LEGALIZATION OF DRUGS 'NOT A CHOICE FOR COLOMBIA'

Move would put traffickers in power: diplomat

Colombia's ambassador to Canada says legalizing narcotics would not
end the violence associated with her country's drug trade, unless
Canada and the rest of the western "consumer" nations follow suit.

"Legalization is not a choice for Colombia as long as consumer
countries are not legalized," Fanny Kertzman told the Citizen in an
exclusive interview. "Colombia cannot legalize by itself, otherwise
Colombia will become an international pariah."

The question of legalizing drugs has crept into public debate in Latin
America as one possible means of crippling the lucrative drug cartels.
Mexican President Vicente Fox recently speculated publicly about it.

Colombia supplies 85 per cent of the world's cocaine and is locked in
a 37-year-old civil war, making it the most violent country in the
Western Hemisphere.

Opposition politicians in Colombia have proposed legalization, but
that has been opposed by the government of Andres Pastrana, which
recently accepted $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid, a package dubbed
Plan Colombia, to battle the country's drug lords.

In a wide-ranging interview, Ms. Kertzman said legalizing the drug
trade would transform some very violent and corrupt people into
legitimate citizens in her country. Though Colombia is wracked by
political violence which last year claimed almost 26,000 lives, Ms.
Kertzman said her country still values its democratically elected
government and its people do not want to be governed by criminals.

"Even if the consumer countries like Canada, the U.S. and those in
Europe would legalize, and Colombia would legalize, the
narco-traffickers would have power. They would be free to spend their
money in politics. They would be free to be elected as judges. They
would be administering justice," said Ms. Kertzman.

"They would be promoting laws. We don't want to be governed by these
kinds of crooks."

Canada enjoys full diplomatic and trade relations with Colombia, which
will be one of the hemisphere's 34 countries to attend the Quebec City
Summit of the Americas in three weeks.

Ms. Kertzman said Canada should wake up to the fact it is an indirect
player in her country's drug trade because of the consumer demand for
cocaine that exists here.

"Here in Canada, the drug problem is consumers," she said. "But in
Colombia they are very powerful people with lots of money, and we
don't want to see that kind of people managing our life."

Added Ms. Kertzman: "All the consumer countries create a demand,
and Canada is no different."