U.S. Seeks Sharp Increase in Funds to Fight Drugs in Colombia
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The Administration asked Congress today to sharply increase funds to fight drug trafficking in Colombia, and set this goal: that within three years, Colombian cocaine and heroin would disappear from American streets. Announcing what he called ”an ambitious new strategy to attack narcotics trafficking in Colombia on all fronts,” R. Rand Beers, director of the State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, asked for a $21 million increase in the original $30 million package, which was presented two months ago. Total aid to Colombia, including military aid, was $95 million in 1997, he said. But the plan, described at a hearing before the House International Relations Committee, drew immediate criticism from both Republicans and Democrats who said that the Administration’s handling of the problem had been haphazard and that there was no evidence that Colombia could wage a sustained war to wipe out drug trafficking — even with American aid. The Administration was also criticized for failing to follow through with earlier directives from Congress to increase aid to the Colombian police. But Mr. Beers said the United States had ”an unprecedented opportunity” to destroy coca growing in Colombia. He said success in sharply reducing coca cultivation in Peru and Bolivia by disrupting deliveries to Colombia had changed Colombia from a nation that largely processed and transported cocaine to the leading grower of raw coca. Nearly 80 percent of the cocaine in the United States is from Colombia. ”We want to eliminate Colombian cocaine and heroin from American streets in several years,” said Mr. Beers. ”By several, I mean three.” More : query.nytimes.com |