FACING U.S.-BACKED PUSH, COLOMBIA INDIANS ERADICATE DRUG CROPS

SILVIA, Colombia (AP) -- Facing a U.S.-backed offensive to eradicate
illegal drug crops by force, some Colombian Indians are voluntarily tearing
up the red and violet plants blossoming on their reservation.

Crouching on steep Andean hillsides in traditional skirts, black ponchos
and bowler hats, men and women from the Guambiano Indian tribe hacked with
machetes last week at the heroin-producing plants that are the group's main
source of income.

In a decision worrying many in the tight-knit community, a tribal assembly
decided in June to eradicate all the poppy on the rugged reservation near
this quiet western town.

"Now how are we going to live?" asked farmer Augustin Calambas, surveying
his upturned plot, where a work crew had just lifted away eight rows of
poppies.

Guambiano leaders, who are expecting the government to compensate them with
generous economic aid, say the campaign is gradually winning over the
skeptical farmers.

"At first they threw rocks at us," said Maria Rosa Tombe, a teacher getting
her hands dirty ripping up plants farmers typically sow amid rows of onions
and potatoes.

"But we've been educating them about the problem, and lately the people are
coming out and serving us coffee," she added.

This is the second time the 17,000-member Indian tribe has vowed to break
its connection to heroin, a fast-growing business in Colombia. The South
American country has become a top heroin exporter in addition to its
world-leading production of cocaine.

A voluntary eradication program in 1997 failed when only about one-fourth
of the farmers participated. A handful of Guambianos used government loans
to start trout hatcheries and garlic farms, but the majority continued to
grow poppy.

The latest eradication drive was prompted partly by fears that a $1.3
billion U.S. aid plan for fighting illegal narcotics in Colombia will
intensify a police program already under way to spray poppy and coca crops
with herbicides that also kill food crops.

"It's better to eradicate now before the fumigation planes come," said
Floro Tunubala, the governor of the tribe.

The U.S. aid will provide Colombia with military helicopters to ferry
troops into drug-producing regions and protect crop-dusting planes from
ground fire by leftist rebels and drug traffickers.

If there's so much money for "war," Tunubala said, there also should be
funding for rural development.

Tunubala plans to invite government officials to the reservation soon to
show that it's poppy-free. Volunteers have ripped up about 150 acres so
far, he said, with 50 acres to go.

The plants destroyed here represent only a small fraction of Colombia's
total poppy crop, estimated by the government at nearly 7,500 acres.

Although farmers are respecting the new eradication policy, many worry
about the future.

"With just a few plants we were able to send our kids to school," said
Maria Velasco. She said her family poppy plot is too small to successfully
grow potatoes or other marketable crops.

Poppies are comparatively easy to grow and sell. Men working for the drug
traffickers go farmhouse to farmhouse on motorcycles, buying the gray syrup
farmers extract from the plant's green bulbs.

But the heroin trade also has brought violence and alcoholism to the
peaceful Guambiano. Guerrillas have threatened the reservation and young
Indians lured by fast cash are eschewing traditional customs.

Tribal leaders will be under great pressure to deliver on promises of aid
for alternative crops or businesses.

"We're don't believe the people are going to die of hunger," said Tunubala,
leaning on a silver-handled wooden staff that symbolizes his power. "But if
help doesn't arrive soon the months ahead will be difficult."