| WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today expressed grave
concerns about the $1.6 billion in proposed aid to Columbia. During
a hearing of the Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug
Policy and Human Resources, Schakowsky questioned the current U.S. policy
of investing billions of dollars in a military drug war that has yielded
little or no results.
“From
1990 to 1998, we spent $625 million in Columbia and here is what we got:
a 50% increase in coca production,” Schakowsky said.
“Considering
the demonstrated failure of militarized eradication efforts to date, why
should we believe that we would achieve results by increasing the amount
we already spend? What will it take to achieve victory in Columbia and
are we prepared to make that commitment in dollars and lives?” she asked
during today’s hearing.
Schakowsky
also said that the involvement by our government in this conflict could
draw the U.S. into Columbia’s civil war. She specifically pointed
to a recent Op-ed by former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Robert
White, where he stated that our current intervention in Columbia is reminiscent
of the U.S. failed policies in El Salvador and Vietnam. Schakowsky
has invited Ambassador White to brief her colleagues on the Colombian situation.
Furthermore,
Schakowsky expressed concern that the aid package does not include adequate
accountability measures even though the Colombian armed forced have been
linked to human rights abuses and paramilitary groups. More than
100,000 people have died in Columbia’s civil war.
“We
must find more innovative approaches to cut drug use. We know that
each dollar spent on treatment here at home is 23 more times effective
than eradication,” Schakowsky said. She pointed to a recent report
by the RAND Corporation which found that providing treatment to cocaine
users is ten times more effective than drug interdiction schemes and 23
times more effective than eradicating coca at its source. |
