US RESPONDS TO CARIBBEAN SUSPENSION

WASHINGTON - The State Department said Monday Caribbean countries
will hurt only themselves if they go ahead with a decision to suspend
drug cooperation with the United States.

Nations of the Caribbean Community agreed to take that step Sunday out
of frustration with the U.S. position on banana exports from the
region to Europe.

"Cooperating in the international fight against drug trafficking and
abuse is manifestly in the interest of the members of Caricom," State
Department spokesman James Rubin said.

The United States has said the special banana trade arrangements
Caribbean countries maintain with Europe are a violation of World
Trade Organization rules. The WTO has sided with the U.S. position.

Rubin said marijuana has been cultivated in Caribbean states since
long before the United States brought its case on bananas to the WTO.

Pressure against drug producers, however, has increased recently "with
the growing recognition of the problems of marijuana use and the
corrupting and corrosive effect of economic dependency on the illegal
trade provoking cannabis growers to rationalize their illegal
activity," he said.

As an example, he said, Saint Lucia relies heavily on banana exports,
yet has "an excellent, close, collaborative and cooperative anti-drug,
anti-crime working relationship" with the United
States.

At the same time, Saint Lucia "is working diligently to diversify its
economy," Rubin added. He said there may be some who want to link drug
cooperation and the banana trade but "we don't think it's justified."

An agreement signed in Barbados by President Clinton in May 1997 calls
for cooperation by Caribbean nations in anti-drug trafficking measures
and extradition of suspects. But regional leaders have increasingly
complained that Washington has ignored its end of the bargain by
failing to address economic issues important to the Caribbean.

Caricom spokesman Leonard Robertson said the decision to suspend the
agreement, often referred to as the Bridgetown accord, was seen by the
Caribbean leaders as the strongest way to send a message to Washington.