PLUNGING COFFEE PRICES HELPING FUEL COCA PRODUCTION, COLOMBIAN UNREST

ANDES, Colombia -- With coffee prices near historic lows, the economic
crisis facing thousands of small farmers in this picturesque region also is
feeding Colombia's civil war and could threaten an intensive U.S.-funded
antinarcotics program. Perched high on lush mountain slopes and intersected
by rivers, Andes and the surrounding area stand on the edge of Colombia's
once-prosperous coffee region. The crop has provided a steady income to
generations of small farmers and migrant laborers while satisfying the
needs of American and other coffee drinkers.

But a flood of cheap coffee from Vietnam and other countries, combined with
weak worldwide demand for Colombia's high-grade beans, has sent many local
farmers into bankruptcy and pushed unemployment above 20 percent, officials
say.

The crisis has made it easier for Colombia's leftist guerrillas and
right-wing paramilitary forces to push into the coffee-growing region and
recruit the growing number of unemployed youths, coffee farmers and Andes
officials say.

It has caused some farmers to abandon coffee and plant coca, the key
ingredient for cocaine.

"A family that is going to lose their farm is going to grow illegal crops
to save it," said Jaime Restrepo, mayor of Andes, which is home to about
3,100 small coffee farms.

The crisis has vast repercussions for the United States, which has poured
$2 billion into the fight against drug trafficking and more recently into a
war against armed insurgents.