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US offers Ecuador aid for Colombia border security
( 2001-06-30 11:16 ) (7 )

The United States has pledged to give Ecuador US$90 million during 2002 to help it beef up security along its border with Colombia, an Ecuadorean presidential statement said on Friday.

The US$90 million is part of US$750 million earmarked by the US administration for the Andean nation under a regional coca eradication program.

The announcement came two days after Ecuador's President Gustavo Noboa and his military leaders urged the commander in chief of the US Southern Command to help expedite delivery of US$12 million in promised US military equipment they said they need to defend the 385-mile (620-km) border with Colombia.

"Forty-five percent of the funds will be destined to reinforce security in the five northern border provinces and the remainder will be spent on the alternative development program," the presidential bulletin stated. The alternative development program refers to initiatives that pay farmers to plant crops other than coca, the source of cocaine.

Under former President Bill Clinton, the United States committed almost US$1.3 billion in mostly military aid for Colombian President Andres Pastrana's "Plan Colombia" -- a US$7.5 billion plan to destroy the nation's coca fields.

Friday's statement did not give details of the kind of security measures covered by the funds although Noboa and his military leaders asked US Gen. Peter Pace at Wednesday's meeting to try to speed along delivery of US$12 million in helicopters and other equipment.

Colombia's 37-year-old war has claimed 40,000 lives and threatens to spill over into border regions like Ecuador's Sucumbios, Esmeraldas, Orellana, Napo and Carchi provinces.