COLOMBIA BLAMES U.S. FOR DRUG PROBLEM

Bogata, Colombia - There are plenty of ways to interpret "Traffic," the
Oscar-winning, labyrinthine drug war docudrama film. But in Colombia, where
the film was just released, one stands out: vindication.

Few countries have done as much to fight drugs, with less recognition for
the effort, than Colombia. Three presidential candidates, dozens of judges
and hundreds of police officers have been killed in the largely U.S.-backed
war on drugs.

Nevertheless, Colombians complain that they are seen abroad as a nation of
drug dealers, corrupt politicians and violent thugs.

Thus, for many Colombians, the most rewarding part of director Steven
Soderbergh's film is its emphasis on U.S. demand as the evil twin to
Colombia's production.

"If you ask who is responsible for the problem with drugs, the answer is,
'The U.S.,' " said Ricardo Rincon, who watched the movie with his son at a
Bogota shopping mall on a recent weekday night. "Without demand, there is
no production. Without demand, there wouldn't be a problem."

Theaters have been packed since "Trafico" had its debut earlier this week.
At a recent showing, the tense silence was broken only once, by scornful
laughter, when several people in the crowd laughed out loud at a character
who referred dismissively to the idea that addicts need treatment.

Colombians long have considered the United States blind to its own role in
the drug trade, ready to deliver guns, money and lofty rhetoric but
unwilling to confront the problem of drug consumption on its own turf.

As a result, there is a lingering suspicion here that the U.S. doesn't take
its obligations in the "War on Drugs" very seriously, content to let
Colombia and other drug-producing countries do the dirty work. Former
President Clinton's recent pardon of various drug traffickers was seen as
the height of hypocrisy.

For many Colombians, the U.S.-backed Plan Colombia is the latest evidence
of this blind spot. The expensive plan to cut cocaine production in this
country generally has been welcomed by Colombians, who believe the $1.3
billion in aid will strengthen its police and army and help re-establish
order within its own borders.

But few people believe that the destruction of Colombia's vast plantations
of cocaine will result in the disappearance of America's vast numbers of
drug users.

Instead, there is widespread belief that the eradication of drugs in
Colombia would only shift cocaine production, and its violence, to
neighboring countries. That would leave Colombia's problem solved but ours
intact.

Besides the focus on demand, the film has struck a nerve here in another
way. By tracing the lives of several characters touched by narcotics, the
film personalizes the "War on Drugs." And many Colombians have direct
experience with the violence and heartbreak of the drug trade.

There is even a close parallel to the plot line involving Michael Douglas'
character, the drug czar whose daughter is addicted to heroin. Only last
month, the son of the woman who heads Colombia's anti-drug cultivation
program was sentenced to more than five years in prison for trying to
smuggle heroin through the Miami airport.