DATE=1/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT (L)
TITLE=ALBRIGHT/LATAM TRIP
NUMBER=2-258074
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=



VOICED AT=

INTRO:  Secretary of State Madeleine Albright leaves 
today/ has left (departs Washington 1 PM) for 
Colombia, the first stop in a three-nation trip to 
Latin America.  She will also visit Panama and Mexico 
before returning to Washington on Sunday.  VOA's 
Mexico City correspondent Greg Flakus has this report 
on the topics to be addressed during the trip.

TEXT:  The major issues likely to dominate Secretary 
of State Albright's discussions are the ones that have 
tended to be at the top of the agenda every time a U-S 
official visits the region -- drugs, immigration, 
trade and aid.  

The fight against drug smuggling is an important topic 
in U-S relations with both Colombia and Mexico.  
Colombia is the source for about 80 percent of the 
world's cocaine and home to the top smuggling cartels.  
Mexico is the major transit nation for cocaine and 
also a producer of heroin, marijuana and the key 
ingredients for methamphetamine.

President Clinton has asked Congress for one-point-six 
billion dollars in aid for Colombia, with most of the 
money destined for special Colombian military units 
that target the drug smugglers.  But Colombia is also 
enmeshed in a long-running guerrilla war and some U-S 
congressional critics worry that the aid might draw 
the United States into the conflict.  Some Colombian 
guerrillas are, in fact, involved with drug producers 
and smugglers, so the distinction between funds for 
the anti-drug effort and overall military aid could 
easily be blurred.

In her meetings with Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario 
Green on Sunday, in the southern state of Oaxaca, 
Secretary of State Albright will focus on the agenda 
for the 17th meeting of the U-S/Mexico binational 
commission in May.  Spokespersons for both countries 
say that while drugs and immigration are issues that 
are likely to be part of the discussions, there are 
many other areas of mutual interest.  Total trade 
between Mexico and the United States is over 160 
billion dollars.  There are also important cultural 
ties between the two countries largely resulting from 
the growth of the Mexican ethnic population in the 
United States.

During her brief stop in Panama on Saturday, Secretary 
of State Albright will need to address the irritation 
caused by her failure to attend the formal ceremony 
marking the transfer of control of the Panama Canal 
from the United States to Panama on December 14.  The 
Panamanians had wanted President Clinton or Vice 
President Al Gore to attend. They were further 
disappointed when the Secretary of State cancelled her 
attendance at the last minute in order to prepare for 
Middle East peace talks.  The special relationship 
between the United States and Panama came to an end 
last year with the transfer of the canal and the 
closure of all U-S military bases.  Under the 1977 
Canal treaties, however, the United States retains the 
right to intervene if there is a threat to the canal. 
(Signed)

NEB/GF/ENE/KL



14-Jan-2000 11:03 AM EDT (14-Jan-2000 1603 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.