U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Quito, Ecuador)

Joint Press Availability with
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
And
Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Relations Heinz Moeller
Carondelet Palace
Quito, Ecuador

August 18, 2000


QUESTION: (in Spanish) A cordial greeting to you, Mrs. Albright.
Various social sectors have criticized the use of the Manta Base as
part of Plan Colombia. On the other hand there are individuals who
request an increase in economic aid to Ecuador, which is now only $20
million. What do you think of these positions? Is the U.S. committed
to increase economic aid and what compensation is foreseen for Ecuador
if displacements and other consequences of Plan Colombia affect it?


SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, let me say that, as I just mentioned, we
signed this agreement on food aid; actually I think that once it (the
food) is sold it will be worth more than 20 million dollars. We
understand the problems of being a neighboring country to Colombia and
we have provided additional money to Ecuador. As a result, we are
providing 20 million dollars in aid under Plan Colombia and we are
looking for additional assistance to help on the northern border and
also $15 million will be available to help displaced people and,
again, we are going to be looking for more there. We also spent a
great deal of time in our discussions discussing the northern border
and understanding the problems of the spillover. I think we have
developed a way to discuss this issue further because I think that it
is essential that the countries surrounding Colombia also be
recognized as having a difficult problem. Let me explain that the
reason the United States decided that it was important to help
Colombia in dealing with narco-trafficking is not just because of what
is happening in Colombia itself, but because by dealing with this very
serious problem there, we hope that it will also help throughout the
region. We understand Ecuador's difficulties and I feel that we have
had a very good discussion about how we can provide more assistance --
not only financial, but in terms of discussions about where we can be
more supportive.


QUESTION: This is a question for Foreign Minister Moeller. Following
up on the last question, have you asked for additional funding for
refugees through Plan Colombia? How much assistance from the U.S.
would you need for this?


MINISTER MOELLER: As a matter of fact, it is not a matter of the
agreement of Ecuador regarding the logistical use of the Manta Base
for fighting narco-trafficking through electronic surveillance. We
feel that it is the moral duty of any country in the world to
participate in this moral war against narco-production and
narco-trafficking. I have discussed many times what Secretary of State
Albright calls the over-flow. I call it metastasis. We believe
strongly in the principle of non-intervention. We believe that
Colombia has the right to fight against narco-production and of course
we endorse the valiant efforts of President Pastrana in trying to
achieve peace with the guerrillas through dialogue. We are going to
accept President Pastrana's invitation and President Noboa will be in
Bogota on the 23rd and 24th of this month in order to have very
transparent, fluent communication by which we can know what is going
to happen with Plan Colombia. We don't want the removal that is
necessary, compulsory of that cancerous tumor in Colombia to cause
metastasis in Ecuador and that is why we have started. Months ago, we
discussed with the United States and with other countries of the
world, the Europeans and also the Japanese, a development program for
our northern area which has nothing to do with Plan Colombia, nothing
to do with anything that you can call Plan Ecuador, because the
situation is different. We don't have narco-production here in
Ecuador; that is a fact. We donīt have guerrillas; we don't have
narco-guerrillas; we don't want to have them. So yes, we are counting
on financial assistance for a program that I call the creation of a
buffer zone in which we could have alternative agricultural,
ecological sanctuaries to defend the Amazon jungle. And of course the
necessary military and police control to avoid the infection, if I may
call it that way. In this vein, we expect to present to the American
administration and to the European Community a program that should be
financed in the line of the shared responsibility that we all have in
fighting this universal disease.


SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Could I just add something on Manta? I think that
it should be viewed as actually a positive in terms of the Ecuadorian
economy because over 60 million dollars in construction upgrades are
taking place there and most of the materials and labor actually come
from Ecuador. And also this is creating a world-class runway there and
that should bring economic benefits to the area. Tourism is growing
there, and the money spent there by U.S. personnel is already helping
-- about 25 million dollars per year -- and that should also result in
more local jobs. I also think it is important to understand that Manta
is part of long-standing regional counter-narcotics cooperation and
not part of Plan Colombia. It is not a U.S. base so I think that there
are a number of misconceptions about it and we obviously did discuss
some aspects of it. I think it is very important for your viewers and
readers to understand what it is and what it is not.


QUESTION: (in Spanish) Good afternoon. President Gustavo Noboa
(end transcript)