DATE=10/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=COLOMBIA DRUGS (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254738
BYLINE=JON TKACH
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The Clinton administration has expressed 
support for a Senate initiative for more U-S 
involvement in the fight against drug trafficking in 
Colombia. Analysts told a Senate hearing (Wednesday) 
that the South American nation is losing its long war 
against the drug cartels and the leftist guerrillas 
that support them.  V-O-A's Jon Tkach [kotch] reports.  

TEXT:  General Barry McCaffrey - the White House drug 
control policy chief - says Colombia is the source of 
more than 80 percent of the cocaine in the United 
States. He says despite eradication efforts, Colombia 
has become an "emergency situation." 
                        
            /// MCCAFFREY ACT ///

      Coca production in Colombia is skyrocketing, the 
      rough numbers are probably a doubling or greater 
      of coca cultivation in the last four years.
      
            /// END ACT /// 

Human rights groups and U-S legislators have expressed 
concern that aid to the Colombian government will be 
used to fund military divisions and rightist 
paramilitary groups that have been accused of human 
rights abuses.   

But, Republican Senator Paul Coverdell, whose bill 
would increase drug-fighting assistance, says steps 
have have been, and will continue to be, to ensure 
that human rights are protected. 

Senator Coverdell says the added support is needed to 
help avert a potential national security threat to the 
United States. 

            /// COVERDELL ACT ///

      If this hemisphere were to accept a government 
      driven by narcotics, it will destabilize the 
      entire region.

            /// END ACT ///

Senator Coverdell's plan calls for up to one-and-a-
half-billion dollars in aid over the next three years 
to expand drug interdiction, protect human rights, and 
induce Colombian farmers to plant alternative crops.  
The United States is already giving Colombia 300-
million dollars of anti-drug aid per year.


NEB/JON/ENE/gm 



06-Oct-1999 17:10 PM EDT (06-Oct-1999 2110 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.