U.S. DRUG CZAR IN PERU AMID ANDES NARCOTICS CRISIS

LIMA (Reuters) - U.S. drugs czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey met Peruvian President
Alberto Fujimori Thursday to coordinate the anti-narcotics fight in one the
world's top producing nations, government officials said.

Neither of the men commented in public at the end of the talks, which lasted
about an hour and 40 minutes.

McCaffrey, warning of a "growing drug crisis" in Andean nations, hopes to
bolster cooperation to thwart smugglers as cocaine output in Colombia soars
and production of the raw material -- coca leaf -- flourishes in neighboring
Peru.

McCaffrey's second trip to South America within a month reflects heightened
U.S. concern that chaos in war-torn Colombia could destabilize a region that
has made progress this decade in economic and democratic reforms.

The drugs czar has been urging national leaders on this trip, which also
includes Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia, to treat Colombia's difficulties as
a regional problem.

Bogota's government is battling to contain leftist guerrillas financed by
drug money. The country provides about 80 percent of the world's cocaine,
obtaining much of the coca leaf from Peru.

With the White House convinced Colombia's drug and insurgency problems
cannot be divorced from each other, McCaffrey is pressing for the United
States to triple its anti-drugs aid for Latin America to $1 billion next
year.

Fujimori is in the vanguard of regional efforts to contain Colombia's
guerrillas, who control two-thirds of the countryside in areas bordering
Peru, Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador.

This year, Fujimori has sent extra troops to the 1,000-mile (1,600-km)
border with Colombia and warned rebels there they can expect no mercy if
they cross the Amazon frontier.

Fujimori's achievements this decade in defeating once-powerful rebels and
slashing drug output have set a standard for other regional leaders like
Colombian President Andres Pastrana. His policies included orders to shoot
down aircraft used by traffickers.

But last month, McCaffrey, who in recent years has praised Peru's
anti-narcotics efforts as "revolutionary", said gains made by Lima could be
eroded as farmers return to abandoned fields of coca leaf.

Peru's anti-drugs campaign has faltered over the last year as traffickers
smuggle coca through the Amazon to neighboring countries -- especially
Colombia -- on foot, by mule or boat.

Prices have about doubled since mid-1998, providing an increased incentive
for coca leaf cultivation.

The booming trade in Colombia and Peru contrasts with Bolivia, which
McCaffrey believes could eliminate all cocaine production within a few years
thanks to its model policies eradicating coca fields and helping farmers to
shift to legal crops.