THEY CALL THIS A PLAN?

The village of Miraflores, Colombia has been under the control of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, since 1998. Government forces, newly emboldened with US arms and support, recaptured the town this week and issued an edict to the residents who have depended on the cultivation of coca for their livelihood for the last six years. Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe addressed the assembled townspeople shortly after the occupation.

"We are going to press on with the fight against coca," he said. "We are here to stay, we have come with the best intentions."

Uribe told villagers to expect more aerial fumigation of coca crops, urging them to work with the newly installed authorities in Miraflores to prevent their other plantations, including bananas and yucca, from being destroyed at the same time.

The crowd was hardly receptive to his hard line message but feared to speak against it.

Residents stood stone-faced during Uribe's speech, shying away when approached by journalists and refusing to shake hands with officials.

Only the church dares point out the shortcomings of this policy.

"We cannot deny that we are scared," said Jose Gilberto Cadavid, the parish priest in Miraflores.

Cadavid said the government would have to provide massive amounts of aid and find jobs and markets if they are to successfully switch away from coca cultivation.

"If the idea is to root out coca," he told Uribe, "give us an incentive, a reason, or establish new circumstances in which we can work and sustain ourselves."

Therein lies the greatest flaw of Plan Colombia and the war on drugs. Trying to eliminate cocaine use by destroying plants is ineffective. Ignoring the human costs of the eradication campaign is inhumane. That the US is spending millions to underwrite this policy of destruction without offering a companion reconstruction plan, is a travesty.