Controlling Drugs in Colombia
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Congress has granted the Clinton administration the $1.3 billion it sought to help Colombia fight drug cultivation and trafficking. But before final passage of the legislation, Congressional conferees stripped away some of the important human rights and environmental safeguards added by the Senate. Without these restrictions on the use of American aid, the United States could find itself drawn into the long war between the Colombian government and leftist guerrillas, a war that neither side can expect to win by military means. It will now be up to the White House to make sure that American involvement neither prolongs war nor weakens democracy. Colombia produces more than 90 percent of the cocaine and about two-thirds of the heroin that reaches the United States. In recent years, Bogota’s American-aided effort to eradicate coca plants by aerial spraying has been losing ground, in part because much of the crop is grown in areas where government control is weak and the guerrillas are the most powerful military force. The close intertwining of drug-control efforts with the army’s war against the guerrillas means that unless Washington proceeds with care, it could find American prestige and even American support troops at risk in a prolonged and open-ended military entanglement. Most of the new money will go to arm, train and support Colombia’s army and police. The army, in particular, has an abysmal human rights record. The Senate bill would have halted aid if Colombia failed to punish abusive officers. But the conferees authorized the White House to waive this provision by claiming that America’s national security requires action against drugs. Also eliminated were Senate restrictions on the use of pesticides that harm human health or the environment. Colombia’s president, Andres Pastrana, has worked hard to start peace negotiations with the guerrillas. Successful talks could allow more settled conditions in Colombia’s drug-growing regions and give their inhabitants economic alternatives to coca farming. This would do far more to fight drugs and bring stability to Colombia than would expanded military operations. The Clinton administration must ensure that American aid reinforces democracy and contributes to a negotiated peace. Source : query.nytimes.com |