THE NEW YORK TIMES

Wednesday, 1 April 1998


U.S. Seeks Sharp Increase in Funds
to Fight Drugs in Colombia
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By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO


WASHINGTON (March 31) -- 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." 

The added money would be aimed at improving intelligence about 
drug cartels, expanding fumigation of coca crops and intercepting 
planes and boats transporting coca paste and cocaine. It would also 
strengthen the work of the Colombian police, Mr. Beers said. 

Though the State Department formally requested additional funding 
only for Colombia, Gen. Charles E. Wilhelm, Commander in Chief of 
the United States Southern Command, which oversees operations in 
Latin America, said anti-drug efforts in Peru and Bolivia would also 
"need to be pumped up." 

The Administration's anti-drug efforts have come under unrelenting 
criticism: Republicans say the Administration failed to move quickly 
enough with the money and authority it already had to combat 
trafficking in Colombia, while Lee H. Hamilton, the ranking Democrat 
on the committee, said there was no evidence of the political will in 
Colombia to eliminate drug trafficking.

Last year Colombia reduced military spending by 30 percent. "What 
does that tell you?" Mr. Hamilton asked.

Representative Benjamin A. Gilman, Republican of New York, said a 
Congressional order to upgrade 12 helicopters for use by the 
Colombian National Police had not been acted upon, though the 
money had been available since 1996. Though Mr. Beers said the 
money was not available until last year, he agreed the work had not 
been done. 

General Wilhelm said, "What we have is a fractional commitment in 
Colombia." He said the Colombian armed forces had also come up 
with an anti-narcotics plan, but lacked the money. 

"If we don't do anything now," Mr. Beers said, "we're going to find 
ourselves in a much worse situation strategically in the coming 
years." 

Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company