DATE=5/4/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=COLOMBIA DRUGS - PART 2
NUMBER=5-46265
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=RIO DE JANEIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Colombia's largest leftist rebel group says it
too wants to work to stop drug trafficking in the South
American nation -- even though the guerrillas finance
their struggle from revenues generated by the drug
trade. V-O-A's Bill Rodgers, who spoke with top rebel
commanders recently, reports on what the guerrillas are
proposing as alternatives to a joint U-S--Colombian
anti-drug strategy in the Andean nation.
TEXT: Colombia - with American help, if the U-S
Congress concurs - is launching a major anti-narcotics
campaign aimed at eradicating cocaine and other drug
production. The Andean nation is now the world's
leading supplier of cocaine - producing an estimated
500 tons of the drug a year. Cultivation of coca - the
plant that provides the raw material for making cocaine
- has doubled over the past five years.
A lot of this cultivation takes place in areas
controlled by Colombia's armed groups, of both left and
right. These guerrillas and rightwing paramilitary
groups provide protection to drug rings in return for
income which they use to finance their operations.
Colombian drug expert Sergio Uribe says this
relationship has blurred the distinction between the
guerrillas and drug traffickers.
/// URIBE ACT ///
The decomposition of Colombian society is so
grotesque that here it is very difficult to
separate a guerrilla from a drug trafficker, a
paramilitary from a drug trafficker, a drug
trafficker from either one of the two - they use
whatever they need to make money.
/// END ACT ///
Colombia's oldest and largest leftist rebel movement,
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC,
openly acknowledges it receives money from taxing the
drug trade. But FARC commanders also say they want to
help eliminate drug trafficking. A top FARC leader,
Ivan Rios, says the drug trade will only be stopped if
the country addresses its social problems.
/// FIRST RIOS SPANISH ACT WITH TRANSLATION ///
We too can help with part of the drug problem but
we say, in the first place, it has to be part of
dealing with Colombia's social problems.
Colombia - being one of the richest countries in
the world, in terms of resources, is one of the
most unequal. So we have huge numbers of
families, some 500-thousand families, dedicated
to growing only coca, opium poppies and some
marijuana. They are not drug traffickers, they
are peasant farmers, good people. What they need
is a social solution.
/// END ACT ///
To this end, the rebel group is proposing a pilot
project in a municipality in southern Colombia (Eds:
Cartagena del Chaira) to persuade peasant farmers to
grow alternative crops. The municipality, which is a
major coca-growing center, is inside a huge
demilitarized zone that was created in late 1998 to
permit the opening of peace talks between the FARC and
the government of President Andres Pastrana.
FARC commander Rios says the proposed project -- which
would require government approval and funding from the
international community -- would be a wide-ranging
development program to improve living conditions in the
municipality. Its aim, he tells V-O-A, would be to
show that this method would work better than the
eradication plans being contemplated by the Colombian
and U-S governments.
/// SECOND RIOS SPANISH ACT WITH TRANSLATION ///
Let's develop a pilot project there, and we will
show that we have the authority and the influence
over the community so that working together we
can initiate a development project that will
eliminate coca production without the need for
fumigation, for violence, or to prosecute anyone.
We will show that with a development project
there can be a substitution of coca cultivation.
///END ACT///
The FARC's proposals are aimed countering plans by the
United States and Colombia to substantially increase
eradication efforts. Washington is proposing a one-
point-six billion dollar aid package for Colombia,
which among other things would provide equipment,
helicopters, and military training to the Colombian
security forces to help them win the drug war.
The FARC says this military aid will be directed
against them. However, U-S and Colombian officials say
stopping drug trafficking is the objective - adding
that a key component of their anti-narcotics program is
promoting alternative crop development.
Colombian Interior Minister Nestor Humberto Martinez
says his government is examining the FARC proposal for
setting up a pilot project in the demilitarized zone.
He tells V-O-A the Pastrana government also wants to
emphasize economic development in its multi-billion
dollar anti-drug strategy called Plan Colombia.
/// MARTINEZ SPANISH ACT WITH TRANSLATION ///
In the past, we've placed a lot of emphasis on
fumigation but very little on alternative
development projects. This is the first time
that we are proposing massive alternative
development programs accompanied by fumigation so
that the peasant farmers can benefit from an
integrated program to develop infrastructure,
health, education, and alternative crops that can
provide real income.
/// END ACT ///
The Interior Minister's comments - with the exception
of fumigation -- mirror what the FARC is saying. The
rebels object to fumigation because they say the
chemicals destroy the environment and drive coca
farmers deeper into the jungle to cultivate their
illicit crops.
/// OPT ///
But the need to eliminate illegal drugs appears to be
an issue both sides agree on. FARC commander Ivan Rios
says the whole country would benefit if this happens.
///THIRD RIOS SPANISH ACT WITH TRANSLATION ///
If we can solve this problem, we will surely
reduce the other problems of this country. What
interests us is to solve the country's problems.
We're not here just to make war, this is not
true. What we want is for this to be solved, but
it won't be solved by bringing people down but by
giving people dignity, and allowing that all
people benefit from what this country has. That
is the solution.
/// END ACT ///
/// END OPT ///
While the Colombian government and the FARC appear to
agree on the need to eliminate drugs, they are still
far from reaching a peace agreement that would end the
decades-long conflict. Fierce fighting continues
outside the demilitarized zone while at the same time
drug trafficking increases in the midst of the violence
and chaos. Meanwhile in Washington, the Clinton
Administration is pressing the Senate to approve the
anti-narcotics aid package - warning that Colombian
democracy is in danger. (Signed)
Neb/wfr/gm
04-May-2000 17:12 PM EDT (04-May-2000 2112 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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