses by the warring factions in Colombia, security forces as well as the rebels.

Pastrana addressed that concern, saying, "We knew that the eyes of the world would be focusing on us. But we are also asking the world to understand" the weight of the problems facing Colombia.

He also noted that the comprehensive policy is to fight drugs and address social needs. "These resources will be going to the poorest regions -- the areas that are being affected the most by the unrest."

Clinton seeks to assure neighbors

Clinton also tried to reassure the countries that share borders with Colombia. "I would like to make a personal plea to the neighbors of Colombia ... to be strongly supportive of President Pastrana." He said U.S. aid is available to help those countries "deal with these problems at the border, right when they start."

"I just want to assure the other countries. The United States will not abandon you," he said.

Regarding protests and opposition to Plan Colombia, Clinton suggested that "a lot of the opposition for this plan is coming from people who are afraid it will work."

But his words did nothing to reassure Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who warned that the effort to combat drug trafficking might engulf South America in war. "It could lead us to a Vietnamization of the whole Amazon region," Chavez said while attending a regional summit in Brazil.

Colombia shares a 1,400 mile (2,240 kilometer) border with Venezuela, and Chavez said Venezuela was "the most affected country by the conflicts in Colombia after Colombia itself."

Bomb-making materials seized

Colombian authorities seized bomb-making materials Wednesday six blocks from the Casa de Justicia.

A U.S. Secret Service official told reporters that Colombian police received a tip Wednesday morning and raided the home of known guerrilla sympathizers.

Police said they found bomb-making ingredients, described as black powder and ammonium nitrate. They also found "thousands" of anti-government pamphlets.

Meanwhile, violent anti-U.S. protests in Bogota left one police officer dead.

CNN.com Writer Jonathan D. Austin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Pastrana hopes for gains from Clinton's Colombia visit
August 29, 2000
Life in the cocaine fields of Colombia
August 27, 2000
Clinton OKs Colombia aid package despite country's human rights abuses
August 23, 2000

Drug Enforcement Administration
  • Traffickers from Colombia
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Presidencia de la Republica de Colombia (Spanish)
Center for International Policy Latin America Demilitarization Program
  • Report on United Self-Defense Groups of Columbia
Transnational Institute Drugs & Democracy Project
U.S. State Department: 1999 Human Rights Report for Colombia
Human Rights Watch Report on Columbia
Cocaine Drug Lord Story

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