News (Media Awareness Project) - US: US Names Colombia As Drug War Ally |
| Title: | US: US Names Colombia As Drug War Ally |
| Published On: | 1999-02-27 |
| Source: | Associated Press |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-06 12:23:31 |
US NAMES COLOMBIA AS DRUG WAR ALLY
BOGOTA -- The U.S. decision to fully certify Colombia -- by far the world's
No. 1 cocaine producer -- as an ally in the war on drugs is a crucial vote
of confidence in President Andres Pastrana's young government, his foreign
minister said Friday.
``It represents one more step in a new era characterized by the
normalization of relations with the United States,'' Guillermo Fernandez de
Soto told reporters.
He said the nation would not fail in its efforts to fight drug trafficking
``so that Colombia can never again be treated by the community of nations
as if it were a pariah.''
President Clinton gave Colombia full certification Friday as an
anti-narcotics ally. Last year, the country did not receive full
certification and was decertified in 1996 and 1997 as punishment for
President Ernesto Samper's alleged ties with drug bosses.
Samper was elected in 1994 with $6 million in contributions from the Cali
drug cartel, money he claimed entered his campaign without his knowledge.
Accompanying economic sanctions were minimal, but being blacklisted by
Washington was a huge blow to Colombian pride.
Colombia's national police sprayed 230 square miles of coca, the raw
material of cocaine, with herbicides in 1998, but the coca crop
nevertheless grew from 310 square miles to more than 390 square miles.
Police also reported making record drug seizures.
Much of the new coca cultivation displaces acreage lost in neighboring
Bolivia and Peru, the two other major coca-growing countries.
The majority of Colombia's coca is located in areas controlled by leftist
rebels and right-wing paramilitary groups, for whom drugs are a major
revenue source. Colombia is also a source of heroin.
The U.S. decision to grant full certification recognizes a new partnership
with Pastrana's government, which took office in August and has continued
the eradication campaign. Pastrana has also pushed for alternative
development, however, insisting eradication and law enforcement alone will
not end drug trafficking in Colombia.
BOGOTA -- The U.S. decision to fully certify Colombia -- by far the world's
No. 1 cocaine producer -- as an ally in the war on drugs is a crucial vote
of confidence in President Andres Pastrana's young government, his foreign
minister said Friday.
``It represents one more step in a new era characterized by the
normalization of relations with the United States,'' Guillermo Fernandez de
Soto told reporters.
He said the nation would not fail in its efforts to fight drug trafficking
``so that Colombia can never again be treated by the community of nations
as if it were a pariah.''
President Clinton gave Colombia full certification Friday as an
anti-narcotics ally. Last year, the country did not receive full
certification and was decertified in 1996 and 1997 as punishment for
President Ernesto Samper's alleged ties with drug bosses.
Samper was elected in 1994 with $6 million in contributions from the Cali
drug cartel, money he claimed entered his campaign without his knowledge.
Accompanying economic sanctions were minimal, but being blacklisted by
Washington was a huge blow to Colombian pride.
Colombia's national police sprayed 230 square miles of coca, the raw
material of cocaine, with herbicides in 1998, but the coca crop
nevertheless grew from 310 square miles to more than 390 square miles.
Police also reported making record drug seizures.
Much of the new coca cultivation displaces acreage lost in neighboring
Bolivia and Peru, the two other major coca-growing countries.
The majority of Colombia's coca is located in areas controlled by leftist
rebels and right-wing paramilitary groups, for whom drugs are a major
revenue source. Colombia is also a source of heroin.
The U.S. decision to grant full certification recognizes a new partnership
with Pastrana's government, which took office in August and has continued
the eradication campaign. Pastrana has also pushed for alternative
development, however, insisting eradication and law enforcement alone will
not end drug trafficking in Colombia.
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