POLITICS ON ST. VINCENT, MARIJUANA GROWS INTO A CAMPAIGN
ISSUE

CHATEAUBELAIR, St. Vincent--Lush marijuana fields covered the hillside
above, and the sweet smell of ganja wafted through the crowd as one of
this island nation's most popular politicians took center stage.

Cheers echoed as candidate Ralph Gonsalves--an opposition leader,
respected member of parliament and defense attorney to accused drug
lords--appealed through the reggae beat of his campaign song: "Those
in the hills! You have a friend in me! Rastafari!"

The scene provided a backdrop to the growing concern among senior
counter-narcotics officials in Washington and Western Europe who are
watching closely as St. Vincent and the Grenadines prepares to vote
Monday for the 15 elected members of parliament, including the prime
minister.

Those officials assert that in recent years, this 30-island chain has
become as strategic in the global war on drugs as it remains obscure
to much of the Western world that consumes those drugs.

Better known in the tourism industry for the 29 Grenadine islands that
attract millionaire yacht owners and rock stars--the winter homes of
Mick Jagger and David Bowie are on Mustique--this nation has quietly
become a major transshipment spot for South American cocaine,
according to senior U.S. drug enforcement officials in Washington.
They say bulk shipments are warehoused here en route to markets in the
U.S. and Europe.

A recent U.S. State Department's counter-narcotics report states that
St. Vincent has also become one of the region's largest marijuana
producers. However, even some U.S. officials attribute that partly to
the United States' own trade policies.

In the year since the Clinton administration won a World Trade
Organization decision eliminating preferential European trade deals
that had supported this region's vital banana industry, many banana
farmers here have turned to marijuana for survival.

As one opposition leader wryly observed: "Thanks to the Americans,
ganja has become our most successful agricultural diversification project."

Opposition leaders here allege that police and political corruption
has fueled the narcotics trade--a charge the government denies. Yet
Vincentian analysts fear that there will be little change in the drug
trade if the opposition wins next week.

In interviews this week, leaders of both major parties acknowledged
that cocaine trafficking, rising addiction rates and marijuana
production are important campaign issues.

But several of them made a clear distinction. The leaders and
independent political analysts say that the majority of voters
supports a crackdown on the cocaine trade but that few endorse
marijuana eradication.

At a time of soaring unemployment, ballooning foreign debt and
flagging tourism, clearly there are other issues.

Prime Minister James F. Mitchell, one of the region's longest-serving
leaders, tops the list. The opposition's theme in attacking his
government on drugs, crime, corruption and cronyism is: "More than
ready for the change."

Mitchell staunchly defended his record--especially on drugs--in an
interview this week. And he lashed out at Washington.

The prime minister said he risked alienating St. Vincent's farmers by
granting U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration helicopter crews
permission to destroy marijuana fields, although he said they have
done so only rarely.

Mitchell was also among the first Caribbean leaders to sign a treaty
allowing U.S. vessels to chase drug traffickers into island waters--a
power Mitchell says U.S. law enforcement has also used
infrequently.

"I have reluctantly given up my sovereignty to the United States, and
they refuse to exercise it," Mitchell said, adding that his nation

lacks the resources to patrol against traffickers alone.

The prime minister also attacked the opposition Unity Labor Party on
the issue, singling out the party's Gonsalves, who is running for
reelection to parliament, as the region's "No. 1 drug lawyer"--a role
Gonsalves acknowledged but attributed to his professional duty as a
trial lawyer.

"How can I defend somebody on charges of murder or rape, which are far
more serious offenses under the law, if I can't defend somebody on a
drug charge?" he asked.

Gonsalves and other opposition leaders insist that they will crack
down hard on the drug trade.

Copyright Los Angeles Times

Checked-by: (trikydik)