Americas

September 13, 2000

Brazil nervous over
U.S. aid to Colombia

By Bill Rodgers

RIO DE JANEIRO — The U.S. anti-narcotics aid package to Colombia is causing increasing concern in Brazil — raising fears the Colombian conflict could spill over into Brazil’s Amazon region.

In recent weeks, there have been a growing number of articles in major Brazilian newspapers and magazines warning of the potential dangers for Brazil if the Colombian conflict expands.

The newspaper Jornal do Brasil, for example, published articles Sunday about the possible influx of war refugees into Brazil, and the threat posed to the Amazon environment by a fungus that could be used in Colombia to destroy coca and poppy plants.

But the focus of concern is on the U.S. aid package to Colombia. The United States is providing $1.3 billion as part of a wider Colombian anti-drug strategy called “Plan Colombia.”

Much of the American money will be used to help the Colombian military combat those involved in the drug trade, including leftist guerrilla groups which earn money from drug trafficking. The U.S. military aid has raised the specter of another Vietnam War — this time on the South American continent. This issue was raised at the Brazilian Senate earlier this month, when several lawmakers warned that Brazil faces imminent danger from the U.S. military aid.

Senator Pedro Simon — of the center-left PMDB party — says the U.S. assistance will cause an escalation of the conflict.

“This won't stay in Colombia,” said Simon. “The first impact will be that these people will run into the jungle, but they won’t know where the Colombian jungle ends and the Brazilian jungle begins. So we’re seeing here the start of an operation, of which we know the beginning. It begins with the visit of a U.S. President to Colombia, and with an American check of more than $1 billion to combat drugs. But where it will end, I don’t know.”

Brazil has refused to comment directly on Plan Colombia and the U.S. aid component of the strategy saying only that it supports the Colombian policy of negotiating a peaceful end to its internal conflict.

During a visit to Brasilia last month by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Brazilian officials rebuffed a reported effort to enlist Brazil’s support for Plan Colombia.

At a joint news conference, Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Lampreia said pointedly that Brazil will help Colombia in its peace efforts, but ruled out involvement in what he called “any kind of international action” in Colombia.

Brazilian authorities have taken steps to reinforce the country's 1,600 kilometer border with Colombia by deploying more troops and police to the region. However, analyst David Fleischer, who teaches at the University of Brasilia, says the government does not have the resources to adequately protect the Amazon.

“Brazil is not really prepared militarily to defend its Amazon region,” said Fleischer. “There are some 6,000 troops and federal police officers in close around the northern region, bordering on Venezuela and especially Colombia. But to adequately do the job, Brazil would have to have a lot more troops, a lot more equipment, especially air force to defend its air space.”

Fleischer noted that Brazil is now in the process of upgrading its air force but this will take some five to ten years to be able to have an air force at the level of defending the air space in that region.”

Publicly, U.S. officials downplay the differences between Washington and Brasilia over Colombia but say they do recognize the concern in Brazil over the Colombian situation.

U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Anthony Harrington, says the United States is willing to provide aid to Brazil if the Colombian conflict spills over into Brazilian territory.

“We’re already in very regular and deep dialogue with the Brazilian government regarding the Colombian situation and the efforts there, and we'll be working together to address the common concern that the problems are not moved across the border into Brazil and providing some financial support to Brazil for law enforcement efforts in that regard,” said Harrington.

It is unclear whether this U.S. offer of assistance will be accepted by Brazil, or whether it will help ease the concerns being raised. What is clear is that fear over a wider conflict in Colombia is greater in Brazil than ever before — and is likely to remain this way for some time to come.