> >1. UK, US Split Over Colombia Drug War >2. Shadow Calls For Drug War Truce > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >9/13/00, ASSOCIATED PRESS >UK, US Split Over Colombia Drug War > >BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A split emerged Wednesday between Britain and >the United States over the anti-drug war in Colombia, with a top British >official criticizing the Clinton administration for pumping in military >aid despite human rights violations. > >British Cabinet Minister Mo Mowlam, one of the architects of the >Northern Ireland peace accords, also voiced opposition to the widespread >use of herbicides on drug crops -- a major component of the U.S.-backed >strategy. > >The statements reveal that opposition to the U.S.-backed military >offensive stretches across the Atlantic. Neighboring Latin American >countries already have expressed fears that the war on drugs will >further destabilize the region. Colombian human rights groups have >refused to accept U.S. aid as part of the plan, which they believe >spends too much on the military and not enough on social programs. > >Mowlam said Britain -- and most of Europe -- are withholding large >amounts of aid in the anti-drug war unless Colombian security forces >undergo further reforms. > >Mowlam said she stressed that point in meetings this week with President >Andres Pastrana and his military commanders. > >``We forcibly underlined the importance of human rights to Europe, and >to seeing any money,'' Mowlam said Wednesday at a breakfast with a dozen >journalists at the British ambassador's residence. > >European countries ``across the board'' decided at a conference in >Madrid, Spain, in July to withhold substantial funds until more progress >is made in human rights, Mowlam said. > >Colombia had hoped to secure billions of dollars for its anti-drug >campaign from conference participants. But only two European countries >-- Spain and Norway -- pledged a total of $120 million. > >The United States, meanwhile, is delivering $1.3 billion in mostly >military aid. Clinton signed a waiver last month authorizing release of >the aid even though Colombia fell short of meeting human rights >requirements imposed by the U.S. Congress. > >``I think it was unfortunate, to say the least,'' Mowlam said. > >Jaime Ruiz, special adviser to Pastrana, said in a telephone interview >that unless European nations contribute more money, Colombia will be >hard-pressed to provide alternative development and other social >programs while the drug war intensifies. > >``In order to do what (Mowlam) wants, and what Europe wants and what we >want, we need to have the funds,'' Ruiz said. ``In 15 years we haven't >had any real money from Europe -- just a few million dollars.'' > >Ruiz acknowledged human rights abuses persist but said there have been >improvements, noted by Mowlam herself. > >There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials, but Clinton said >last month that one reason he signed the waiver was Pastrana's >commitment to protecting human rights. He noted that Pastrana has called >for changes that will permit civil trials for allegations of military >abuses of human rights. > >Although Colombia falls far short of international human rights >standards, Mowlam said the country is taking steps in the right >direction, citing the removal of several military commanders linked to >abuses and the growing number of arrests of members of paramilitary >death squads. > >``I think (Colombians) are moving along the road and have just started >to make progress,'' Mowlam said, adding that if the trend continues, >Britain would be inclined to vote to give Colombia funds from the >European Commission. > >Under the U.S. aid package, Colombian soldiers trained by elite U.S. >troops are to fly into drug-producing regions aboard U.S.-supplied >combat helicopters and take control of them from the rebels so that >low-flying planes can spray the drug crops with herbicide. > >Mowlam criticized the spraying, saying it would be acceptable to Britain >only if vast drug plantations were targeted, and if no one lived near >them. > >The United States has energetically backed the spraying campaign -- >often by Americans contracted by the State Department -- which targets >small farmers' drug plots as well as large plantations. > >On Tuesday, the local chief of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, >Leo Arreguin, observed as a crop duster sprayed loads of herbicide on >small coca plantations in the jungles of southwest Colombia as >helicopter gunships provided protection. Villages and food crops stood >only about 300 feet away. > >Mowlam said Britain wants spraying missions to be monitored, and opposes >employing biological agents the United States has urged Colombia to use. >Only glyphosate, the herbicide now used in Colombia, should be allowed, >Mowlam said. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >August 16, 2000, AlterNet [an oldie that never got sent out] > >Shadow Calls For Drug War Truce >by Katherine Lemons > >LOS ANGELES, August 15, 2000 -- "The next time we get together will be >to celebrate that peace has come to the war on drugs," said Dave >Purchase, director of the National Association of Syringe Exchange >Network, to a packed Patriotic Hall auditorium this morning at the >Shadow Convention. His remarks highlighted the second day of the >convention, which was dedicated to analyzing the failed war on drugs. > >Members of the Lindesmith Center, which hosted the day's events, elected >officials, doctors, members of various non-profit organizations and >several celebrities took turns on stage. Their words danced around and >through the web of entangled issues that constitute the failed war on >drugs. The prison industrial complex, racial profiling, mandatory >minimums, legislation, health and AIDS were all addressed. > >"Drug war politics impede public health efforts to stem the spread of >HIV, hepatitis and other infectious diseases," says a leaflet >distributed by Lindesmith Center. "Civil and other human rights are >violated, environmental assaults perpetrated, and prisons inundated with >hundreds of thousands of drug law violators. Scarce resources better >expended on health, education and economic development are squandered on >ever more expensive interdiction efforts. Realistic proposals to reduce >drug-related crime, disease and death are abandoned in favor of >rhetorical proposals to create a drug free America." > >During her speech, Deborah Small of the Lindesmith Center likened the >war on drugs to a slave ship whose triangular trade connects black and >other minority communities, the police squads who search them, arresting >disproportionately high numbers of blacks and minority drug offenders, >and the upstate jails where they end up, far from home. > >"You may say that these are strong words," said Small, "But strong words >are necessary." > >Human Rights Watch recently released a study revealing that 13 times as >many blacks are incarcerated than other groups, Rep. Maxine Water (D-CA) >told the crowd. > >While the United States government spends $19.2 billion to fight the war >on drugs annually, drug use continues to rise. 600,000 people were >arrested last year on possession of marijuana charges. > >A tour of the South-Central LA Community Coalition for Substance Abuse >Prevention and Treatment and the Palms Residential Care Facility was >offered to convention-goers who wanted to witness the effects of the >drug war on minority communities. > >"The war on drugs has had a visible effect on South Los Angeles," said >Mary Lee of the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention as >the van rumbled down Central Avenue, once the busy heart of south Los >Angeles and the historic dividing line between whites and blacks. "This >used to be a venue for businesses, restaurants and night life with jazz >clubs and hotels." > >South Los Angeles before 1960 was also home to several industries. >General Motors, Good Year Tires, Firestone and many other auto and >defense parts factories provided thousands of union jobs with health >benefits and wages high enough that workers often owned houses and were >able to send their children to college. > >That all began to change in 1965 after the Watts Riots initiated a >pattern of disinvestment in the area by banks and supermarkets who >deemed it unsafe or unprofitable. By the early 1970s, the plants had >also begun to close, unable to comply with increasingly stringent >environmental regulations. When they shut down, 70,000 to 100,000 people >lost their jobs, leaving the area desolate and vulnerable to the >invasion of drugs. > >"The crack cocaine epidemic hit the area in the 1970s. It touched almost >everybody," Lee said. > >Former banks and supermarkets which had been systematically red-lined >were replaced by over 300 liquor stores as well as cheap motels. Gangs >and prostitution moved in. > >This city, which Lee describes as "one of the most segregated in the >nation" entered the 1980s wobbling, without sufficient schools or jobs >and with a freely flowing supply of crack-cocaine, which had destroyed >its communities. > >"There was little progressive response to the war on drugs in the >1980s," said Solomon Rivera, Associate Director of the Community >Coalition Against Substance Abuse. "Some residents supported Drug >Enforcement Zones which literally barricaded neighborhoods, for lack of >a more progressive solution." > >Finally, in the early 1990s, several non-profits and grass-roots >organizations formed to combat the drug and the drug-war invasions. > >The Community Coalition was among these groups. Founded in 1990, the >Coalition "felt that the issue would best be addressed by developing a >comprehensive and multi-method approach of organizing different >population groups in South L.A. so that residents could influence issues >such as economic development, land use policy and welfare reform," reads >the vision statement. > >With a staff of thirty and an annual budget of $1 million, the group has >begun to influence the community. They organize youth, hold study >groups, serve as an advocacy group for people on public assistance, >provide social services and oranize protests against the city council's >toleration of landowners who run storefront businesses overrun by gangs. > >When a liquor store has become home to gang members and prostitutes, >residents who feel threatened by it approach the coalition. The >coalition helps them organize by canvassing the neighborhood around the >troublesome store. Once there is enough support, the residents take >their complaint to the zoning council who can revoke the store's liquor >license. > >At the Palms Residential Care Facility, a temporary home for men with >AIDS and HIV, the focus of the discussion is harm reduction versus >abstinence. > >Drugs may as well be legal here, says Kevin Pickett, founder and >Executive Director. Pickett, who was shot twice leaving the facility >several years ago by gang members, has seen the devastation caused by >the drug epidemic and the failure of the "war on drugs" to help >alleviate that devastation. He bought the Palms in 1992 to run as a >motel, but soon transformed it into a home for HIV/AIDS victims who are >turned away elsewhere. > >One resident commented, "I am just glad to be able to start my life over >again here." > >The facility has nursing assistants, a social worker, substance abuse >counselors and a recreation director. They help residents get back on >their feet and ultimately help them move into permanent housing. > >"Our drug policies are ruining peoples' lives unnecessarily," said Judge >Jim Grey at the Shadow Convention. Here the words ring even more truly >than they did within the confines of the convention hall. > >"Treatment can no longer be one side fits all," said Carrie Broadus, >Director of Governmental and Community Affairs at the Palms Facility. _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
