AXWORTHY'S DRUG TRIP

Lloyd Axworthy has now discovered that Latin America has problems with
drugs and he's making them the top priority in his current tour of
South America.

On this latest junket, Mr. Axworthy will not only be discussing how
delightful it is to spend January in the tropics. There will also be
discussions of what Mr. Axworthy likes to call "new" approaches to
dealing with drugs. Just what are these shiny new policies? Neither
Mr. Axworthy nor his government have spelled them out with anything
more than rhetoric about "balance."

But the press release from Mr. Axworthy's office gives a good
indication as what his "new" approaches might mean for South America.
In Bolivia, he will tour eradicated coca fields, "a successful example
of Bolivia's determination to end coca cultivation." And in Colombia,
the release says, he will discuss "how Canada can contribute to
Colombia's anti-drug efforts."

This is new? No, this is very old -- as old as Ronald
Reagan.

Under Mr. Reagan's White House, and his successor George Bush, the
U.S. launched a major initiative to stop the production of drugs in
South America. At the time, politicians scored points by talking
tough and boasting of a "War on Drugs," but the Reagan/Bush initiative
nonetheless included spending huge sums of money on locating and
eradicating coca production, as well as funding farmers to switch
crops, and other touchy-feely policies more in Mr. Axworthy's spirit.
In combination with military interdiction, this was the "Andean
Strategy." The ambitious goal: to wipe out coca production in Latin
America by 1995.

That's 1995. As in five years ago. As Mr. Axworthy may be aware, Latin
America continues to produce cocaine. In fact, it produces more
cocaine than ever before. The only affects of all these efforts were
local, pushing production out of one area into another. It's been
likened to a balloon: Squeeze it in one place and it bulges in
another. But the total effect on production is negligible. In fact, a
State Department report in the magic year of 1995 noted that
"worldwide coca cultivation rose to a new record of 530,000 acres."

So much for the "successful" Bolivian example of crop eradication. How
about Mr. Axworthy's desire to contribute to Colombia's anti-drug
efforts. What might those be?

They are pretty much what they have been since Ronald Reagan:
eradication, replacement, and armed interdiction. About the only thing
that has changed is the size of the cheque the U.S. gives Colombia to
keep at it: It is much bigger.

Not only has this not stopped Colombian drug production, it has
crippled Colombia. Drugs are fairly cheap to produce but Prohibition
vastly inflates their price, which means the drug cartels who sell
them make immense profits. Not only does this distort Colombia's
economy, it gives the cartels a mighty weapon, which they use to
corrupt Colombian police soldiers, politicians, journalists, and
judges. Those who refuse bribes get bullets instead.

Colombian high court judge Gomez Hurtado summed it up aptly: "The
income of the drug barons is greater than the American defence budget.
With this financial power they can suborn the institutions of the
State and, if the State resists ... they can purchase the firepower to
outgun it. We are threatened with a return to the Dark Ages."

And Mr. Axworthy thinks Canada should contribute to
this?

Perhaps he should speak with former Colombian president Ernesto
Samper. Mr. Samper's time in office was tainted by the discovery of
drug money in his election fund, but he was a true drug warrior
nonetheless. He even bagged the Cali cartel in 1995. But Mr. Samper
now says the whole effort is futile and destructive, and only
international drug legalization can help his country.

For all Mr. Axworthy's delusions, he is bang on about one thing: The
international trade in illegal drugs is doing horrible damage to Latin
America. But the operative word is "illegal." It is the fact that the
rich Western markets for drugs have made them illegal that is the
ultimate cause of the harms inflicted on South America. Until Mr.
Axworthy finally understands that, he'll understand nothing, no matter
how much travelling he does.