PLAN COLOMBIA IS TURNING THE TIDE

Three years after the United States signed on to Plan Colombia, we are
beginning to turn the tide on narcoterrorism in Colombia. According to
the United Nations, the area devoted to coca cultivation has decreased
by 30 percent, curbing the flow of illegal drugs into the United
States. Before Plan Colombia, the country was overwhelmed by the
increasing threat of narco-terrorist groups on democracy and human
rights. Now the dynamic of the conflict has changed significantly,
thanks to U.S. aid and the resilience of the Colombian people.

Plan Colombia is designed to address many of the threats to Colombian
democracy, of which drug trafficking and terrorism are the most
serious. The plan aims to strengthen Colombian institutions, create
alternative development opportunities for coca peasants and offer
humanitarian aid to the victims of violence endemic to the drug trade.

The rationale behind this initiative was an acknowledgement that both
consuming and producing nations bear responsibility for the terrorism
and violence that stem from the international drug business.

This cooperation, which started under the Pastrana and Clinton
administrations, has continued between Presidents George W. Bush and
Alvaro Uribe and is reflected in the many thousands of Colombians and
Americans who work side-by-side to defeat drugs and terror. Bipartisan
support in the U.S. Congress for Plan Colombia has been a key element
for the plan's continued success.

Both our countries have invested significant funds in this program. To
date, the U.S. aid has provided more than $2.5 billion in military,
economic and humanitarian assistance, and by the end of this year,
Colombian taxpayers will have contributed more than $4 billion to this
end.

Our armed forces and civilian population are determined to defeat
terrorist groups, despite the high cost in personal sacrifice. It is
inspiring to hear soldiers who have recently been injured in combat --
often having lost limbs to land-mines -- say that, given a second
chance, they would still enlist in the army to fight for Colombia's
democracy. There is also a heightened awareness about the importance
of respecting human rights even as the fight to defeat terrorist
groups intensifies.

The statistics under Plan Colombia are impressive:

* We have eliminated more than 155,610 acres of coca, and by year's
end, we will have met our initial target of eradicating 50 percent of
coca production one year ahead of schedule. During the past two years,
more than 800 tons of cocaine have been seized, representing an
estimated street value of $3 billion, and more than 1,000 coca
laboratories have been destroyed.

* Nearly one million Colombians have received direct assistance
under Plan Colombia, including healthcare, education and nutritional
aid for children. Roads and highways have been built to integrate the
most remote and war-torn areas of the country. About 30,000 new jobs
have been created in these areas, and 350 infrastructure projects such
as schools, health clinics, water-treatment facilities and sewer
systems have been completed. More than 20,000 farmers have agreed to
give up growing coca and have in turn received land to grow
alternative legal crops.

* Homicides decreased by 25 percent during the first quarter of 2003
when compared with the same period last year, and kidnappings declined
by 33 percent over the same period. In May alone, kidnappings
decreased by 54 percent as compared with last year's statistics for
that month.

Colombia's commitment is unwavering. The government is increasing
defense spending by more than two points of GDP over the next three
years and will continue to increase state and military presence
nationwide. The number of drug traffickers sent by the Colombian
government to face trial in the United States keeps rising; no other
country in the hemisphere is working as closely with the United States
on judicial matters.

The first signs of sustainable recovery are surfacing, providing
evidence that Plan Colombia is meeting its goal of revitalizing an
economy that has been suffering from its first recession in 70 years.
The Colombian economy expanded by 3.8 percent in the first quarter of
2003, and inflation remains low. The government's fiscal deficit is
declining, and exports -- benefiting from a renewed and expanded
Andean Trade Preferences Act -- increased 34 percent in the first
quarter of 2003 over last year.

Expanding bilateral trade has never been more crucial to Colombia's
long-term economic and political security. A free-trade agreement with
the United States could bear the fruit for decades that Plan
Colombia's aid money has seeded in recent years.

Colombia's strength is its national resolve in the face of adversity.
There is strong support in Colombia for cooperation with the United
States as well as for President Uribe's brand of zero tolerance for
drug trafficking and terrorism. Plan Colombia is resulting in less
drugs coming to America's streets and schools while making Colombia a
safer place day by day, road by road, town by town.
~~~~~~~~~
Luis Alberto Moreno is ambassador of Colombia to the United States