-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- > http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com/stories/A16730-2000Feb22.html > > Big Guns Back Aid To Colombia > Well-financed U.S. lobby seeks relief from drug wars > > Sam Loewenberg, Legal Times, February 23, 2000 > > Nothing in Washington ever happens in a vacuum. And the Clinton > administration's recent proposal to give Colombia $1.3 billion in aid to > help combat drug trafficking is no exception. > > For almost a year, a business consortium of blue-chip multinationals has > been pressing the White House and Capitol Hill for such a package. The > assistance, the companies say, is needed to help the war-torn Latin > American country beat back a growing illegal drug trade that is making it > difficult to do business. > > Through the U.S.-Colombia Business Partnership -- founded in 1996 to > represent U.S. companies with interests in Colombia -- the Occidental > Petroleum Corp., the Enron Corp., BP Amoco, the Colgate-Palmolive Co., and > others played an important part in pressing the administration and Congress > for the aid. The business partnership is now actively pushing the Clinton > initiative. > > "Right now, you see a confluence of interests," says Lawrence Meriage, > Occidental's vice president for public affairs and the company's point man > on Colombia. "The members [of Congress] expressed concern about drugs, and > from our perspective here, they are certainly disruptive of any normal > business relationship." > > Occidental, which claims that a company oil project in Colombia has lost > $100 million since 1995 because of terrorist activity, formally made its > case last week. Meriage testified before the House Government Reform > Subcommittee on Drug Policy. The hearing also featured White House drug > czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, three > high-ranking administration officials, and two former ambassadors -- all of > whom testified in favor of the aid. > > Occidental, which is taking the lead, and the other members of the > consortium "are really appreciative of what we are doing in getting rid of > the narco-traffickers," says McCaffrey spokesman Robert Weiner. "It is > going to mean that all of their businesses are going to flourish." > > Other U.S. companies will also see a jump in their bottom line if the aid > package goes through. > > Of the $1.3 billion package, the largest chunk is earmarked for helicopter > purchases. The United States would buy 30 Black Hawks, at a total cost of > more than $360 million, from the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of > the United Technologies Corp. In addition, Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. > stands to earn about $66 million from the sale of 33 Hueys. > > The size of the aid package -- and the emphasis on military equipment -- is > raising concerns among human rights advocates. > > >From their perspective, the aid plan is misguided. Instead of pulling up > stakes and setting up business elsewhere, they note, members of the > business partnership are pushing the U.S. government to stem the violence > that is making it difficult for their businesses to thrive in the region. > That type of involvement, human rights advocates claim, will ensnare the > United States in the bloody Colombian civil war that has raged 40 years. > > "There is increasingly multinational investment in very conflicted areas > where there is heavy paramilitary violence and evidence that it is > supported by the Colombian military," says Winifred Tate, a Colombia expert > in the Washington Office of Latin America, a liberal interest group that > advocates for human rights in Latin America. > > Some conservatives who support the aid package have different concerns. > They question why the administration has stocked the package with so many > of the costly Black Hawks, which cost seven times more than Bell > Helicopter's Hueys. > > Sikorsky, based in Stratford, Conn., is in the district of Rep. Sam > Gejdenson, the ranking member of the House International Relations > Committee. Connecticut is also home to Sen. Christopher Dodd, the ranking > member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Narcotics. > > Some of these Republicans wonder whether the administration chose > Sikorsky's Black Hawks, in part, to gain the support of the company's > powerful home-state Democrats -- politicians who have traditionally opposed > such military-type aide to foreign countries. > > Former Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.), who is pitching in to help his old > colleagues lobby to pass the plan, says gaining the support of Dodd and > Gejdenson was "absolutely crucial." While he feels that the two Democrats > genuinely believe in the anti-drug plan, Solomon says that appealing to a > member's home state loyalties is a common tactic. > > "Let's face it, any time you are dealing with an issue like this, and you > are talking about hardware and jobs in your district, it makes a difference > certainly," he says. "Sure they are trying to give them more incentive to > make them a stronger supporter. It's all part of the game." > > Sikorsky's parent company, United Technologies, has given significantly to > both members. Since 1997, Gejdenson has received $19,000 and Dodd has taken > in $33,200 from the company, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. > > Spokesmen for Dodd and Gejdenson, who opposed military intervention in > Latin America during the 1980s, said that neither member was influenced by > the selection of a home-state company. > > "It is absurd that you can't be supportive of human rights and a peace > process and at the same time acknowledge that this is a serious narcotic > problem that requires us to give adequate equipment and training to the > Colombian police and military who have to fight drug traffickers day after > day," says Dodd spokesman Marvin Fast. > > Gejdenson's spokesman echoed that sentiment. > > RINGING THE BELL > > Bell Helicopter, based in Fort Worth, Texas, claims its own powerful allies > on the Hill. > > "The entire Texas Delegation is working this issue," says a company > spokesperson, who declined to be identified. > > That includes Rep. Martin Frost, chairman of the Democratic Congressional > Campaign Committee, and Republican House members Dick Armey, the majority > leader, and Whip Tom DeLay. > > The company also has an outside lobbyist with good Latin American > credentials -- Tony Gillespie, former U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Chile, > and Grenada. > > Although the two helicopter manufacturers are both working to get the aid > package approved, their interests are not completely synchronized. Sikorsky > and Bell Helicopter have been waging separate lobbying campaigns in an > attempt to increase their share of the pie. > > The sale of 30 or more Black Hawks would be a boon to Sikorsky, which has > orders for only six helicopters from the U.S. Army this year, down from 19 > last year, according to defense industry expert Bill Hartung of the World > Policy Institute, a New York think tank affiliated with New School University. > > The company's luck took a fortuitous turn late last year, after Sen. Dodd > traveled to Colombia to meet with that nation's officials to discuss the > administration's aid proposal. > > A Dodd spokeswoman says the senator discussed the aid package with the > officials, but did not discuss helicopter purchases specifically. After > Dodd left, the Colombians announced they would buy six Black Hawks on their > own. > > The streak continued when the Colombian government received support in the > form of financing for the helicopters from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an > Ex-Im spokesperson said. > > The Ex-Im Bank is prohibited by its charter from lending for military > purchases. But the bank was given a special exemption by the State > Department, the spokesperson said. > > And recently, Sikorsky got some valuable, free advertising from an unusual > source. > > Drug czar McCaffrey opposed giving Black Hawks to Colombia in 1998 -- he > says he thought the United States had not committed to providing enough of > the machines to benefit the country. But he now seems like one of the > helicopter's biggest fans. > > "These are the best helicopters in the world. The next time you see me, > I'll probably be peddling them, I hope," McCaffrey cracked at the hearing > last week before the House Subcommittee on Narcotics. McCaffrey's spokesman > later emphasized that the general was kidding and had no plans to work for > Sikorsky. > > For Occidental, the military aid comes at a crucial time, following massive > disruption from attacks on its facilities. The company already pays the > Colombian government to keep an army base next to its refinery to protect > against attacks. But, Meriage says, the Colombian government itself needs > help. > > "We could not survive in these remote areas without the protection of the > Colombian military," Meriage, the Occidental vice president, says. Meriage > equates the guerrillas to the drug-traffickers -- "the two are inseparable > now," he says -- as does the U.S. government's plan. > > TRIBAL TRAUMA > > While Occidental has its problems with the guerrillas, an indigenous tribe > in Colombia has its problems with the oil company. Members of the U'Wa say > that the company wants to drill oil -- which they consider sacred -- on > their land. They threaten to commit mass suicide if the company goes > through with its plan. Three U'Wa children reportedly drowned earlier this > month during a demonstration trying to block the drilling, according to > Amazon Watch, a human rights group. > > Some human rights activists, including the Amazon Coalition, criticize Vice > President Al Gore Jr. for not backing the tribe and suggest that his > longtime ties to Occidental may be coloring his views of the situation. > > "Occidental is the political patron of Al Gore," says Steve Kretzmann, a > San Francisco-based member of the U'Wa Defense Working Group, a human > rights group lobbying Congress on the tribe's behalf. > > According to the D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity, Gore's father, the > late Sen. Albert Gore Sr., was a member of Occidental's board and the > company has paid the vice president's family $20,000 a year since the 1960s > for unused mineral rights on his land. Occidental, the center reports, has > also contributed hundreds of thousands to Gore and the Democratic National > Committee. > > Gore did not respond to two telephone calls seeking comment. > > Drug policy and human rights questions aside, the bottom line for most of > the businesses pushing for the aid package is their own bottom line. "It's > business for us, and we are as aggressive as anybody," said one Bell > Helicopter lobbyist. "I'm just trying to sell helicopters." > > Copyright )2000 NLP IP Company -- American Lawyer Media. All > rights reserved. TO SUBSCRIBE to wilpf-news send a blank message to ____________________________________________ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! 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