Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - June 17, 2005
Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@herald.com
It comes soon after new data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime indicated Colombia achieved only a modest reduction in coca cultivation despite heavy spraying, with more coca being grown in Peru and Bolivia. Coca is used in the production of cocaine.
However, lawmakers on the foreign operations subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee did approve $463 million requested by the Bush administration for Plan Colombia, a massive anti-drug effort.
The $20.3 billion appropriations bill approved Thursday also includes funds for Israel, Egypt and the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Bush administration had asked for $22.8 billion. The full House is expected to vote on the measure later this month.
The Colombian government's effort to establish a new coca eradication base had the backing of several key members of Congress, including Reps. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee.
But the proposal had only lukewarm support from the Bush administration, which did not formally request any additional funds for Colombia.
The United States has pumped more than $3 billion into Plan Colombia, most of it for military aid to help Colombia defeat drug traffickers and armed anti-government forces.
A Colombian diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said the embassy was pleased that Bush's funding request was approved in full, but the country will try, with its congressional allies, to get more money for spraying included in a future bill.
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