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Before the House International Relations Committee
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
June 28, 2001
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to be here to briefly summarize the U.S. Agency for International Development's role in the Andean Regional Initiative and progress to date in implementing Plan Colombia. I request that my prepared statement be included in the hearing record.
USAID's program directly supports a comprehensive, integrated approach to our Andean counter drug strategy by balancing the interdiction and eradication efforts of other agencies with social and economic development assistance. Our experience demonstrates that no single facet of our counter drug program can be successful without the other two also being effectively applied.
The Andean Regional Initiative, like our support for Plan Colombia, maintains a belief that the problems of drugs and violence will not be solved in any sustained way unless the fundamental causes of these problems are also addressed. Democratic institutions must become stronger, more responsive, more inclusive and more transparent. The presence of government in rural areas must increase and provide better services to the rural poor, and give them a stake in the future, and improve the quality of life. The justice system must be more accessible and efficient, must reduce impunity, and the human rights environment must improve. Unless the problem of widespread corruption is solved, and legal employment opportunities are created to absorb the high number of unemployed, these fundamental causes and their effects on the region and on America's national interests will be with us for a long time to come.
But addressing these tough issues is going to take time. They will require a sustained commitment and interest on the part of the U.S. Government. The Andean Regional Initiative proposes that USAID manage $390 million in FY 2002 funds. This initiative expands many of our existing programs in response to the changing circumstances in the region. USAID assistance will be directed in three main areas: first, strengthening democracy; second, economic growth through trade enhancement and poverty reduction; and third, alternative development.
Strengthening Democracy
In order to strengthen democracy in the region, we propose to commit $59.3 million in FY 2002. USAID will assist in court administration and training of judges, institutionalizing the public defender system, and working with NGOs and other interested groups to provide greater oversight and participation in judicial reform.
We are helping human rights groups increase their capacity to document abuses and monitor individual cases. In Colombia, our activities are designed to help prevent massacres with the development of an early warning system. We also have programs directly aimed at the protection of human rights workers and union leaders.
We are and will continue to strengthen local governments by training mayors and council members.
We are working to strengthen the ability to expose corrupt practices and investigate and prosecute corrupt officials and very importantly, make citizens realize they have the right to demand accountability from their governments.
Social and Economic Development
The second major area of emphasis for USAID assistance will be economic growth, trade enhancement and poverty reduction, for which we propose $123. All of the economies in the region have struggled over the last few years, and continue to be vulnerable to setbacks.
USAID assistance will directly support the countries' poverty reduction strategies, including macroeconomic policy and banking reform; employment generation, support for microenterprise; and trade capacity development.
We will also continue health programs in Peru and Bolivia, and we will pay specific attention to education, including an Andean regional Center for Excellence for teacher training as announced by the President in Quebec at the Summit of the Americas.
Protection of their natural resources, and helping rehabilitate environmental damage from coca cultivation will also receive attention.
Alternative Development
Our third and largest area of attention is expanding our work in alternative development for which we are proposing $207 mn. After a decade of work in Bolivia and in Peru, we know that alternative development works.
In Colombia, we are seeing that the risk of illegal coca production is credible, as evidenced by the fact that over 24,000 farmers have lined up to sign coca crop eradication agreements in just the last three months.
In Peru and Bolivia, we are concentrating on sustaining the dramatic advances made in these countries in coca eradication. We want to help these governments and these farmers withstand the temptation to slide back under the shadow of narcotics production. In Ecuador, USAID will expand two key initiatives along the northern border with Colombia.
Let me conclude by saying that the Andean Regional Initiative should be viewed as the national program in each of the affected countries, responding to their priorities and problems. They are the ones that are going to have to make this work. Our role is one of facilitating the process, and we will be working along with them over the next several years in this effort.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to outline our programs, and I would be pleased to respond to any of your questions.
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