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Senator Urges More Conditions on Colombia Aid
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Paul Wellstone speaks to IRP Fellows about aid to Colombia. |
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2001 - The U.S. should place more conditions on military aid being given to Colombia to support its anti-drug war, a leading Democratic senator told IRP Fellows today.
Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said "we ought to make it clear that with the Blackhawk helicopters come human rights conditions. That's how it was supposed to be, but it was all waived by the Clinton administration." The $1.3 billion the US is providing to Colombia is mostly military aid. Wellstone said he met recently with Secretary of State Colin Powell to express his concern about continuing human rights violations by right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia. He also advocated greater efforts to stem the demand for drugs in the United States.
In a wide-ranging talk with IRP Fellows, Wellstone discussed some of his recent initiatives, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, legislation he co-sponsored with Republican Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan). The bill is designed to protect men, women and children who are forced into prostitution or slave labor. It is now considered model legislation by other countries, such as Moldova and Israel, which are interested in passing similar laws.
The legislation emphasizes what Wellstone called the three P's: prevention, protection, and penalties. It calls on the US Agency for International Development and non-governmental organizations to conduct information and outreach campaigns abroad to warn young women, in particular, about the dangers of trafficking.
"Human trafficking is common in countries in economic disarray and places where they don't put a lot of value on women and girls," the senator said. "We need to make sure women and families understand what's going on."
The "protection" aspect of the bill provides victims who come forward to report crimes with a three-year temporary visa to remain in the U.S., which Wellstone said is an improvement on the former policy of automatic deportation of victims of human trafficking. Penalties for trafficking have also increased. A trafficker may now serve anywhere from 20 years to life in prison if caught.
In other comments, Wellstone predicted that questions about the rules governing a global economy would dominate the American political debate in the coming decade. "How do you make the global economy work for working people, work for the environment, work for human rights, in addition to working for large multinational corporations?" These subjects, Wellstone added, will eventually become the "burning issue of American politics."
Copyright © 2005 International Reporting Project. All Rights Reserved.