US considers boosting aid for Colombia

Some 3,500 people die each year in Colombia's war

The United States Congress has approved a proposal which could expand US military involvement in Colombia.

It follows concerns over an intensification of fighting between the Colombian Government and the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) following the collapse of peace talks.

Colombia's peace talks have collapsed

Colombia is one of the main recipients of US aid, but under current law it can only be used to tackle drug-traffickers, not against the left-wing rebels who the Americans consider to be terrorists.

About 3,500 people die each year in Colombia's 38-year-old civil war.

The resolution, passed by the House of Representatives, is non-binding.

It invites President George W Bush to change US law to allow greater US involvement in Colombia.

Vietnam analogy

"It may be necessary for us to give the government of Colombia additional support that is outside the counter-narcotics basket, in order that they are able to deal with this threat to their survival as a nation, this threat to their economic well-being," said Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Mr Powell said the recent decision of Colombian President Pastrana to attack FARC - the military moved into the rebels' safe haven - had led to a review within the US administration of what the US could do to help.

But correspondents say it is likely to generate heated debate about the distinction between tackling America's main supply of drugs and interfering in a foreign conflict.

Opponents of the policy of sending military aid to Colombia warn that American involvement in Vietnam started with military advisers.