NARCOTICS PLAN WIDENS FOCUS

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration's $882 million
drug-fighting proposal for South American nations directs more
attention to social and economic programs than last year's
military-heavy program.

State Department officials, revealing details of the proposal
Wednesday, said the plan also widens the focus from Colombia to its
neighbors and strikes a more balanced approach than previous attempts
to curb regional narcotics trafficking.

The United States provided Colombia $1.3 billion in aid last year,
mostly in combat helicopters and other military assistance. Bordering
countries soon sought similar U.S. aid as they detected Colombian
narcotics producers moving in and other effects of ``Plan Colombia''
spilling over their borders.

``In a more perfect world, we obviously would have wanted to have
provided a larger amount of support and assistance for other
countries in other parts of the region in the course of last year,''
said William Brownfield, a deputy assistant secretary of state
dealing with Western Hemisphere matters.

Last year's money focused on ``the heart of the problem,'' the first
step in a multiyear effort, he said.

``It was our calculation at that time that if we had to start with a
smaller package than what we would have wanted in a perfect world,
the place to start was Colombia,'' Brownfield said.

Unlike last year's package, which emphasized law enforcement, this
year's $882 million proposal roughly bisects the funding, half for
security and half for economic and social programs providing jobs and
services and strengthening democracy.

The proposal also provides only 45 percent of the aid, or about $399
million, to Colombia. The remainder goes to its neighbors: Bolivia,
Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

Peru saw its coca cultivation increase in 2000 for the first time in
recent years, said Rand Beers, assistant secretary of state for
international narcotics and law enforcement.

``While the eradication effort there outstripped this new coca, it is
a troubling feature of the drug environment there, and we want to
ensure that it does not become a significant factor,'' he said.

Beers would not comment on whether the increase reflects a need to
re-establish U.S. ties to an interdiction program in which Peru
shoots down suspected drug planes. The program led to the deaths last
month of a U.S. missionary and her infant daughter who were killed
when their plane was shot down after initially being identified as a
possible drug flight.