ALTERNATIVE IN DRUG WAR OFFERING HOPE TO SOME

It is easy these days to feel hopeless. Wars are waged despite world-wide
protest, once unimaginable horrors are reported as a matter of course in
the daily press, and it feels as if there is nothing one can do to alter
the inexorable cycle of terror. We cast around for something to feed that
delicate "thing with feathers" - hope. I had the opportunity last week to
feed my sense of hope. I met with an unusual young man, a member of a
Christian Peacemaker Team - an interdenominational Christian organization
supported by individual donors. Their objective is "active peacemaking" in
the troubled hot spots of the world - Hebron, Puerto Rico, urban North
America and other places - through a strategy of negotiation, protection of
human rights, creative public witness and non-violent direct action. Keith
Young works in Columbia, a country which has been in the grip of civil war
for decades, and he had a story to tell.

I didn't realize it, but Columbia is the third largest recipient of
American foreign aid. That aid comes in the form of military equipment and
training aimed to eradicate coca production and poppy production. Columbia
is the world's leading producer of coca (the source of cocaine) and the
second largest producer of poppies for heroin. The demand for these illicit
drugs comes from the United States and Europe. Even though, dollar for
dollar, demand side rehabilitation programs have been shown to slow supply,
our government chooses to put its money into crop eradication, which,
despite the increase in frequency and potency of the aerial spraying, is
not slowing down crop production. Between 2000-2001 coca production
increased by 25 percent.

Not only that, but the type of herbicide used - a type not allowed in the
United States - has a surfactant in it which allows it to permeate
legitimate crops, fish and human skin. There has been an increase in
miscarriages, skin lesions, dead fish and dead birds. These affect the
camposinos - peasants who are also the target of both the guerrilla and
paramilitary efforts to control the countryside and the coca production.
The usual story is that either the paramilitary or the guerillas will move
into a community, gruesomely kill by dismemberment or other means one or
more members of the community and force the collaboration of the community.
In addition, there is evidence that the military is unofficially aligned
with the paramilitary. These obvious human rights violations committed by
the Columbian state security forces have had no effect on the flow of U.S.
military aid. In other words, U.S. policy is intensifying the human rights
crisis.

Micoahumado is a village in Sur de Bolivar which was the target last winter
of both paramilitary and guerrilla efforts to control it. Occupied by 400
paramilitary, surrounded by guerillas creating a blockade, the situation
looked hopeless. CPTers Keith Young and Charles Spring rode into
Micoahumado in a jeep with three Jesuits and members of a non-governmental
development organization who were taking part in the peace commission.
There they joined with village leaders. Their goal was to establish a
dialog with all parties in an effort to free the village from interference
by either armed group. They met that night with the paramilitary in a house
on the main road, then walked four hours, through cattle-dotted pastures,
into the middle of the woods to negotiate a cease fire with the guerilla
commanders.

I asked Keith what he remembered about these encounters. He said each group
allowed him to lead a prayer to start the meeting. The commanders wore
crosses, all the players looked tired, and he also remembered a guitar
player who entertained everyone with music, which he said, seemed to break
the tension.

Guests at our table listening to this story included two people from
Columbia, a recent immigrant and someone who left the country many years
ago. Their reactions to Keith's story at this point were, "You are lucky to
be alive."

The story continues: While many families fled from the town, most stayed,
and 127 families signed a pledge of resistance against all armed groups. In
addition, they participated in programs to substitute crops for coca. The
next day, the guerillas promised not to attack the town and to allow food
in. This was early December. By the week before Christmas, the people hung
white flags over their homes as a sign that armed people should not enter
their buildings.

There were several battles outside the village; the peacekeepers asked for
a reprieve for Christmas, which they got. By Jan. 17, the paramilitary left
in the middle of the night. The accords hammered out between the guerrillas
and the townspeople seemed to be holding. The U.N. High Commission on
Refugees took an interest in the situation, and the situation was reported
in the press.

To this day, the peace is holding, and this little village has been able to
maintain its independence from armed groups. It seems a small thing, maybe,
a story about a village far removed from our daily lives. Some might write
Keith off as young, idealistic or crazy. Maybe. Or maybe his is the most
sane and humane response to an inhumane situation. And when I weigh the two
methods of intervention - military aid vs. person-to-person contact in
terms of effective action against drug production, it seems that giving
people hope and a safe, viable alternative beats poisoning them.

Sara Baker is a long-time Athens resident and writer and can be reached at
saratbaker@yahoo.com.