quote:

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Colombia's president says White House survey shows 8 percent rise in coca production
The Associated Press
Published: June 3, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia: Despite record drug eradication efforts, a White House survey found production of coca in Colombia rose for the third consecutive year in 2006, President Alvaro Uribe said.

Uribe, who travels to Washington on Wednesday to secure the continued flow of U.S. anti-drug aid, revealed the findings of the still unreleased report at the end of a long speech Friday. A transcript was posted Sunday on the president's Web site.

Uribe said the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy survey, which is based on satellite imagery, found that production rose 8 percent last year, to 156,000 hectares (385,484 acres) — an area twice the size of New York City.

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The much-awaited estimate, if confirmed, could revive debate about the effectiveness of Plan Colombia, the U.S.-backed anti-narcotics and counterinsurgency program that has cost American taxpayers more than US$5 billion (€3.7 billion) since 2000.

One of Plan Colombia's main goals was to halve production of coca within five years, but the latest estimate indicates 27 percent more coca is being produced than in 1999, the year before the anti-drug effort went into effect. A recent dip in the U.S. street price of cocaine, and rise in purity, also points to abundant supply.

Last year, Colombia's drug police used U.S.-supplied planes to spray glyphosate herbicide on 171,000 hectares (424,000 acres) of coca and opium poppies, and manually eradicated an additional 17,000 hectares (42,100 acres) of coca. In 2005, authorities fumigated almost 140,000 hectares (345,900 acres).

Yet the United States found the amount of coca in 2005 surged 26 percent, to 144,000 hectares (355,831 acres). White House drug czar John Walters argued the unexpected rise was a statistical aberration owing to a near doubling of the area surveyed.

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The total failure of America's aggressive military "Plan Colombia" is especially relevant because we're trying to apply the same failed model to the Afghan opium crop. There were even Colombian "advisors" in Afghanistan teaching them how to apply their Colombian tactics to Afghanistan.

The global war on drugs is a failure.

Just watched the 1989 mini-series Traffik. It is an entertaining way to learn about the global narcotics trade.

Something else to mention. There are now roughly 4 million Internally Displaced Persons in Colombia because of Plan Colombia. Another huge success! Our family is in the process of bringing 2 of these people to our country, otherwise they would die a very early and poverty stricken death.