U.S. FINDS THAT COCA CULTIVATION IS SHIFTING SHARPLY TO COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON, March 1 -- Six years of intense American-backed antinarcotics
efforts in South America have redrawn drug-trafficking patterns, but have
failed to stem a yearly increase in the amount of coca being grown, the
State Department reported today.

There were dramatic reductions in coca grown in Peru and Bolivia last year,
but the area under cultivation in Colombia surged 11 percent, to almost
336,000 acres, the department said in its annual review of anti narcotics
efforts around the world.

Still, the United States certified that Colombia's government, which
Washington is providing with $1.3 billion over two years in mostly military
aid as it struggles against two guerrilla insurgencies, was cooperating in
efforts to fight trafficking.

In its review of 24 nations that are either major producers or points of
transit, the department again denied certification to only two countries --
Afghanistan and Burma.

The cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan rose 25 percent last year,
and lands controlled by the Islamic government there were responsible for
72 percent of the world's supply of opium, the raw material for heroin, the
report said.

Congress requires that the administration certify each year whether key
nations are cooperating in efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs.
Nations that are not certified are ineligible for most American aid.

The certification process itself has come under fire.

The annual report has become a major irritant for American allies, who
insist that drug demand in the United States should be part of any
evaluation. The department estimated that American demand created a market
of $63 billion a year.

The State Department's top counternarcotics official, Rand Beers, said
today that the United States was "prepared to look at alternatives" to
certification. The president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, calls the process a sham.

This year the report again granted Mexico certification, even as it said
the corruption of law-enforcement officials by drug cartels remained a
serious problem.

In the Andes, though cultivation has grown, the overall increase was
negligible, less than 2 percent, the department reported.

The continued expansion of coca growing nonetheless highlighted how
traffickers have fled determined eradication programs in Peru and Bolivia
and found haven in Colombia, fueling its civil conflict.

"With the drug trade now an organic part of the Colombian civil conflict,"
the report said, "the question facing the antidrug coalition will be how to
reduce the supply of illegal drugs without exacerbating local conflicts
that threaten regional stability."

Stephen E. Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in
New York, said that with the displacement effect, "What we have is more of
a mess in Colombia than what we started with."

Senator Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, has introduced
legislation to suspend the drug-certification procedure for two years,
unless President Bush chooses to reinstate it.

Mr. Dodd said the suspension, which is also being supported by a Republican
senator, John McCain of Arizona, will "create an atmosphere of good will
within which President Bush can discuss with other heads of state -- from
Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia -- ways to improve international
cooperation among producing, transit and consuming nations."