Drug Control

Efforts to Develop Alternatives to Cultivating Illicit Crops in Colombia Have Made Little Progress and Face Serious Obstacles Gao ID: GAO-02-291 February 8, 2002

Since the early 1970's, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped Bolivian and Peruvian growers of illicit crops find legal ways to earn a living. The experiences in Bolivia and Peru indicate that effective alternative development demands a strong host government commitment to a comprehensive array of counternarcotics measures and years of sustained U.S. assistance. Chief among the specific lessons for Colombia are that progress requires host government control of drug-growing areas and a political will to interdict drug trafficking and forcibly eradicate illicit crops as well as a carefully coordinated approach to these efforts. USAID began targeting Colombia's poppy-growing areas in 2000 and expanded its program to include coca-growing areas in 2001, but most activities will not begin in earnest until 2002. The experiences in Bolivia and Peru suggest that alternative development in Colombia will not be successful unless the Colombian government controls coca-growing areas, has the capacity to carry out sustained interdiction operations, and the ability to effectively coordinate eradication and alternative development activities.

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