Colext/Macondo Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior -------------------------------------------------- Tomado de http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9911/03/us.drug.war.ap/index.html U.S., Latin leaders call war on drugs a failure November 3, 1999 Web posted at: 5:48 PM EST (2248 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- As delegates from 34 nations assembled for what is billed as the first drug summit for the Western Hemisphere, U.S. and Latin leaders said Wednesday that the war on drugs is being lost and new strategies are needed. "As you meet to develop a hemispheric drug strategy, it is time to admit that after two decades, the U.S. war on drugs -- both in Latin America and in the United States -- is a failure," according to a letter that prominent Americans and Latin Americans wrote to delegates attending the conference. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Organization of American States are sponsoring the event, which ends on Friday. The meeting is being held to exchange ideas on drug challenges expected in the first decade of the 21st century. "This conference provides an opportunity to share our ideas and strategies for stopping the flow of illegal drugs," said Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton's chief drug policy adviser. The letter urged officials at the conference to focus on policies to reduce consumption, expand drug treatment programs and promote economic development as a way to decrease the reliance on drug income among people who produce drugs. McCaffrey's office said it hadn't seen the letter but countered that anti-drug efforts netted a 13 percent drop in drug use among U.S. youths last year. "What they are protesting is exactly what we have been doing, so we find the protest somewhat disingenuous," said McCaffrey spokesman Bob Weiner. "If they look at our national strategy, Goal No. 1 is to educate and enable young people to reject illegal drugs." The letter was released at a press conference organized by the Washington-based Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, which pushes for reform on crime issues. Among those who signed the letter were jurists, doctors, artists, religious leaders and three former Latin presidents -- Belisario Betancur of Colombia, Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Oscar Arias of Costa Rica -- as well as fellow laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Argentine human rights activist. "The escalation of a militarized drug war in Colombia and elsewhere in the Americas threatens regional stability, undermines efforts towards demilitarization and democracy and has put U.S. arms and money into the hands of corrupt officials and military ... units involved in human rights abuses," the letter said. -------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with UNSUBSCRIBE COLEXT as the BODY of the message. Un archivo de colext puede encontrarse en: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ cortesia de Anibal Monsalve Salazar
