THE DRUG TRADE IS THE SNAKE IN THE GARDEN

Latin America has progressed to the last two decades. Democracy is no
longer the exception; it's the rule. Economies that were one stunted
by hostility to free-market are growing briskly. Respect for human
rights has increased. And average citizens are taking more
responsibility for society's proper functioning.

But there are snakes in the garden. The biggest and most venomous it
is the illegal drug trade. No Latin American or Caribbean country is
safe from it or the violence and corruption it fosters.

Of the 30 countries or dependencies that the U.S. State Department called
major drug producers or transit centers, 16 are in Latin America or the
Caribbean: Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru
and Venezuela.

Drugs are the biggest threat to Mexico's national security, says the
country's president. Drug-related corruption is endemic in Mexico, and some
analysts even talk of the country's possible "Colombianization"-that is, the
weaving of drug money into Mexico's political fabric so that eventually it
becomes another "narco state" like Columbia.

Columbia has long been the world's leading producer of cocaine;
increasingly, it is a big source of heroin. Leftist narco-guerillas
whose political ideology is nebulous but whose economic motivations
are crystal clear-controlled 40 to 50% of its territory; right-wing
paramilitaries roam with impunity through about 40%.

Mexico and the United States have made it harder for drugs to clear
the 2000 mile common border, but the effort has created more problems
for the Caribbean, which has seen the corresponding expansion of drug
routes and traffickers attempts to buy influence.

With drug-related corruption goes money laundering. Latin America's
historically weak courts and bank regulatory structures make it
particularly vulnerable to this scourge.

Overall crime has increased considerably since the 1970's. Indeed,
Latin America and the Caribbean's annual homicide rate of 20 per
100,000 people makes it the world's most violent region.

Still, there is reason to hope that the region can clean up its
act.

Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo seems personally incorruptible and
his government is pushing to professionalize Mexico's anti-narcotics
police. The eminent inauguration of Colombian President elect Adres
Pastrana should increase the possibility that Columbia will prosecute
the anti-drug fight more energetically.

In Bolivia, president Hugo Banzer has vowed to eradicate all illicit
coca -the basic raw material of cocaine-before his term ends in 2002.
And Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has been an implacable
opponent of drug lords.

If the United States could help in one important respect by halting
the annual process whereby it certifies which countries cooperate and
the drug war. The success has mainly succeeded in increasing with
Latin America, which legitimately questions the propriety of the
world's biggest consumer of illicit drugs in establishing itself the
sole judge and jury of other countries behavior.

The likelihood that a sufficient number of U.S. Congressmen would vote
to halt certification-and therefore be called soft on drugs - is slim.
However, the April agreement by all American republics (except Cuba)
to undertake multilateral evaluations could eventually render the
unilateral U.S. Processed extraneous.

U.S. anti-drug officials also can take heart in knowing that there are
many Latin Americans with whom they can work, people like Mr. Zedillo
and was Serrano, the crusading director-general of Colombia's National
Police. Once the United States has identified such collaborators, it

should lend them all its support.

The United States should realize that massive poverty and Latin
America creeds fertile opportunities for drug traffickers. The recent
economic boom has generated wealth but not enough is trickling down to
the poorest. Helping countries reform their economies so that more
people enjoy the benefits of economic growth would impede
drug-trafficking and related criminal activity.

Last, the United States should continue to focus on enhancing the
Latin Americans respect for rule of law. That means carrying out its
commitment to help establish a hemispheric judicial studies center.
That means encouraging adherence to the Inter-American intervention
against corruption so that even petty bribery is attacked. And that
means providing technical assistance to help Latin American
governments become fairly, competent and unburdensome regulators of
economic activity.

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"