22 August 2006
U.S. Official Praises Colombia's Sacrifice in Global Drug War
Fallen Colombian officers hailed for fighting drug traffickers
Washington -- No nation has suffered as much -- or sacrificed more -- in the global war on illegal drugs than Colombia, says Karen Tandy, administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
At an August 15 ceremony in Colombia's capital of Bogotá honoring Colombian police officers killed in the line of duty fighting illegal drugs, Tandy said the DEA considers Colombia and its national police the "centerpiece" of her agency's mission to fight international drug trafficking.
"We cannot save lives and prevent our children from the dangers of drugs without our solid, invaluable partnership" with Colombia, said Tandy.
During the ceremony, Tandy dedicated a plaque at Colombian national police headquarters in memory of the Colombians who put their lives "on the line every day securing your nation's safety and helping create a future of hope and opportunity for all of our children -- both Colombian and American."
The U.S. Embassy in Bogotá reported that during Tandy's August 14-15 visit to Colombia, she expressed her appreciation for the "open lines of communication and intelligence sharing" between the United States and Colombia regarding drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. The embassy also reported that Tandy engaged in discussions with Colombian officials about the emerging problem of methamphetamine in Colombia and the Andean region.
Tandy said the Colombian government has achieved successes that have resulted in record seizures of drugs and assets in Colombia and the extraditions from Colombia of major narcotics traffickers and terrorists to the United States.
Tandy's remarks preceded an August 17 White House statement saying President Bush had authorized the U.S. Department of State to continue assistance to Colombia in carrying out an Airbridge Denial Program (ABD) that targets civil aircraft "reasonably suspected of trafficking in illicit drugs."
The White House said the president's authorization was granted after determining that Colombia "has put in place appropriate procedures to protect against the loss of innocent life in connection with interdiction operations." Among U.S. federal agencies, the State Department takes the lead in coordinating ABD assistance with the government of Colombia. (See related article.)
A recent State Department report says the presence of illegal armed groups in Colombia that participate in the drug trade "compounds the normal problems" associated with narcotics trafficking.
These groups -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the National Liberation Army, and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia -- have been designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations.
The State Department’s 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, released March 1, said these three groups control areas within Colombia with high concentrations of coca and opium poppy cultivation, and "their involvement in narcotics continues to be a major source of violence and terrorism." The section of the report pertaining to Colombia and South America is available on the State Department Web site.
For more on U.S. policy, see Colombia.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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