8 - 14 March 2001
Issue No.524
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 8 - 14 March 2001 Issue No.524 |
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The Colombian connection
Last Thursday was just one more day in the turbulent annals of the US-sponsored "all-out war" on drugs. On 1 March 2001, the United States State Department issued its good behaviour "certification," or, alternatively, an ominous "de-certification" label, to drug-producing and drug-transiting countries worldwide. Compliance is, of course, defined in terms of submission to US conditions.
Over and above being the world's uncontested superpower, the US has firmly entrenched itself in its position as the world's super cop, threatening certain countries with economic sanctions and adding potential offenders to its list of "rogue states." Drug-producing and drug-transiting countries' worries were unnecessary this year, however, as the latest certification process revealed no surprises.
All but four countries passed the state department's self-styled certification "test" with flying colours. Among the four duly de-certified for "failing to cooperate with US counter-narcotics efforts" were Afghanistan and Myanmar. The two countries also qualify as "rogue states" and are therefore already barred from receiving US aid for a host of offences, ranging from "human rights violations" to "international terrorism."
As for the other culprits, namely Haiti and Cambodia, they will not be subject to sanctions, allegedly thanks to "reasons of [US] national security." Beyond its clemency towards these two offenders, the State Department is apparently playing a cat-and-mouse game -- speaking softly while carrying a big stick.
Notwithstanding their close ties to Washington, Central and South American countries are upset by the high-powered North American interference in their internal affairs. With outrage reverberating throughout the region, it is dawning on the Bush administration that playing super cop may have its downside, after all -- especially for a country that holds the dubious distinction of being the world's largest consumer of illicit drugs. Mexican President Vicente Fox is particularly incensed at the gringos' arrogance. "Certification is more than an affront to Mexico and to other countries. It is a sham that should be denounced and cancelled," fumed an irate Fox.
In an attempt to assuage its southern neighbour's discontent, the Bush administration lauded the Mexican government's close cooperation with US narco-politics, but also singled out Colombia's exemplary performance. Indeed, Colombia's accomplishment was duly rewarded with a pledge of hard cash, along with the newest and best US military hardware on offer. "In 1999, Colombia replaced Turkey as the leading recipient of US arms worldwide, apart from Israel and Egypt," prominent linguist and political writer Noam Chomsky told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Turkey had been in the lead for quite a few years, for a very simple reason: it was fighting a murderous terrorist war against its Kurdish population and it needed US arms. By 1999, Turkey had basically crushed all resistance, but Colombia had not. So Colombia replaced Turkey in the lead."
Despite the switch from Democrat to Republican administration in the White House, the flow of arms and cash is expected to continue unabated. Last year's "Colombia plan", a hefty $1.3 billion aid package of mostly military assistance, includes dozens of combat helicopters and training for Colombian counter narcotic battalions.
According to former US President Bill Clinton's sales pitch, the plan is designed to "help boost Colombia's interdiction and [drug] eradication capabilities... and will also include assistance for economic development, protection of human rights and judicial reform."
While Clinton's lofty rhetoric augured for the best, the plan's target remains a long way off. Colombia is still the world's most important manufacturer of cocaine, producing 80 per cent of the drug's global supply. The country's "drug eradication capabilities" have, to date, only been tested against poor campesinos. Meanwhile, the drug industry's business infrastructure remains intact and transnational narco dealers operate with the backing of para-military terrorist groups -- established, financed and controlled by the Colombian armed forces.
Despite the Colombian government's US-backed warfare against the campesinos -- consolidated by the fumigation and destruction of an estimated 110,000 hectares of arable land over the last six years -- cocaine production is thriving. The surface cultivation of coca, the plant from which cocaine is extracted, has grown dramatically, spiralling from 50,000 hectares in 1995 to 120,000 hectares in 1999.
The campesinos' persistence in growing coca, even when confronted with fumigation and destruction, is largely due to a lack of sustainable alternative. The bottom line, as always, concerns people's livelihood. In this country of 43 million, which only recently resurfaced from the deepest depression of the 20th century, subsistence farming remains tenuous at best. This is true for 20 per cent of the unemployed and 57 per cent of peasants, who eke out a miserable existence on less than 3 per cent of the land.
In this land of plenty where 3 per cent of the rural elite own over 70 per cent of the land, the level of absolute poverty is such that the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare estimates that 4.5 million children under 14 are hungry; that is, one of every two children, notes Noam Chomsky.
Far from the fabulous profits derived from narcotrafficking, cultivation of the coca plant barely assures the poor campesinos' subsistence, as it takes 500kg of coca leaves to produce 1kg of cocaine. In the poverty-stricken rural area of the town of Sucre, even the clergy defends the poor peasants' right to survive in the absence of other marketable crops. In the words of a local priest, "Nobody should sin, but nobody should die of hunger either. These other countries are ready to kill us rather than seek solutions to the peasants' problems."
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