WITH U.S. FOCUSED ON IRAQ, DRUG WAR EBBS

WASHINGTON Those of us who covered U.S. policy toward Latin America
in the 1990s no doubt recall how, for a few months every year, the
drug war would poison North-South relations.

As the annual March 1 "decertification" deadline approached,
Washington would express its increasing frustration with the inaction
of its southern neighbors in curtailing the production or transit of
drugs. "Certification" was the big stick with which Washington
sanctioned or threatened to sanction nations in order to compel them
to cooperate with U.S. anti-drug priorities. The exasperation of U.S.
officials was very real and often turned personal -- with unfortunate
consequences. I remember one instance when the integrity of Carlos
Medellin, Colombia's justice minister, was questioned simply because
of his last name. Those who knew better were aghast: Medellin was the
son of one of 11 justices killed in 1985 during a siege of the
Colombian Supreme Court.

Latin American countries chafed at the pressure, and many often did
just enough to keep from being sanctioned by Washington. It became a
familiar practice for governments to magically arrest drug
traffickers or interdict large shipments of illegal drugs right
before the annual certification announcement.

Today, with certification weakened and U.S. foreign policy focused
elsewhere, the anti-drug effort is much different.

Now it is Latin American countries that are launching new initiatives
and clamoring for U.S. cooperation while Washington seems apathetic.

The big change is that Latin Americans are themselves becoming
consumers of drugs.

As Dominican President Leonel Fernandez put it at the opening of a
Caribbean anti-drug summit last week, drugs are "permeating our
societies, and causing violence, criminality and instability." His
concern is matched by other Caribbean leaders, who last week signed
the "Declaration of Santo Domingo" to commit to greater maritime and
air surveillance cooperation as well as funding for prevention and
education. The transformation has been particularly telling in
Mexico. Always reluctant to appear to be giving in to pressure from
its powerful northern neighbor, Mexico was for many years an
unwilling partner in the U.S. anti-drug effort.

Yet new President Felipe Calderon has taken decisive action against
the drug trade as a response to a gruesome wave of drug violence in
his country.

This increased regional attention and commitment of resources to
fighting illegal drugs are in significant contrast to recent
developments within the United States, where the Pentagon in a report
to Congress acknowledged last year that "detecting drug trafficking
is a lower priority than supporting our service members on ongoing
combat missions." That does not translate into success in the war on drugs.

The United States still consumes half of the world's cocaine and
accounts for nearly half of all profits derived from drug
trafficking. Yet according to Latin American leaders such as
Fernandez, the United States has become "inattentive" to
drug-trafficking in the region. Meanwhile, the countries left to
assume a greater amount of the illegal drug burden are among some of
the poorest in the region.

Haiti, which has seen more illegal drugs coming into its territory
this year than in the past 15 years and is experiencing a growing
problem with drug abuse, "doesn't even have the police force to
control it," said Eduardo Gamarra, director of Latin American and
Caribbean Center at Florida International University.

The U.S. stagnation is not likely to change soon. For some observers,
this situation would be less regrettable if U.S. officials did not
maintain the old discourse. "It is very cynical," said Myles
Frechette, U.S. ambassador to Colombia in the mid-1990s, "for
(President) Bush to say that we are fulfilling our obligations and we
hope that you will, too." Frechette suggested that at the very least,
Washington should change its "unrealistic expectations" that these
countries can do as much while the United States has lowered its guard.