Pubdate: Fri, 07 Sep 2001 Source: Korea Times (South Korea) Copyright: 2001 The Hankookilbo Contact: http://www.hk.co.kr/board/ktboard.htm Website: http://www.hk.co.kr/times.htm Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/916 Colombia Doubts About US-Backed Drug War BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)-A government report has raised fresh doubts about Washington's drug-fighting strategy in Colombia, saying aerial fumigation of crops may be damaging the environment and is failing to curb drug production. The report from the nation's comptroller-general's office urged President Andres Pastrana to suspend the spraying of drug crops until scientists can study the environmental effects of the herbicide. "The majority of the environmental damages are irreversible," claimed the report, which was released Saturday. The spraying of cocaine - and heroin-producing crops is a major component of Pastrana's Plan Colombia, and anti-drug strategy that Washington is supporting with $1.3billion in aid. Gonzalo de Francisco, Pastrana's top adviser in the drug war, said the U. S.-backed plan was on track and that criticism that the sprayings were causing environmental damage was unfounded. "Plan Colombia was never meant to be something that would happen overnight," de Francisco said. "I am convinced that we are on the point of achieving what we set out to do, which is eradicating drug production in Colombia." The report from Comptroller-General Carlos Ossa's office said the eradication campaign has failed to curb the drug industry in Colombia - the world's main exporter of heroin to the United States. The overall acreage (total number of hectares) of drug crops continues to expand and is moving to other areas of the country, and it is even jumping the border into neighboring countries, the report said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom