-Caveat Lector-
The US is considering a "Colombian action," involving Venezuela as well
...
Colombia Rebels Infiltrate Panama
By GEORGE GEDDA
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The ranking U.S. commander for Latin America said Tuesday
that Colombian guerrillas have been conducting repeated incursions into
neighboring Panama, taking advantage of U.S. troop reductions there.
Gen. Charles E. Wilhelm, chief of the U.S. Southern Command, said Panama's
security forces are not ``manned, trained or equipped'' to deal with the
problem. Panama does not have a military and relies on a national police
force for security.
Under the Panama Canal treaties, the United States is required to remove all
its military personnel from the country by the end of the year, a process
that is well under way.
Wilhelm, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the
Western Hemisphere, said the Colombian insurgents have at times displaced
Panamanians from their homes. They also go to Panama to rest, he said.
According to reports from the border area, local residents have been
frightened by the guerrillas and also worry that rightist paramilitary forces
may follow the insurgents into the area.
Colombia's civil war has also caused problems along the border with
Venezuela, Wilhelm said, noting that hundreds of Colombians fled to safety in
Venezuela earlier this month. Reports at the time said the Colombians were
fleeing an offensive by paramilitary groups that often collaborate with the
Colombian military.
The Colombian military has been widely portrayed as ineffective in its
efforts to tame the guerrilla movement, but Wilhelm said he is cautiously
optimistic that the armed forces eventually will gain the upper hand. He said
there are plans to increase the number of combat personnel by 15,000 a year
over the next three years.
Wilhelm added that, in a little noticed development recently, Colombian
military units ``boxed the ears'' of the guerrillas on three occasions by
inflicting ``midlevel tactical defeats'' on them.
Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., the subcommittee chairman, offered a less
optimistic view of the situation in Colombia, saying that despite a peace
initiative by President Andres Pastrana, the guerrillas have ``increased
their efforts to undermine peace and stability.''
Coverdell cited estimates that the guerrillas' earn as much as $1.5 billion
from the drug trade.
``The result is a well-funded and well-armed guerrilla movement with little
incentive to compromise against an underfunded and undermanned Colombian
military,'' the senator said.
Coverdell said the United States has a habit of ignoring problems until
action must be taken.
``We fail to engage in a regular, consistent manner - this has been a foreign
policy flaw,'' he said. ``Nowhere is this flaw more evident than in
Colombia.''
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