Sabas Pretelt = Baghdad Bob?

This is funny. The U.S. (in another article) said they changed the measuring methods to include more territory...regardless, Pretelt says the U.S. numbers are inaccurate.

------------------------

BOGOTA, Colombia (UPI) -- The Colombian government has rejected estimates of coca production increases put forward by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt said the increase in production was not nearly as high as the U.S. agency said, El Tiempo reported Monday.

U.S. drug officials released a report Sunday saying the land used for growing coca -- the raw material used to make cocaine -- has increase by 26 percent.

The United States has spent some $4 billion in recent years on Plan Colombia: a drug eradication effort that includes aerial spraying to kill illegal crops and training and equipment for the Colombian army to combat the drug trade.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

By Tinto (Moderator) on Apr 17, 2006, 11:44 in Politics & the war.

juancegomez says on Apr 17, 2006, 12:38:

To a certain extent, some of their claims are comparable Still, in this particular case, Pretelt didn't pull the claim completely out of his behind.

The United Nations are using yet another measuring system (Simci), and that's the one that Mr. Pretelt is now referring to.

See here:

Abril 17 de 2006
Cifras de E.U. sobre aumento del área sembrada de coca abrieron debate en Colombia

El Gobierno se resiste a aceptar los datos de ese país. Candidatos presidenciales aseguran que la estrategia contra las drogas fracasó.

El gobierno colombiano prefiere atenerse a las mediciones del Sistema Integrado de Medición de Cultivos Ilícitos (Simci) de la ONU, que difiere mucho del divulgado por la Casa Blanca.

Según el ministro del Interior, Sabas Pretelt, las cifras del Simci apenas reportan un área de 90 mil hectáreas, mientras que las de Estados Unidos aseguran que llegan a cerca de 144 mil hectáreas de coca.

El gobierno del presidente Uribe no acepta que su estrategia contra las drogas esté en decadencia. Para el ministro Pretelt, vocero del Ejecutivo, el asunto es más un problema de las metodologías utilizadas en la medición que se refleja en resultados diferentes.

Claro que Pretelt admite que sí se puede estar dando un leve incremento de los narcocultivos en zonas como Antioquia, Córdoba y Nariño. Y en esto coincide con el informe de la Casa Blanca, que habla de nuevas áreas con droga en 8 departamentos: Bolívar, Antioquia, Córdoba, Vaupés, Amazonas, Guainía, Arauca y Caquetá.

...

Cultivos en cifras

144.000 Hectáreas de cultivos ilícitos según informe de la Casa Blanca.

90.000 Hectáreas con cultivos ilícitos que habría según el Mininterior, con base en medición de la ONU.

http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/judi/2006-04-17/ARTICULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-2842349.html

juancegomez says on Apr 17, 2006, 19:24:

Sure...you go ahead and do that But in the meanwhile, I'm just wanting to reiterate that the difference in the figures isn't between Colombian and U.S. numbers, but between UN and U.S. numbers.

Colombia itself apparently doesn't currently measure any of these things. The U.S. and the UN, on the other hand, do.

Sr Tertius says on Apr 17, 2006, 20:29:

Juance You missed the part that says "I will just beleive (sic) whatever I want." There's no argument against that.

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger" (Chinese proverb)

Sr Tertius says on Apr 18, 2006, 08:35:

No GIB You keep believing whatever you want. That's just fine by me.

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger" (Chinese proverb)

juancegomez says on Apr 18, 2006, 14:28:

... I don't know who the two guys in the background are, but the other guy up front is his ELN comrade, Antonio García.