Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-31-Speech-3-131"
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"en.20010131.6.3-131"2
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"Mr President, the European Union should combat the illegal drugs trade and support a genuine peace process in Colombia but it cannot, must not, should not, do so by cooperating with Plan Colombia. This is a barely disguised military strategy, sponsored by the US, whose effect will simply be to escalate the conflict, to aggravate the abuse of human rights and at best displace drug production.
Three quarters of the US contribution to the package is military assistance; only 6% will focus on human rights and only 4% will be put towards helping displaced people. How anyone can argue that this is a plan that will support the peace process is baffling when only 1% of the US contribution is set aside for this specific purpose.
Plan Colombia was not a product of consultation with civil society at a local, national or international level; it was never approved by the Colombian Congress. It has been the object of opposition in every sector of society, local communities, democratically elected governors, the Catholic Church, non-governmental organisations. Support for it would therefore damage the trust and credibility the EU has earned with its projects and in its relations with local communities.
As for aerial spraying, what is proposed is no less than the use of biological weapons. The toxic fungus spray used to kill the coca has been found to have caused fever in local people, to kill cattle and fish and it has been shown to attack the immune system of humans with effects up to and including death. Dr Mondragon, giving evidence in this Parliament earlier this month, showed that the fumigation of 22,000 hectares of illegal crops last year in Colombia did not prevent 38,000 hectares of new cultivation because the problem is one of no alternative for the peasant farmers.
I welcome tonight, Mr Danielsson’s statement that European support will be independent. This Parliament must support his efforts with Swedish NGOs behind the scenes to promote the peace process for all parties involved that was started in Costa Rica. I am very glad that he was representing the Council and not Mr Solana, who scuttled out before the start of the debate, and who so badly misrepresented the EU when at the Madrid meeting last July he made a pre-emptive statement in support of Plan Colombia.
I very much welcome Commissioner Nielson’s commitment tonight to have nothing to do with the military strategy. That is what this Parliament calls for, but he should disown the Commission press statement of September last year which expressed support for the plan.
Mr Salafranca says there is confusion. There is no confusion. It is not an expression of bad faith in President Pastrana and his attempts to pursue the peace process to point out at the same time that he has failed so far to disband the paramilitary groups, to end the abuses by the Colombian Army or to offer proper protection to human rights defenders, 25 of whom have lost their lives in the last three years. Mr Salafranca condemns abuses by left-wing and right-wing groups. He is right to do so but we do not give any succour to the guerrillas, whose abuse of human rights we condemn, when we say that over 75% of human rights abuses are caused by the paramilitaries and the army.
This Plan Colombia is a plan for war not a plan for peace and tonight Europe rejects it completely."@en1
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