Sam Pawlett wrote: > > Listers might find this interesting. > SP > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Subject: NYT: Colombia Adjusts Economic Figures to Include Its Drug Crops > Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 09:33:52 -0500 > From: Dennis Grammenos <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: Private list on violence in Colombia > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [NOTE: Now it's time for the U.S. to follow the Colombians' > lead. Over 70% of "drug money" stays in the U.S., mostly in > well respected financial institutions, many of which > contribute heavily to the campaigns of the ever-moralizing > fat-cat congressional Republicans. -DG] > > ==================================== > But some in Washington, particularly > congressional Republicans who have > criticized other Pastrana policies, > have attacked the decision as a > capitulation to drug dealers. > ____________________ ==================================== > NEW YORK TIMES > > Sunday, 27 June 1999 > > Colombia Adjusts Economic Figures > to Include Its Drug Crops > --------------------------------- > > By Larry Rohter > > BOGOTA -- Taking a step that is generating heated criticism in Washington, > the Colombian government has begun to include income earned from growing > illegal drugs in the way it calculates the size of the nation's economy. > > The move is controversial but necessary, Colombian officials say, to take > account of the increasingly uncontrollable reality of the drug trade, > which by obviously imprecise assessments could amount to between one > one-quarter and one-third of Colombia's legal exports, or as much as $4 > billion a year. > > By including revenues from narcotics in gross domestic product, Colombian > government economists say they hope to obtain a more accurate measure of > all economic activity in the country. Excluding drug crops, they maintain, > leads to distortions that hamper the government's ability to effectively > combat drug production and trafficking. > > "This is a purely technical exercise, not a political measure," said Tomas > Gonzalez Estrada, the chief economic adviser to President Andres > Pastrana, who has stepped up the war against drugs here since taking > office last August. > > But some in Washington, particularly congressional Republicans who have > criticized other Pastrana policies, have attacked the decision as a > capitulation to drug dealers. > > Gen. Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton's antidrug chief, earlier this month > called the move "a political error." In a telephone interview from > Washington, Robert Weiner, a spokesman for the National Office of Drug > Control Policy, said, "They say it in no way means an acceptance of or the > legalization of drugs, but they have not fully explained that position or > gotten that message out." > > Officials here, though, respond that they are merely complying with > guidelines set by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for > potential borrowers, and that other countries, such as Bolivia, use the > same system. Instructions prepared by the IMF, World Bank and other > international lenders clearly state that "transactions involving the sale > or purchase of illegal goods and services must be recorded." > > The Colombian economy is suffering its worst recession in decades, and the > government is in talks with the IMF, without whose bill of good health it > would be difficult for Colombia to borrow money from international capital > markets. > > The official recalculation could add as much as 1 percent to the value of > the deteriorating Colombian economy, which has gross national product of > nearly $80 billion a year. But Gonzalez emphasized that "we are not doing > this to improve the performance of the Colombian economy," but rather to > "have more effective tools" to design strategies such as crop > substitution. > > For the moment, the new accounting system does not include the much larger > sums of money earned from the processing or trafficking of cocaine, > marijuana and heroin, only the growing of the raw materials. Rene > Verswyvel Villamizar, director of the National Statistical Administrative > Department, said that cultivation "is as far as we can go with certainty." > > According to the new statistics, drug crops added about 854 billion pesos > to the Colombian economy in 1994, or just over $1 billion, calculated at > the average exchange rate for that year. In 1995, the only other year for > which figures are available, the estimate slipped because of market > conditions in the United States to $762 million at the time. > > Recalculated figures for later years, which officials said may be ready > by the end of 1999, are likely to be significantly higher. Official U.S. > estimates indicate that the amount of land devoted to cultivation of drug > crops rose by more than one-quarter percent last year, despite eradication > efforts. > > The United Nations estimates that Colombia exports about 772 tons of > cocaine a year, growing and processing roughly half the world supply. > > "We are realists," Verswyvel said. "We have to recognize that narcotics and > guerrillas exist, because they are a reality that we cannot hide. We have > to measure these things as they are, not as we would like them to be." > > Copyright 1999 New York Times > _______________________________________________________________________ > *********************************************************************** > * COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK: To subscribe to CSN-L send request to * > * [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUB CSN-L Firstname Lastname * > * (Direct questions or comments about CSN-L to [EMAIL PROTECTED]) * > * Visit the website of CSN's Champaign-Urbana (Illinois) chapter at * > * http://www.prairienet.org/csncu Subscribe to the COLOMBIA BULLETIN * > * For free copy and info contact CSN, P.O. Box 1505, Madison WI 53701 * > * or call (608) 257-8753 fax: (608) 255-6621 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * > * Visit the COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK at http://www.igc.org/csn * > * Visit the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at http://www.prairienet.org/clm * > ***********************************************************************
