PRESS CONFERENCE BY COLOMBIA

25 September 1996

Press Briefing

19960925 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

The President of Colombia, Ernesto Samper Pizano, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning that his proposed global agenda to combat drugs had six basic components, including the question of crop elimination and substitution and the formation of a world intelligence organization to combat cartels. The plan also called for agreements on controlling the sales of chemical precursors, combating money laundering through the banking system and financial circuits, reducing demand with harmonized laws and establishing legal and judicial cooperation through international instruments. Such steps would help bring to trial and punish individuals linked with drug trafficking.

Speaking on the agenda of the Non-Aligned Movement for the coming months, he said Colombia was at present the chair of the movement and would continue as chair until 1997. He said that a meeting of the Ministers of Science and Technology would be held in the coming year in Cartagena. In addition, a seminar on the effects of economic globalization would be organized under the auspices of the Swedish Government.

Also in the coming year, first steps would be taken towards setting up a world solidarity network, which would focus on certain specific social actions in the non-aligned countries, he said. In that connection, a meeting of Ministers of Culture of the non-aligned nations would be held. Today more than ever the principles that had given birth to the Movement 35 years ago continued to be valid. Those were the principles of solidarity, non- intervention and peaceful settlement of disputes.

A correspondent requested the President's comments on the arrest of eight Air Force officers who had interfered with radars equipped to detect drug trafficking. The President said the whole point of his being at the United Nations, with all the difficulties involved in his getting to the Organization and the United States, was linked to Colombia's struggle with drug trafficking. Colombia asked the world to understand that it could not afford to bear alone the costs of combating drug trafficking.

"This is not just a problem facing my country, but a problem that confronts the entire international community", he said. There was a market which involved not only supply, but demand. If one wished to halt the market, action on both demand and supply fronts would be required. "No country can reserve unto itself the right to criticize and certify on the conduct of another in respect to a struggle that should be shared by all of mankind", he said.

He said just as the future of young drug users was being destroyed, so also the question of the future of young Colombians -- soldiers, policemen, journalists -- had to be addressed. They continued to struggle and many had given their lives in a struggle which should have global support. "Colombians are not hangmen or butchers," he added. "We are the foremost victims of drug use."

Responding to a question on extradition, he said no country in the world should serve as a refuge for organized criminals. Instruments of proven efficacy, such as confiscation of goods, international cooperation in policing, and international support for the individual efforts of each country in combating crime were essential. Extradition was a component in the arrangements used by the world to combat criminal activity and it was acceptable to Colombia provided there was a clear and effective response to its proposal for global action. "We, in Colombia, are tired of being blamed and stigmatized", he said. "We are tired of having to bear alone the full weight and cost of a struggle that needs to be addressed together."

He welcomed the fact that the United States President, William Clinton, in his address to the General Assembly had picked up some of the elements of Colombia's global proposal. The need for action in reducing consumption had been recognized, either through deterrence or persuasion. It had been recognized that work was needed to interdict assets and to close the channels used for transforming coca into cocaine.

Replying to a question on the feedback to his proposal, President Samper said he had received "virtually a plebiscite" in support of the proposal and the Non-Aligned Movement had supported it. The proposal did not foresee the establishment of new bureaucratic machinery. Mechanisms that could be improved and globalized already existed, such as the Vienna Convention, the agreements in Naples against organized crime, regional agreements for combating drugs and legal instruments. Political will was needed to put those mechanisms -- and a proposal by French President Jacques Chirac -- into action. The French President's proposal was that a fund be established for the substitution of crops, so that farmers could be provided with alternative means of earning a livelihood.

"The war against drugs is a war that we are losing, that is quite clear", he continued. "We are barely seizing 10 per cent of the drugs circulating worldwide." The figures for growth of consumption in the United States and other countries spoke volumes. "If we want to win this war, we must realize that we have a common enemy." Drug trafficking was an international crime which needed to be tackled internationally. In some way every country had been affected, through consumption, money laundering or because it had served as a channel for the sale of chemical precursors or weapons. He reiterated that his proposal had received a positive response from American authorities.

Colombia Press Conference - 3 - 25 September 1996

Could Colombia's relations with the United States become as strained as that of Cuba? a correspondent asked. President Samper said he did not want to make international comparisons of that nature. He said he regretted what was happening in Cuba and was particularly concerned by the human damage caused by the economic blockade. Confrontation was the worst path that could be taken between countries. The right course was that of understanding and cooperation grounded in mutual trust. That involved respect for the right of each country to take decisions suited to its way of life.

The guerrilla problem had been viewed as distinct and separate from the drug questions until sometime back, he continued. Unfortunately, recent events in Colombia, when guerrilla fronts had emerged in its southern region to intimidate peasants and force them to protest government decisions to spray their illegal coca crops, had focused attention on the nexus of drug dealers and guerrillas.

Responding to a question on whether Colombia's governability was threatened by interventionism and conditionalities, he said all the countries today were threatened by conditionalities and his country was no exception. Conditions that were being imposed on developing countries which hampered possibilities for globalization, in the areas of trade, access to technology, multilateral credit and access to different countries made up a new form of interventionism.

On combating drug traffic in Colombia, he said Colombian authorities were investigating the instance of radar interference by eight Air Force officers. "I do not wish to go along with any hypothesis at this stage", he said. "It is my conviction that the plane operation was carried out by someone who was not seeking merely economic benefit." That action had a political cost to the country. For Colombia it was a question of national pride to clarify the whole episode down to the last detail, "to identify who was materially responsible and who was the mastermind".

Were there improvements in the relationship with the United States? a correspondent asked. He replied that he was returning to Colombia moderately optimistic about relations with the United States. He recognized that relations were going through a very difficult moment. In one way or another, however, the two countries were doomed to work together. There had to be a realization that there was a common enemy. Moreover, a relaxation in the climate of relations between the two countries was perceptible. He hoped that relations would improve, the United States presidential elections not withstanding.

Speaking on investments in his country, he said yesterday he had held a meeting with heads of about eight oil or petroleum firms which had interests in Colombia. Safeguards which were being given to those firms to carry out their activities had been discussed. The heads of the firms had been quite satisfied with the measures. Moreover, people who invested in Colombia knew that the country did not mix politics and economics, as some had tried to do recently. In addition, there were clear rules of the game for investors.

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