U.S. Will Resume Sharing Information with Colombia and Peru

INTERNATIONAL January 1995

The Clinton administration approved a plan to begin sharing real-time intelligence information with Peru and Colombia about U.S. radar tracking of flights out of those countries ("U.S., Colombia Resume Fight Against Drugs," Washington Post, Dec. 3, 1994, p. A13; "U.S. Intelligence Sharing With Colombia and Peru to Resume," Drug Enforcement Report, Dec. 8, 1994, p. 7).

The Department of Defense had suspended the information-sharing operation on May 1, 1994 because it was feared that the U.S. might be culpable under international law if Colombia or Peru used the information to shoot down innocent aircraft (see "U.S. Continues to Withhold Real-Time Information on Suspected Andean Drug Flights," NewsBriefs, Aug. 1991, p. 12).

Colombia has promised to take appropriate caution by warning aircraft and making many attempts to identify the flights.