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Columbia: Another Vietnam Or An Opportunity?

© Jackson Murphy

The opening days of the Bush administration have seen the emphasis in United States foreign policy on Iraq, North Korea, Russia and China. But in the background, under the radar, are problems in the back yard-in Latin America. Columbia is one such problem.

It is a volatile mix of violence, illicit drug production, and poor institutions. The state is bordering on collapse as institutions fail and conflicts from within rise.

Coca production in Columbia has tripled since 1992. It now produces 90 percent of the cocaine and 65 percent of the heroin consumed in the U.S. Narco-corruption has systematically undermined the stability of Columbia and led to the displacement of 1.5 million citizens. This damage has left a 5 percent decline in Columbia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and unemployment has risen by 20 percent.

At a conference in Miami the former U.S. Drug Czar retired General Barry McCaffrey warned of what is at stake. “This isn’t North Korea, for cripe’s sake,” said McCaffrey. “We like these people. They live next door to us. And they’re in trouble.”

It was a last minute effort of the Clinton Administration to join Plan Columbia that tried to help. The plan is designed to eliminate drug crops, and monitor the cultivation areas held by leftist guerillas and right-wing paramilitary groups. This commits the U.S. to spending $1.3 billion over two years. Most of this is military aid to eradicate coca production. The potential here is to open up American troops, already 250 on the ground and currently used for training, to at least the same level of danger as was seen in Somalia. That mission in 1993 was a similarly ad hoc and ill-defined situation that led to the death of 18 American military personnel

According to Stephen Johnson, in a Heritage Foundation memo, it will fail to achieve many positive long-term goals especially in revitalizing Columbia’s crumbling institutions. “Columbia needs effective levels of government across the country,” wrote Johnson. “The only assistance the Administration requests in [the establishment of a rule of law] is for the administration of justice and in human rights activities-but these address a small part of the much larger problem.”

In a meeting with President Pastrana of Columbia U.S. president Bush attempted to bridge some of the complex problems. “We’re fully aware of the narcotics that are manufactured in his country, but also told [Mr. Pastrana] that many of them wouldn’t be manufactured if our nation didn’t use them,” said Bush. This was a clear change from traditional U. S. foreign policy, which used the drug trade as an excuse for intervention.

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