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DATE=8/23/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CLINTON-COLOMBIA (L) NUMBER=2-265789 BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: President Clinton has cleared the way for the early delivery of a one-point-three-billion dollar aid package to help Colombian security forces combat drug traffickers. Mr. Clinton, who visits Colombia next week to meet President Andres Pastrana, waived human rights conditions for the program in order to get the assistance moving immediately. Correspondent David Gollust reports from the White House. TEXT: The Pastrana government had only partially met human rights conditions set by Congress for the aid package. But acting on a recommendation from the State Department, Mr. Clinton has signed a waiver allowing him to go ahead with the aid package anyway on national security grounds. The one-point-three-billion dollar aid plan approved by Congress last month will provide training and equipment -- including 60 U-S helicopters -- to anti- drug units of the Colombia military and police, along with funds to strengthen democratic institutions and shore up the country's troubled economy. President Pastrana last week issued a decree calling for military officers accused of human rights abuses to face justice in civilian courts. But his government has yet to meet several other U-S terms, including the prosecution of leaders of paramilitary groups blamed for widespread crimes against civilians. In a talk with reporters here, Mr. Clinton said he believes President Pastrana is committed to dealing with human rights problems and that the aid -- the U-S contribution to Mr. Pastrana's "Plan Colombia" national recovery program -- is urgently needed: /// Clinton Act /// What I did was to permit Plan Colombia to go forward and to be implemented, because I'm convinced that the president is committed to the proper course in human rights, he's submitted legislation which is evidence of that, and because we haven't given up our ability to look into case-by-case allegations of human rights violations dealing with specific military units who can be kept from getting any of this assistance if they have, in fact, committed human rights violations. /// End Act /// Critics of the Colombian government's human rights performance expressed disappointment over Mr. Clinton's release of the aid money. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said the conditions set by the Congress were not too much to ask, given the amount of money involved and the risks inherent in stepped-up U-S involvement there. The Washington-based group, Human Rights Watch, said no funds should be sent until all the conditions are met. Its executive director for the Americas -- Jose Miguel Vivanco -- told V-O-A it is very dangerous for the administration to do business with the Colombian military because of its close ties with the paramilitaries. He also says the U-S package, overall, is too heavily weighted toward military aid and does not provide enough for the reform of Colombian legal institutions: /// Vivanco Act /// I don't think the package, in general, has been well conceived. There's too much and too many resources going to military support and too little for non-military aid. I wish we had seen more support for the institutions -- rather weak institutions, but institutions that are in place in Colombia -- to investigate human rights violations, investigate human rights atrocities in Colombia -- like the attorney-general's office, which is going to receive some support, but not enough. /// End Act /// Mr. Vivanco also says it will be difficult to separate U-S assistance nominally intended for anti-drug efforts from the Colombian military's long-running conflict with leftwing insurgents. President Clinton will fly to Colombia next Wednesday to hold talks with Mr. Pastrana in the port city of Cartagena. He'll be accompanied by Secretary of State Albright and a bipartisan congressional delegation including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, in a visit intended to underscore U-S support for the Pastrana government. (Signed) NEB/DAG/ENE/JP 23-Aug-2000 13:21 PM LOC (23-Aug-2000 1721 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .