COCA CROP SHRINKING IN KEY ANDEAN NATIONS

Peru and Bolivia have sharply reduced the cultivation of coca, the raw
material of cocaine, in the past year, but production of the illegal crop
in Colombia has exploded, according to newly released U.S. government figures.

"These are absolutely astounding changes in both Peru and Bolivia," said
Clinton administration drug policy director Barry R. McCaffrey in unveiling
the figures, which were derived from CIA satellite photography. "The main
reason is the political will of the democratic governments there. . . . The
United States has played a modest supporting role, but these countries now
see eradication as in their own national interests."

He added, however, that "Colombia is a very different story."

This was the third straight year that cultivation in Peru, the world's
leading producer of cocaine for the past 20 years, has dropped
significantly and the first year of substantial reduction in Bolivia, long
the world's second-largest coca producer. Much of the drop in Peru was the
result of a natural fungus that ruins the coca leaf, causing coca farmers
to abandon their fields.

U.S. officials familiar with the CIA data said that while the final figures
on Colombia are still under review, it was virtually certain that the
Andean nation would emerge as the largest coca producer in the world.
Colombia also produces about 80 percent of the world's refined cocaine.

"Clearly, coca production in Colombia is skyrocketing," McCaffrey said in
an interview. "And there may be evidence the Colombians are upgrading the
quality of their crop." While cultivation has expanded, Colombia's coca is
of poorer quality than Bolivian and Peruvian crops and yields less cocaine.

While the news on Peru and Bolivia was welcomed by those in Congress who
follow the drug trade, the news on Colombia is sure to fuel the growing
debate in Washington over U.S. policy toward the war-torn nation.

Conservatives led by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) already have demanded the
State Department explain recent contacts between mid-level State Department
officials and guerrillas of the Marxist-led Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC). Burton said he would hold hearings and subpoena the
government officials involved if they did not voluntarily talk to him.

On Monday the State Department acknowledged meeting in mid-December with
leaders of the rebel group, which is officially listed as a terrorist
organization by the U.S. government and derives much of its income from
protecting the drug trade. The administration said it was seeking
information on U.S. citizens kidnapped by the group.

"The FARC are protecting the drug cartels, and the explosion [in] drugs
being produced there is huge," said Burton, chairman of the House
Government Reform and Oversight Committee.

But while expressing concern about Colombia, McCaffrey praised Bolivia and
Peru, saying the latest figures significantly reduced the amount of cocaine
that could be produced in those two countries.

According to the CIA figures, coca cultivation in Peru declined from
240,000 acres in 1996 to 175,000 acres in 1997 and 129,500 acres in 1998.
The potential cocaine production dropped from 480 tons to 264 tons over the
same period, the figures show.

In 1996, Bolivia cultivated 122,000 acres of coca, compared with 116,500
acres in 1997 and 96,500 acres in 1998. Potential cocaine production fell
from 237 tons to 165 tons during the same three-year period, according to
the figures.

However, in Colombia, the number of acres under cultivation grew from
170,700 acres in 1996 to 188,000 acres in 1997. The 1998 figure is expected
to top 200,000 acres, according to sources.

The same sources said poppy production in Colombia, used to make high-grade
heroin, has remained about the same during the past three years. According
to the Drug Enforcement Administration, about 60 percent of the heroin used
in the United States is produced in Colombia.