In the days following the attacks on the World Trade Center, most discussion of American foreign policy has focused on Central Asia and the Middle East. Michael Shifter, the Vice President of the foreign affairs forum Policy for Inter-American Dialogue, worries that US relations with Colombia, a recent hotbed of guerilla violence, will be neglected.

Shifter delivered a lecture yesterday, “Colombia and the New War on Terrorism: Where Do We Go From Here?” at Amherst College’s Converse Hall. The lecture was part of the Amherst College Political Science department’s lectures series, “Latin America and Globalization.”

Shifter began by explaining that, at the time of the September 11 attacks, Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Peru, about to embark on a diplomatic trip to Bogota, Colombia.

“It’s useful to think about what he might have seen,” Shifter said. “He wouldn’t see ethnic and religious conflict like one sees in many parts of the world. He would have encountered violence under a different set of circumstances – an insurgency not seen Colombia in four decades, and paramilitary forces that have emerged because of a weak state that is unable to protect its citizens.”

Shifter described the problems seen in the violence-torn country. “Colombia has 70 percent of the kidnappings in the world – 3,000 last year,” he said. “It is home to a huge number of displaced people – 2 million out of a population of 40 million. It also has an unemployment rate of 20 percent, one of the highest in Latin America.”

Today, the enormous amount of drugs being grown in Colombia has led to the rise of anti-government paramilitary groups, which in many cases resort to terrorism. On September 10, the day before the World Trade Center attacks, the US State Department officially declared the Colombian National Liberation Army, a paramilitary group, a terrorist organization. It joins the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on the State Department’s list of recognized terrorist groups.

American foreign policy has focused mainly on eradicating the trade of drugs. Much of America’s foreign aid to Colombia has gone to its military, which has vowed to stamp out coca production. However, due to recent evidence linking the Colombian military with human rights violations, many have expressed doubts about this course of action.

“There is a measure before Congress now called the Andean Regulation Initiative,” said Shifter. “If passed, $800 million will go to Colombia and surrounding countries. Many people now are wondering, ‘why should we give Colombia more money when it doesn’t appear that the money we have given hasn’t done any good?”

“There are three major questions in my mind,” he said. “The first question – the obvious one – is about drugs. ‘If we’re spending money to eradicate coca, but the price of drugs hasn’t gone up, then why do we continue to go down this road?’ The second question is about human rights. ‘If paramilitary groups have links to the military, and we give to the military, aren’t we contributing to tremendous human rights violations?’ And finally, won’t this drag the US into a mess, similar to what happened in Vietnam?”

Shifter said that, despite many reservations, he was willing to support attempts by the US to back the Colombian military.

“It’s a complicated situation that the US doesn’t know how to respond to,” he said. “The problem is that the state cannot protect its citizens. We have to help those whose job it is to protect them.”

This stance proved unpopular with some of the lecture’s attendees. Farid Benavides, a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, was among those that disagreed.

“When one looks at the pressure for Peru to fight against drugs, one sees human rights violations,” Benavides said. “In Colombia, you see the same thing…aren’t we impeding Colombian democracy?”

Shifter responded that he shared some of Benavides’ concerns, but felt that the ultimate problems in Colombia lie outside of US intervention.

“If the US were to decide to withdraw from Colombia, I don’t think one comes out with a happy picture,” he said. “The problem is still there even if you remove the US.”

Shifter stressed that he felt that the ultimate solution would come from a combination of military and political means.

“I think there has to be a political agreement that is realistic,” he said. “There are doubts in my mind that there’s an agreement that will make everyone happy, but that’s what the government has to aim for.”