IN COLOMBIA, ECHO OF ANOTHER WAR

To the Editor:

Many Colombians would agree with Anthony Lewis (column, June 24) that only a
substantial drop in demand would make a dent in the drug problem. The aid
plan to Colombia is dwarfed by the billions of dollars that drug users in
the United States and Europe have been regularly providing to Colombian drug
traffickers and their partners in the paramilitary and guerrilla groups.

Individually, drug users deserve treatment. As a class, they are indirectly
responsible for the terror and upheaval that have been inflicted on the
Colombian people for two decades. To add insult to injury, the majority of
Colombians, while victimized by the drug trade, are almost universally
portrayed as villains.

ALBERTO DONADIO
Giessen, Germany, June 24, 2000