Pubdate: Sun, 01 Apr 2001 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2001 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Mike Blanchfield LEGALIZATION OF DRUGS 'NOT A CHOICE FOR COLOMBIA' Move would put traffickers in power: diplomat Colombia's ambassador to Canada says legalizing narcotics would not end the violence associated with her country's drug trade, unless Canada and the rest of the western "consumer" nations follow suit. "Legalization is not a choice for Colombia as long as consumer countries are not legalized," Fanny Kertzman told the Citizen in an exclusive interview. "Colombia cannot legalize by itself, otherwise Colombia will become an international pariah." The question of legalizing drugs has crept into public debate in Latin America as one possible means of crippling the lucrative drug cartels. Mexican President Vicente Fox recently speculated publicly about it. Colombia supplies 85 per cent of the world's cocaine and is locked in a 37-year-old civil war, making it the most violent country in the Western Hemisphere. Opposition politicians in Colombia have proposed legalization, but that has been opposed by the government of Andres Pastrana, which recently accepted $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid, a package dubbed Plan Colombia, to battle the country's drug lords. In a wide-ranging interview, Ms. Kertzman said legalizing the drug trade would transform some very violent and corrupt people into legitimate citizens in her country. Though Colombia is wracked by political violence which last year claimed almost 26,000 lives, Ms. Kertzman said her country still values its democratically elected government and its people do not want to be governed by criminals. "Even if the consumer countries like Canada, the U.S. and those in Europe would legalize, and Colombia would legalize, the narco-traffickers would have power. They would be free to spend their money in politics. They would be free to be elected as judges. They would be administering justice," said Ms. Kertzman. "They would be promoting laws. We don't want to be governed by these kinds of crooks." Canada enjoys full diplomatic and trade relations with Colombia, which will be one of the hemisphere's 34 countries to attend the Quebec City Summit of the Americas in three weeks. Ms. Kertzman said Canada should wake up to the fact it is an indirect player in her country's drug trade because of the consumer demand for cocaine that exists here. "Here in Canada, the drug problem is consumers," she said. "But in Colombia they are very powerful people with lots of money, and we don't want to see that kind of people managing our life." Added Ms. Kertzman: "All the consumer countries create a demand, and Canada is no different." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek