cannabisnews.com: Aid Colombia





Aid Colombia
Posted by FoM on April 14, 2000 at 09:47:18 PT
By Barry R. McCaffrey 
Source: The Washington Times
American interests at home and in South America have been increasingly threatened by ongoing, interrelated crises in Colombia. We must protect ourselves from the flow of Colombian heroin and cocaine, in particular, as well as support democratic government, the rule of law, economic stability and human rights in that beleaguered country.
   The Clinton administration has proposed a two-year assistance package of $1.6 billion. Colombia would receive equipment like UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, training and technical assistance for its police and criminal justice system, funds for alternate economic development, drug interdiction, and support for peace initiatives. Peru and Bolivia, which achieved dramatic reductions in cocaine production, would also receive modest enhancements in U.S. aid.   The Pastrana government has committed $4 billion dollars to "Plan Colombia" and requested $3.5 billion in bilateral foreign assistance from the international community. Colombia estimates that $7.5 billion will be required over the next three years to reverse the country's role as the hemispheric hub for drugs. Efforts are underway to build support among potential donors in Europe and Asia. The world has come to realize that the drug problem is multinational and demands an international response.   A nation the size of Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas combined —Colombia is home to 38 million citizens caught in the crossfire between 20,000 guerrillas, 6,000 paramilitary terrorists, and national democratic forces trying to defend an elected government. The level of violence is greatly exacerbated by drug profits, which fuel different parties to the conflict and allow outlaw factions to purchase more weapons. Some 35,000 Colombians were killed over the past decade in Latin America's longest-running internal conflict. If the United States doesn't help Colombia, even greater quantities of cocaine and heroin are likely to be exported.   Colombia's role in the drug trade changed over the last decade. As coca cultivation plummeted in Peru (down 66 percent since 1995) and in Bolivia (down 55 percent since 1995), it rose in Colombia by 140 percent — an increase compounded by the introduction of a higher-yield strain of plant. In the past, Colombia primarily distributed Peruvian and Bolivian cocaine. Colombia now produces 520 metric tons of cocaine a year, two-thirds of the world's total. At the beginning of the 1990s, Colombian drug organizations made a strategic decision to enter the heroin business. Opium poppies can be grown year-round in Colombia with multiple harvests. A majority of the heroin seized on America's eastern seaboard now comes from Colombia. After the demise of integrated cartels based in Medellin and Cali, smaller cells began specializing in limited aspects of the drug trade. Such groups are hard to disrupt. Dismantling one has little impact on the others.   The increase in drug production acted like gasoline thrown on the fire of Colombia's insurgency problems. Guerrilla and paramilitary groups on both the left and right profit enormously from the drug trade and organize peasants who grow illegal substances. The drug industry swelled the war chests of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), National Liberation Army (ELN), and the AUC (a paramilitary group). Dollar estimates of their income from drugs run as high as hundreds of millions annually. Drug money augments the funds such organizations get from kidnapping, extortion and bank robbery. The State Department documented that these groups hijack airplanes and murder Americans as well as innocent Colombians. Serious human rights violations committed by the outlaws include torturing and executing prisoners, expropriating property and recruiting minors.   Colombia's economy is shrinking for the first time in three decades. The gross national product decreased 5 percent in the first six months of 1999. Unemployment exceeds 20 percent. Displaced people, especially in rural areas, are seeking paid jobs with narcotraffickers and illegally armed groups. Recruits reportedly earn twice as much as army conscripts. Nearly a million citizens lost their homes, so Colombia has more displaced people than Kosovo. Without help from international partners, the Colombian government will be unable to reduce narcotrafficking or regain control of areas where illegal drugs are flourishing.   The old drug dichotomy between source countries and consumer nations is misleading. Drugs are used wherever they are produced. Therefore, a global strategy is imperative against international trafficking. Colombia is too close geographically for us to pretend we aren't affected, and it is currently responsible for 90 percent of the cocaine being shipped into the United States. The House of Representatives approved aid for Colombia, and President Clinton is urging the Senate to vote soon. Our communities are being poisoned by illegal drugs, which cost the United States 52,000 lives and $110 billion each year.Barry R. McCaffrey is director of the Office of National Drug-Control Policy. Published: April 14, 2000Copyright © 2000 News World Communications, Inc.CannabisNews Archives & Articles On Barry McCaffrey:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/McCaffrey.shtmlhttp://google.com/search?num=10&q=cannabisnews+McCaffrey+site:cannabisnews.com 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #4 posted by Rainbow on April 15, 2000 at 12:36:23 PT
Who is barry describing? Us or them
mcczar said"Serious human rights violations committed by the outlaws include torturing and executing prisoners, expropriating property and recruiting minors."Someone tell me is he really talking about Columbia or the United States? Sounds like the USA to me. Outlaws = police and mcczar, dea, fbi, ss, I agree this pinhead will never admit to understanding. He is being paid a lot of money to do what he is doing, and to admit would be an embarrassment. He might feel compelled to give back the money he took from us.No mcczar is a true follower, a messanger, a puppet, he has been his entire professional life. I doubt he has done anything to better humanity short of paying his grass cutter. He has sure done some killing though and continues to enable others to kill maim and destroy.CheersRainbow
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #3 posted by legalizeit on April 14, 2000 at 21:55:49 PT
This pinhead will never make sense
Only a prohibitionist rag like the Washington Post would print this nonsense.>Guerrilla and paramilitary groups on both the left and right profit enormously from the drug trade and organize peasants who grow illegal substances.Exactly why said substances should be legal and regulated.>The old drug dichotomy between source countries and consumer nations is misleading. Drugs are used wherever they are produced.Huh? Therefore we are invading Colombia to stop Colombians from using cocaine?? If drugs are used where they are produced then what is trafficking for? (In the same paragraph he says something about 90% of US cocaine coming from Colombia.)>The House of Representatives approved aid for Colombia, and President Clinton is urging the Senate to vote soon.>Our communities are being poisoned by illegal drugs, which cost the United States 52,000 lives and $110 billion each year.Our nation is being poisoned much more by legal drugs, police corruption/brutality and increasingly invasive McPropaganda which is at best misleading and at worst incoherent babble.Legal drugs cost the U.S. well over 500,000 lives each year and who knows how many billions in medical care.I sure hope that if Gore is elected he dumps this white elephant - and better yet, I hope he eliminates the useless cabinet office of Drug Czar. I feel that deep inside Gore knows what the right thing is for the country - he just can't take a stance on anything but the party line (we're winning the drug war, increase spending on it) to avoid uproars from the squanderous prohibitionists. Of course, the candidate making the most sense on the issue is Harry Browne. (see www.issues2000.org to see what candidates have to say on various issues.)
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on April 14, 2000 at 19:12:08 PT:
Better start brushing off your resume, Barry
Ever heard the phrase, 'lame duck'? I'm sure Barry has.In just 8 short months, it is highly possible that Barry will be out of a job; the new corrupt pols (when they replace the old corrupt pols) usually reward their staunchest allies with plum, do-nothing-constructive posts like these. If Gore wins (shudder) then Barry will be a liability; the rise in quality and quantity of the hard stuff happened on his watch. So did the decline in price of it. Barry will be a reminder of just how much of a failure this administration has been - and Al doesn't like being part of a failed anything. Even by association. So you can bet that on January 20th, unless something really spectacular takes place to justify Barry's continued presence as Drug Czar, it will be bye-bye for Barry. And he knows it. Hence his drum beating. He hopes to curry favor with Republicans - the people who put the 'war' in DrugWar. Perhaps he feels that by blustering even louder, waving the flag, and shrieking about Colombia that he just might get to keep the cushy office, nice perks, and the closest thing to a royal title this common little professional brown-noser can ever hope to attain.But Barry's line has gotten old... real old. The new administration, more than likely, will be even more irrational about illicit drugs than the present one. They'll want more fireworks, bells and whistles than (yawn) spy planes crashing in the Andes, narco gurillas shooting up oil refineries, and peasents in revolt. So, I don't expect Barry to be around much longer. After all, the pathetically sickening comedy act we've been treated to for the last eight years has hardly been worth the price of admission.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by freedom fighter on April 14, 2000 at 17:00:04 PT
Please stop the drug war
Oh geeI remembered Peru and Boliva Cocaine.I rather do them than the present strain that is available. Our own govt. tells me that the herbicde sprays are harmless and yet, it is proven that the sprays destroy any kind of plants.Why cannot McCaffrey understand this, that he failed miserably as a Drug Czar? Our next Drug Czar must have the following requirements: He must smoke "Pot"! He must be of a person who has real experience using cocaine/herion!!!!An addict has better chance quitting his bad habits by working with another ex-addict rather than a bone-head who thinks he knows what drugs is all about!Drug War is about FREEDOM. Too bad people been making too many rules that no longer make sense! Just a deaf man ranting out! LONG LIVE FREEDOM!!
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: