Drug Summit Leads to Only a Vague Pact

President Bush and the leaders of six Latin American nations proclaimed a “new spirit of cooperation” in the war on drugs Thursday, but they disagreed publicly over how to proceed in an effort that they conceded is far from successful.

They also sought to reduce their reliance on Latin American armies to fight the war--a step that appeared to be a retreat from a three-year Bush Administration initiative.

The move came at the end of a two-day, seven-nation meeting here marked by blunt exchanges between Bush and Latin American leaders over whether the United States should do more to assist the anti-drug efforts.

The discord resulted in a watered-down pact, which Bush has dubbed the San Antonio Declaration. It was far less specific in outlining continuing anti-drug efforts than the Administration had hoped.

In one of the few points of agreement, the nations decided to form a delegation to travel to Europe and Japan to seek more worldwide cooperation, and--more important--economic support in the anti-drug efforts.

The leaders also agreed to step up efforts to restrict money-laundering in an accord that American officials said will require Colombia and other nations to pass new laws aimed at seizing drug profits.

And they agreed, without many specifics, to establish anti-drug training centers throughout the region to add to the legions of personnel already deployed by the United States and its allies in the fight against drugs.

But even as the meeting ended with vows to press harder in the war on drugs, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, the summit’s most outspoken dissenter, renewed complaints that “cutbacks and delays” in U.S. aid have hurt his nation’s progress. His complaints were echoed by others, including the president of Ecuador.

“We hope such obstacles will not be repeated,” Fujimori warned, noting that Peru remains the world’s leading source of the raw material used to produce cocaine. Ecuadorean President Rodrigo Borja Cevallos said his country does not produce coca now but it needs more U.S. help “to keep my country from becoming a drug producer.”

As the meeting’s host, Bush agreed that the nations had not yet won the anti-drug fight that they embarked on after a similar gathering in Colombia two years ago. But the President turned aside appeals for more U.S. aid, citing budget constraints. And in response to requests for a shift in course, he stressed that America will maintain its own priorities in the effort. “Make no mistake about it,” he vowed. “Defeat the traffickers we will.”

The new proposal to enlist European nations and Japan in the anti-drug effort acknowledges that a problem once viewed as hemispheric has grown; it also recognizes that the $2.2 billion the United States has pledged to the fight remains insufficient.

“There’s no question that he could use more funds, and we respect that,” Bush told a news conference after his “frank” exchanges with Fujimori. “But I . . . have to set the (U.S.) priorities and I have to say that this is what we think we can do right now.”

Administration officials said that Peru’s unhappiness over funding has been largely responsible for the lack of specific goals in the document released at the meeting’s end. After a year in which an uneasy U.S. Congress restricted aid to his nation in protest of human rights abuses, Fujimori indicated that he is unwilling to embrace specific targets when he lacks the means to achieve them.

In bowing to a Colombian request to transfer U.S. aid from the military to police forces, the Administration appeared to have abandoned, at least for now, its hopes to establish Colombia’s army as a major participant in the anti-drug effort; Colombia, instead, has chosen instead to use the forces primarily for anti-guerrilla operations.

U.S. officials said the change will affect up to $30 million in assistance this year. The officials said that Bolivia also pressed to shift anti-drug money away from its military, and the Administration is likely to accede. The change reflects a reconsideration of U.S. anti-drug strategy after an initial emphasis on militarization of the fight in host countries.

The change is unlikely to affect U.S. military operations in the region, which have been increasing under a plan designed to gather intelligence about narcotics operations and relay it to Latin authorities. Indeed, one initiative in the summit declaration would increase intelligence sharing among the seven nations.

The White House used the meeting to announce that it will send more military aid to Mexico to assist its anti-drug efforts.

Dispatching of $26 million in helicopters and spare parts was the second step in a program announced last year and came as the Administration is engaged in tough negotiations with Mexico to secure a free-trade pact.

After a Thursday morning meeting with Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Bush said the two had made no breakthroughs in the talks on trade. But he said he had reassured Salinas that “we want an agreement (on free trade), a good agreement, as soon as possible.”

Bush appeared fit and rested during a sun-splashed outdoor news conference. But he acknowledged that he had felt ill earlier in the week and had been taking cold medicine. His voice was hoarse and he seemed tired Wednesday night at a state dinner he hosted.

He also made clear that he had found difficulty in staying awake through the two-hour, five-minute state dinner, saying, “I want to commend the Mexican delegation for staying awake through the piano music last night, which I found very restful.”