FIX COLOMBIA'S ECONOMY TO BREAK DRUG TRADE

A Nation Addicted To Profits From Cocaine

With new federal statistics showing that one of every six teens still
abuses illegal drugs on at least a monthly basis, perhaps we need an
additional approach to end this decades-long crisis. While President Bush
and Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe praised progress and expressed a
commitment to continue to fight narco-terrorism, they did not provide
additional resources to combat the poverty that fuels the drug trade and
violence in the first place in the No. 1 drug supplier to America.

According to the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs,
more than 90 percent of the cocaine and most of the heroin entering the
United States comes from Colombia. With help from the U.S., Colombia has
been fighting a 20-year drug war and 40-year civil conflict. Since 2000,
American taxpayers have paid more than $3.3 billion helping Colombia fight
the "war on drugs," making that relatively small democracy (population 40
million) the third-largest recipient of U.S. aid.

In order for Colombia -- and the U.S. -- to win these battles, Washington
and Bogota must strengthen economic conditions so that financial dependence
on the illegal drug trade can subside permanently, in addition to the
direct drug eradication programs that are beginning to work.

Why help Colombia at all? Despite the death or arrest of major Medellin and
Cali cartel leaders, Colombian drug cartels remain among the most
sophisticated criminal organizations in the world, controlling cocaine
processing, wholesale distribution chains and international markets.

Former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey helped develop "Plan Colombia," a
counter-narcotics and security policy that finances personnel training,
arrests, drug seizures, coca and poppy eradication, intelligence support
and financial controls to prevent money-laundering. In addition, the U.S.
provides equipment to the Colombian armed forces and police through the
military assistance program, foreign sales and the international narcotics
control program From August 1998 to October 2003, 146 people were
extradited to the U.S., most on narcotics charges. Four hundred U.S. troops
and 400 advisers are deployed in Colombia, and President Bush has asked
Congress to double those numbers.

Since 2000, coca cultivation has been reduced by about half. The CIA's
World Factbook indicates cultivation of coca is falling by about 10 percent
to 15 percent each year. Although Plan Colombia is working, Colombia
remains the world's leading supplier of refined cocaine and is a growing
source for heroin.

Poverty, however, is an inextricable part of the drug trade. Fifty-five
percent of Colombians (23 million people) are poor, while unemployment is
at 14 percent -- triple the U.S. rate. Subsistence farmers cultivate coca
in order to provide better living conditions for their families. When
youngsters grow older, they are recruited by armed groups that offer a
"living wage." While guerrillas use coca to finance their revolution, drug
traffickers can buy land and gain influence in the government. To
Colombians, "It's the economy, stupid" means cocaine.

Experts who support a military crackdown acknowledge that, in order to
maintain and expand upon the progress of Plan Colombia, additional money is
required.

To help Colombia win both its narcotics and civil wars, as well as promote
security and prosperity, we need to improve the people's lives. That's the
source of the problem even though anti-drug enforcement with both a
military and civilian component is a critical piece of the solution. Plan
Colombia is working, but it's not enough. We must take basic steps for
improvement: U.S. nonmilitary aid for alternative crop development,
vulnerable groups and democracy/rule of law should double from $124 million
to $250 million, while maintaining our effective military and enforcement
assistance. We should encourage and help American companies and
universities to offer scholarships and vocational training. Investments in
infrastructure and business development also should target rural areas
where government control is weak.

If we make these investments in Colombia, the added confidence will lead to
additional corporate capital investments, which will create jobs and
alleviate poverty faster -- and dramatically reduce the drug trade.