http://bb.visitaruba.com/showthread.php?t=2343From Aruba Today Newspaper
Saturday, June 11, 2005 LOCAL
Set the record straight on the war on drugs
Dear Mr. O’Reilly,
As an international organization based in Aruba dealing with sustainable
development AND human rights, we have a keen interest in all matters related
to international and transboundary organized crime, which includes money
laundering, drug trafficking and trafficking of humans, particularly in the Caribbean region, where we are based.
The quote you made about Aruba being a transshipment center for Colombian drug cartels is no longer as valid as it was ten years ago. If you took the time to check with the US Southcom Command, responsible for the Forward Operating Locations (in Curacao and Aruba), which since The Dutch Kingdom and the USA signed into effect in 2000 the treaty establishing the basis for joint strategic operations from these bases and the advent of the Coast
Guard for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, you would have found out that
the combined effect of both has been of a strong deterrent for Colombian cartels to use these two islands for transshipment of cocaine and/or Colombian grown heroin.
As a human rights organization we are acutely aware of the devastating
effects money laundering and drug trafficking can have on the quality of the
“rule of law” and good government, however these have improved considerably in both Aruba and Curacao, and in particular within the
judicial system, when the prosecution of perpetrators is involved.
The US Government has expressed its trust and confidence in its Dutch
Caribbean counterparts and is currently building a 1.5 acre full-fledged FOL complex in Aruba at the cost of several million dollars to expand its Forward Operating Location operations from the island of Aruba. This further ads to
the deterrent effect.
Mind you, as a human rights organization we were dead set against the creation of the FOLS, and are on record as having protested vehemently
against the FOLs, but since 9/11 we have seen the positive deterrent effect the FOLs have as a deterrent on drug trafficking. Our point of view on the whole issue of the effectiveness of the war on drugs as envisioned by the
DEA and US administration is more or less the same.
As a human rights organization we are a natural counterpart of the press in
general, not by choice but by the common interests we serve in providing
truthful, unbiased and uncensored information on any wrongdoing that effects
the rights of the individual, groups, the community at large or the institutions
themselves that constitute the basis for democratic rule.
Having said this, we do however also have the obligation to ensure that the
freedom of press and speech are upheld, BUT ALSO to ensure that the press itself DOES NOT FALL PREY to politically or otherwise inspired distortion of the
truth or misrepresentation of the facts.
This brings us back to the fact that FOX and your person have misrepresented the facts and are fanning the flames of the fire of a budding
anti-Aruba campaign. We feel you owe the Aruban community, the Aruban
Government and the Aruban tourism industry an apology. Such an apology would be best presented by doing a follow-up on the item in which you misrepresented the facts, and by shedding some light on the FOLS and
the joint US/Dutch Kingdom efforts to stem the flow of drugs and drug trafficking.
The problem with drugs in Aruba is like that of any other popular tourism destination, where drug peddlers will always be around catering to those who want to have a “wild holiday” experience.
You owe it to the American public, who pay the tax dollars building the FOL in
Aruba, to Aruba at large and to yourself and your network to maintain your professional integrity and high standards of news reporting.
I trust you and/or your staff will have the courtesy to spend some time to reply to this email, as I have done in taking the time to address you in a formal, factual, frank and direct manner.
Sincerely,
Milton Ponson, PresidentRainbow Warriors Core Foundations
