Colombian leader faces tough sell to US Congress
President Álvaro Uribe will fight for a trade deal and continued US aid when he arrives in Washington Wednesday amid a growing scandal back home.
from the May 2, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
The new aid request is mostly geared to support the military in fighting leftist rebels and the country's burgeoning drug trade.
On Monday, Colombia reported its largest-ever cocaine seizure when 25 tons worth an estimated $500 million were discovered buried on the Pacific coast ready for shipment.
But despite the spectacular seizure, US drug czar John Walters admitted in a letter to a congressman that the street price for cocaine fell by 11 percent from February 2005 to October 2006, to prices similar to those seen in the early 1990s. After $4 billion in Plan Colombia aid, the drop in price – together with a simultaneous rise in purity – indicates that little dent has been made in supply.
Even when they were a minority in Congress, some Democrats questioned the effectiveness of the anti-drug strategy. Many lawmakers and rights groups would like to see a shift of US aid from a military focus to boosting drug-treatment and prevention programs.
"We will probably see a cut in military aid and a shift to a more social approach to the aid," Mr. Roett says.
Uribe still widely popular at home
Despite the recent scandal, supporters in Colombia have rallied around their president. An opinion poll released this week showed Uribe has an approval rating of 80.4 percent, up from 73 percent a month ago. After Mr. Gore's snub, business federations bought ads in the nation's largest newspaper with open letters of support for Uribe.
"Our president manages his image here very well, and he has improved security which has been very important to people," said Mauricio Suarez as he dined at a restaurant in the nation's capital, Bogotá. "Because of that a lot of people are willing to let other things, like this shameful scandal, slide."
US lawmakers will probably let it slide as well, says Mr. Roett, given Colombia's position as an "island in the Andes" surrounded by leftist government in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
"There's been a huge foreign policy investment in Colombia so I don't think Congress will throw out the baby with the bath water," Roett says.
RSS feed
