A DRUG PROBLEM FOR EVERYONE

American interests at home and in South America have been increasingly
threatened by the continuing political and economic crises in
Colombia. Most of the country's problems are linked, and exacerbated,
by the production and sale of heroin and cocaine. The US cannot stand
idly by it must protect itself against the flow of Colombian drugs.
But equally, the US must help Colombia's democratic government promote
the rule of law, economic stability and human rights.

That is why the US administration has proposed a two year assistance
package worth Dollars 1.6bn. The House of Representatives approved the
plan last week, and the Senate will vote on it soon. If it is passed,
Colombia will receive equipment including UH60 Black Hawk helicopters,
technical assistance for its police force, funds for alternative
economic development and support for peace initiatives. Peru and
Bolivia, which have achieved dramatic reductions in cocaine
production, will also get aid, albeit on a more modest scale.

The Colombian government has committed Dollars 4bn to "Plan Colombia"
and requested Dollars 3.5bn in bilateral foreign assistance from the
international community. The Colombian government estimates that
Dollars 7.5bn will be required during the next three years to reduce
the flow of drugs through the country. Efforts are under way to build
support among potential donors in Europe and Asia. The world has come
to realise that the drug problem requires an international response.

A nation the size of Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas combined, Colombia
is home to 38m citizens. They are caught in the crossfire between
Marxist guerrillas, right wing paramilitary terrorists, and the
country's regular army. The level of violence is increased by drug
profits, which allow outlaw factions to purchase weapons. About 35,000
Colombians have been killed during the past decade in Latin America's
longest running internal conflict. If the US does not help Colombia,
cocaine and heroin are likely to be exported in even greater quantities.

Colombia's role in the drugs trade has changed over the past decade.
As coca cultivation has plummeted in Peru and Bolivia, it has risen in
Colombia, by 140 per cent since 1995.

The introduction of a higher yield coca strain has greatly compounded
the problem.

In the past, Colombia primarily distributed Peruvian and Bolivian
cocaine, but it now produces 520 metric tons of cocaine a year, two
thirds of the world's total. At the beginning of the 1990s, Colombian
drug organisations made a strategic decision to enter the heroin
business opium poppies can be grown year round in Colombia, with
multiple harvests.

Most of the heroin seized on America's eastern seaboard now comes from
Colombia. After the demise of integrated cartels based in Medellin and
Cali, smaller cells began specialising in specific aspects of the drug
trade. Such groups are hard to disrupt.

Dismantling one cell has little effect on the others.

For Colombia, the increase in drug production has been the equivalent
of pouring petrol on a fire. Guerrilla and paramilitary groups have
organised the peasants who grow illegal substances and have benefited
tremendously from the drug trade. Dollar estimates of their income
from drugs run into hundreds of millions annually. Drug money augments
the funds such organisations get from kidnapping, extortion and bank
robbery. According to the US State Department, these groups hijack
aircraft and murder US citizens. Innocent Colombians are bearing the
brunt of these crimes. Human rights violations committed by the
outlaws include torturing or executing prisoners, and recruiting of
minors.

Colombia's economy is shrinking for the first time in three decades.
The gross national product decreased 5 per cent in the first six
months of 1999. Unemployment exceeds 20 per cent. Displaced people,
especially in rural areas, are seeking paid jobs with drug traffickers
and illegal armed groups. These recruits are reported to earn twice as
much as army conscripts. Nearly 1m citizens have lost their homes
during the conflict, leaving Colombia with more displaced people than
Kosovo. Without help from international partners, the Colombian
government will be unable to reduce drug trafficking or to regain
control of areas where the illegal drugs are flourishing.

The old dichotomy between source countries and consumer nations is
misleading. Drugs are used wherever they are produced, much to the
detriment of the local population.

Hence the need for a truly global antidrug strategy.

Given that 90 per cent of the cocaine coming into the US is from
Colombia, it clearly is in America's national interest to support
Colombia in its battle against drugs. American families and
communities are poisoned by illegal drugs, which cost the US 52,000
lives and Dollars 110bn each year. The price of inaction is too high.