Crackdown in Streets, Prisons Cuts Power, but Factions Fight On In a city where legendary street gang leaders Jeff Fort and Larry Hoover took their place beside Al Capone in the local criminal hall of fame, the powerful Chicago gang kingpin is looking more and more like an endangered species. Major street gangs that once carved up the city into virtual fiefdoms for drug trafficking are producing fewer of the "super" leaders who dominated their organizations with charisma, ruthlessness and guile in years past, law-enforcement officials and other experts say. Hierarchies traditionally topped by a powerful few have decentralized. [continues 1211 words]
Since 2000, the U.S. has poured more than $4 billion into Plan Colombia, a program that has provided everything from police training to Black Hawk helicopters to a nation that supplies 90 percent of the cocaine and much of the heroin used in the United States. U.S. officials say that intensive fumigation of Colombia's cocaine-producing crops has reduced cocaine production and, for the first time in recent years, caused a squeeze in supplies and a jump in the price of cocaine in the United States. [continues 1117 words]
State Department Says Officials On Island Share Data HAVANA -- As relations between the U.S. and Cuba sink to the lowest point in years, the two countries are cooperating in one key area of mutual interest: anti-narcotics operations. Despite increasing hostility and a lack of formal diplomatic ties, Cuba's top anti-narcotics officials regularly share information with the U.S. Coast Guard on drug traffickers passing near Cuba en route to the Bahamas and the United States, according to U.S. officials and a new State Department report. [continues 1022 words]
EL CONGRESO, Colombia - High in the lush Colombian mountains, Francisco Pelaez is growing opium poppies. For a decade, the 33-year-old farmer has cultivated the delicate flower whose green bulb oozes sticky latex that is processed into potent heroin wreaking havoc in much of America. "Opium is bad for people, but what am I going to do?" asked Pelaez, standing in a jungle clearing dotted with bright pink poppies. "If there was something else to grow, I wouldn't touch it." [continues 593 words]
Interdiction Has Hurt Coca Farmers, But Colombia's Poppy Cultivation Has Kept Stable, Boosting Chicago's Status As America's Heroin Capital EL CONGRESO, Colombia -- High in the lush Colombian mountains, Francisco Pelaez is scratching out a living growing opium poppies. For a decade, the 33-year-old farmer has cultivated the delicate flower whose green bulb oozes a sticky latex that is processed into the potent heroin wreaking havoc in Chicago and much of America. "Opium is bad for people, but what am I going to do?" asked Pelaez, standing in a jungle clearing dotted with bright pink poppies. "If there was something else to grow, I wouldn't touch it." [continues 1293 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia -- The disappearance and possible death of one of Colombia's most powerful paramilitary leaders has complicated already difficult peace negotiations between the government and the outlaw group and signals the rise of drug traffickers within the right-wing organization. Carlos Castano, a once-feared figure who has admitted killing scores of civilians during a two-decade campaign to wipe out leftist rebels, disappeared April 16 after a gun battle that killed six of his bodyguards at a ranch in northwest Colombia. [continues 852 words]
Forces on left and right are using them as pawns TAME, Colombia - In the cocaine-fueled conflict that imperils Colombia's priests, politicians, journalists and union officials at an alarming rate, few civilians face greater risk than the nation's rural teachers. Working in impoverished areas where roads are mined and combat is frequent makes life difficult for teachers. But it is their use as pawns by leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary forces that makes education a dangerous career choice in Colombia. [continues 821 words]
End To Civil War Faces Rocky Road In The Mountains Of Northwest Colombia -- As Colombian President Alvaro Uribe tries to make peace with right-wing paramilitary groups, there is at least one man who is determined to continue the war. Sitting in a bush camp with two dozen heavily armed troops, Comandante Rodrigo heads one of Colombia's most powerful paramilitary factions. He is also one of the most defiant leaders, saying he has no intention of joining peace talks with the government until the leftist guerrillas who he is battling do the same. [continues 1505 words]
ANDES, Colombia -- With coffee prices near historic lows, the economic crisis facing thousands of small farmers in this picturesque region also is feeding Colombia's civil war and could threaten an intensive U.S.-funded antinarcotics program. Perched high on lush mountain slopes and intersected by rivers, Andes and the surrounding area stand on the edge of Colombia's once-prosperous coffee region. The crop has provided a steady income to generations of small farmers and migrant laborers while satisfying the needs of American and other coffee drinkers. [continues 158 words]
Coca Eradication In Colombia At Last Meets With Success SAN ANDRES, Colombia -- After years of failure, a controversial U.S.-funded anti-narcotics program is finally making a dent in Colombia's coca crop, which accounts for 90 percent of the cocaine reaching the United States. Nearly four months of intensive aerial spraying has destroyed tens of thousands of acres of coca in a key growing region and left the once-lush countryside devastated. Hillsides have been denuded by the herbicide. Coca farmers have fled, leaving roadsides lined with abandoned houses. [continues 1143 words]
SARAVENA, Colombia - On the edge of the war-torn city of Saravena, U.S. military advisers are preparing for a major escalation of American involvement in Colombia's 38-year-old civil war. Until now, U.S. military and economic assistance to Colombia has gone largely to fight the drug war. But in January, between 60 and 100 U.S. Special Forces soldiers will arrive in Saravena and the surrounding area to train thousands of Colombian troops to protect a 500-mile pipeline owned in part by Occidental Petroleum Corp. of Los Angeles. [continues 1698 words]
Pilots, Others Stand In For Troops In Colombia LARANDIA, Colombia -- They are private U.S. citizens but work on the front lines of America's war on drugs. Under a little-known program, more than 100 pilots, mechanics and others work for the U.S. State Department in Colombia as part of a program to eradicate Colombia's coca and opium poppy fields. Some of the Americans fly planes that spray herbicides on the illicit crops. Others fly gunships that accompany the spraying missions. Still others fly hulking transport aircraft or work as aviation mechanics, logistical experts and medics. [continues 518 words]
They are private U.S. citizens but work on the front lines of America's war on drugs. Under a little-known program, more than 100 pilots, mechanics and others work for the U.S. State Department in Colombia as part of a program to eradicate Colombia's coca and opium poppy fields. Some of the Americans fly planes that spray herbicides on the illicit crops. Others fly gunships that accompany the spraying missions. Still others fly hulking transport aircraft or work as aviation mechanics, logistical experts and medics. [continues 963 words]
SARAVENA, Colombia -- On the edge of the war-torn city of Saravena, U.S. military advisers are preparing for a major escalation of American involvement in Colombia's 38-year-old civil war. Until now, U.S. military and economic assistance to Colombia has gone largely to fight the drug war. But in January, between 60 and 100 U.S. Special Forces soldiers will arrive in Saravena and the surrounding area to train thousands of Colombian troops to protect a 500-mile pipeline owned in part by Occidental Petroleum Corp. of Los Angeles. [continues 1688 words]
Program Strives To Eradicate Coca LARANDIA, Colombia -- They are private U.S. citizens but work on the front lines of America's war on drugs. Under a little-known program, more than 100 pilots, mechanics and others work for the U.S. State Department in Colombia as part of a program to eradicate Colombia's coca and opium poppy fields. Some of the Americans fly planes that spray herbicides on the illicit crops. Others fly gunships that accompany the spraying missions. Still others fly hulking transport aircraft or work as aviation mechanics, logistical experts and medics. [continues 975 words]
