Dukakis Tells His Plan for War on Drugs : Would Cut Aid to Countries Refusing to Destroy Crops

Michael S. Dukakis said today that he would cut foreign aid to any Latin American or other country that refused to destroy drug crops at home or aided their shipment to the United States.

“We’re going to make it clear to every country that American foreign aid is not a blank check,” the Democratic presidential nominee told a crowd at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse.

“We want . . . we expect . . . and we are legally required to demand that they cooperate in the fight to destroy drug crops and to prevent the transshipment of drugs to American soil,” he said.

Regular Summits Urged

The Massachusetts governor said there should be regular summits with Central American countries and if elected he pledged to appoint a “drug czar” reporting directly to the President to lead the fight against drugs in America.

“We’re going to begin by moving the war against narcotics from the bottom to the top of our foreign policy agenda,” Dukakis said.

He accused the Reagan Administration of an unsavory relationship with Panamanian leader Manuel A. Noriega, whom the United States tried unsuccessfully to force from power this year after he was indicted on drug trafficking charges.

“For years, while Gen. Noriega was doing business with drugs in Panama, we were in business with Gen. Noriega,” Dukakis said in reference to the fact that the Panamanian leader had been an American ally until the drug charges became public.

‘Just Saying No’?

He suggested that the involvement with Noriega made a mockery of First Lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign to fight American drug use.

“You tell me how can we ask our kids to say no to drugs here at home when we have an Administration that couldn’t say no to Gen. Noriega,” Dukakis said.

He also took a slap at Vice President George Bush, the Republican presidential candidate, who has played a major role in Reagan Administration anti-drug efforts and says he would put his own vice president in charge of the war against drugs.

“President Reagan tried that and it didn’t work,” Dukakis said.