Ecuador's Slippery Slope     For a long time in Ecuador the government has said that Plan Colombia has nothing to do with us. And even the concession of the U.S. Base at Manta was not going to affect us because this was only to monitor drug trafficking. But it's an advanced military base with high technology which is the eyes and ears of Plan Colombia. From there they are going to control the operations. Hopefully they're not going to be any bombings.      As a result of this we can't deny that we're now in Plan Colombia through our base. The government has said it opposes regionalization of Plan Colombia but it's already a fact. It's a matter of how to manage it. We can't say we're against regionalization when we have the base at Manta as one of the pillars of Plan Colombia. The political discourse has been deceiving. The Need for a Comprehensive Andean Response      The majority of our energy in Ecuador is going to go toward confronting the effects. We have to do that as an emergency response but it isn't going to solve anything. Until we solve the root causes this is going to continue and Plan Colombia is going to be here a long time. They're talking about ten years.      We as human rights people believe that the military solution is not going to work. The reductions (in coke production) that were achieved in Peru and Bolivia resulted in increases in Colombia. If they decide to reduce production in Colombia it will relocate somewhere else. This is not going to resolve the problem. And there's going to be an unprecedented damage to the people and the land.      Our position would be that the U.S.-Colombia devised approach of controlling drug trafficking is defining the course of all the Andean Region. What is needed is an alternative relationship such as the US together with the Andean Region. I also think Brazil would be interested. I think this would be a more viable alternative. We at least we would have some say in this. Because while we depend on what's agreed to by the U.S. and Colombia we don't have anything. We have to accept what they have decided. In addition to the social control factors there's also the natural resources. In the Putomayo area there's a lot of petroleum and it is crucial to controlling the Amazon Basin. This would include the bio diversity and the water resources. The threat of a regional arms race is also a harmful factor. The $1.3 billion for the Colombian Army; that is going to make the Colombian army the strongest army in the area. And its going to cause an arms buildup in the other countries. This will bring more problems, hopefully not border conflicts. But maybe it will increase the internal repression. Increased Power for Ecuador's Military     Traditionally the face of repression in Ecuador has been the police which is not the the case in the other countries. Traditionally it has been the army. But lately the military has been given the role of maintaining internal order which isn't its role. This is also harmful. There's a recent problem that the Ecuadoran military is detaining Colombians. This is not their function. It should be the police that arrests these people if they've committed a crime. They're detaining Colombians for being Colombians. In some cases there have been complaints of torture. I have heard of seven cases but these still have to be investigated and documented. More