DATE=5/3/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=COLOMBIA DRUGS - PART 1
NUMBER=5-46256
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=RIO DE JANEIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
//Editors - re-issuing to put the correct number on
this CR, should be 5-46256 not 5-46257.//
///EDS: SPANISH ACT IN BUBBLE///
INTRO: As Washington moves closer to approving
increased anti-narcotics aid for Colombia, the debate
grows over the involvement of leftist guerrillas and
other armed groups in the drug trade. V-O-A's Bill
Rodgers, who was in Colombia recently, has the first of
several background reports on Colombia's drug problem.
TEXT: Colombia for years has been a dominant factor in
the drug trade - especially cocaine. At first, the
Andean nation was the center of two major drug cartels
- the Cali and Medellin organizations - which brought
coca base from Boliva and Peru, processed it into
cocaine, and then smuggled the drug into the United
States. But these cartels were eventually dismantled
- and by the mid-1990's they were replaced by scores of
smaller drug dealers.
Colombian drug expert Sergio Uribe says the rise of the
smaller drug rings makes enforcement a lot more
difficult.
/// URIBE ACT ///
Upon the displacement of these cartels we have a
wholly new situation, which I describe as the
"democratization" of drug trafficking in
Colombia. That is, now we don't have six people
controlling this trafficking -- we have 150 to
200 small cartels...it's a lot more difficult to
catch these people, it's a lot more difficult to
control these people. Trafficking has become a
nightmare for the U-S government, for every
government.
/// END ACT ///
Enforcement is further complicated because Colombia now
is the major producer of coca - the plant that provides
the raw material for making cocaine. It is estimated
the South American nation grows or processes 500 tons
of cocaine a year, or some 90-percent of the world's
supply.
/// OPT /// The cultivation of opium poppies - to make
heroin - also is on the rise. Colombia now produces an
estimated six-tons of heroin a year - in a nation that
a decade ago did not produce a single gram of heroin.
/// END OPT ///
Drug production and trafficking flourishes in Colombia
in large part because the dealers are protected by
various armed groups - including leftist guerrillas and
rightwing paramilitary organizations. U-S ambassador
Curtis Kamman says they earn much-needed income from
the illegal drug trade.
/// KAMMAN ACT ///
There's a lot of discussion about whether the
guerrillas are the same as the narcotraffickers
and similarly for the paramilitaries. I think
the answer there is that the narcotraffickers are
the people who are engaged in an international
criminal enterprise. The guerrillas offer them
armed protection for the things they need, their
raw materials and the production of drugs in
their laboratories, and the guerrillas get
tremendous income from selling their protection.
/// END ACT ///
Chief among these groups is the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, FARC -- the largest and oldest
leftist rebel movement in the country. With at least
17-thousand fighters, the FARC operates throughout the
country - and now controls a huge demilitarized zone in
southern Colombia that was set up in 1998 to provide a
neutral territory for holding peace talks.
The U-S and Colombian governments say drug production
and trafficking has increased substantially in this
demilitarized zone, and in other areas of southern
Colombia dominated by the rebels.
But FARC commanders say they are simply offering
protection to poor peasant farmers who have no
alternative but to grow coca because they have no other
way to make a living. Ivan Rios - a top member of the
FARC - acknowledges the FARC earns money from the drug
trade.
///RIOS SPANISH WITH ENGLISH VOICEOVER///
We charge a tax on all major economic activities,
not only the cocaine trade - because we're
involved in an armed conflict and if the other
side imposes taxes, so do we. Also, we are in
zones where there is coca cultivation because we
are in zones where there is misery and poverty.
We are not the anti-narcotics police, so we are
not going to make enemies of the farmers because
one day they could be shooting at us. They are
the ones who are going hungry, and it's the only
way they can make a living.
/// END ACT ///
/// OPT /// Mr. Rios adds the FARC is willing to work
with the Colombian government to eliminate the drug
trade, once there is land reform and sufficient
resources are made available to peasant farmers so they
can grow other crops. /// END OPT ///
But for now, the emphasis is on combating drug
trafficking. Washington wants to provide one-point-six
billion dollars over two years to Colombia to help its
security forces eradicate coca and poppy production.
The aid would include more than 60 helicopters, and
training for the Colombian military to secure
guerrilla-controlled areas to allow police to destroy
the drugs. The United States would also provide money
for alternative crop development and other programs to
help Colombian farmers.
However, the aid package's focus on military measures
to combat drug trafficking is proving controversial -
with some in Colombia expressing fears that the United
States may become more directly involved in the
country's affairs. U-S and Colombian officials vow
this will not happen. But the FARC believes otherwise,
and warns it is preparing to meet any eventual
aggression.
/// OPT /// In our next report on the Colombian drug
situation, we'll hear some of the proposals by the FARC
to eradicate drug production. /// End OPT ///
(Signed)
NEB/WFR/ENE/gm
03-May-2000 23:08 PM EDT (04-May-2000 0308 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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