Bush Failed as Drug Force Leader, Dukakis Charges

MIAMI — Michael S. Dukakis today said Vice President George Bush failed in his role as head of an anti-drug task force and the program has produced “chaos.” He vowed to work with Latin and Central American leaders to cut down on drug trafficking.

Democratic presidential candidate Dukakis, campaigning in Florida and Alabama on the day Bush accepts the Republican presidential nomination, told reporters in Miami that the Administration has failed to produce a coordinated strategy to stem the flow of narcotics into the United States.

“Now we’ve got chaos,” Dukakis said in claiming that a presidential task force on the problem has failed to tackle the issue.

“The vice president is on the committee but he doesn’t show up at meetings,” Dukakis said at a press conference. “The war on drugs is falling apart.”

Bush has directed two Reagan Administration anti-drug efforts--the South Florida Task Force and the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System.

Both Bush and Dukakis have promised to appoint a full-time drug czar if elected President.

Dukakis said that combatting drugs would be a top priority in his administration and that he would coordinate federal efforts with all 50 of the nation’s governors.

“This requires a full-time drug czar who reports to the President,” Dukakis said. “This isn’t just a six-month PR campaign.”

The Massachusetts governor also said he would strive to improve relations with nations in Latin and Central America to fight drugs and solve other problems facing the hemisphere.

“I want to build a new partnership for the Americas,” he said, “a partnership where the United States and our democratic neighbors and allies work together.”

“It’s the kind of partnership that our friends and neighbors and allies in Central and Latin America desperately want to build with us,” he said.

He said closer ties with countries in the region would have made it possible for the United States to remove Panama’s Manuel Antonio Noriega from power.

“That’s one of the reasons we failed,” Dukakis said, noting the lack of broad regional support for ousting Noriega.