DATE=8/30/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON-COLOMBIA WRAP (L)
NUMBER=2-266005
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  President Clinton has paid a brief visit to 
Colombia to underline U-S support for Colombian 
President Andres Pastrana and his government's battle 
against drug trafficking, a chronic insurgency and a 
deep recession. The visit, amid heavy security, was 
the first by a U-S President to the South American 
country in a decade.  VOA's David Gollust reports from 
the Colombian port city of Cartagena.


TEXT:  The Clinton visit was meant as a visible show 
of support for Mr. Pastana and his "Plan Colombia" 
recovery program to which the United States has 
committed one-point-three billion dollars in new 
funds. 

The bulk of the U-S aid will go to train and equip 
anti-drug units of the Colombia security forces and 
there is widespread concern the United States will be 
drawn into the Colombian government's long-running war 
against insurgents. 

But at a joint news conference with President 
Pastrana, Mr. Clinton said the insurgency can be 
settled peacefully even as war against the drug trade  
goes on:

             ///Clinton actuality///

      I reject the idea that we must choose between 
      supporting peace and fighting drugs. We can do 
      both and indeed to succeed, we must do both. I 
      reaffirmed to the President our support for the 
      peace process. The people of Colombia have 
      suffered long enough, especially in the area of 
      human rights.


            ///end act///

Mr. Clinton said the U-S role is neither a Vietnam 
scenario nor a case of, quote, "Yankee imperialism" 
and said a condition of the aid program is that the 
United States will not be drawn into a shooting war in 
Colombia.

Mr. Pastrana for his part, said he will accept no 
foreign intervention in Colombia's civil conflict. And 
heard here through an interpreter, he said over the 
long run, wider access to the U-S market for his 
country's textiles and other legitimate exports will 
be more important than counter-drug assistance:

            /// Pastrana act-translator ///

      I believe the time has come to move toward an 
      agreement that allows better access for 
      Colombian products into the U-S market. I'm 
      convinced that at the end of the day trade and 
      investment will do more for Colombia and will be 
      more decisive instruments in the battle against 
      drugs, given that they will have a sustainable 
      impact for future generations, and will 
      contribute to a more prosperous Colombia.


            ///end act///

Mr. Clinton was joined in his visit here by a 
bipartisan Congressional delegation led by the 
Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. He 
assured Mr. Pastrana of continuity in U-S policy 
regardless of who wins the U-S Presidential election 
in November, and said the United States must act to 
curb the demand for illegal drugs that has helped 
produce Colombia's suffering:

            ///Hastert actuality///

      We have to work in our country to make sure that 
      we can reduce the demand for drugs, that we can 
      work with your countrymen to make sure that you 
      have the resources to fight the battle against 
      drug traffickers here in Colombia. And there are 
      those in this country, and there are those in 
      the United States, that would be very happy to 
      see us fail. But for the sake of our children, 
      and our grand-children, we can't afford to let 
      this fail.


            ///end act///

President Clinton, who earlier had an emotional  
meeting with mothers and widows of Colombian policemen 
killed in internal strife, appealed to Colombia's 
neighbors to support Mr. Pastrana's program.

He said their concerns about a spillover of Colombian 
violence may be at least partly valid, but said U-S 
aid is also available to help them cope with the 
problem.

There was extraordinary security for the brief Clinton 
visit, the first to Colombia since former President 
Bush also stopped in Cartagena ten years ago. Local 
police said they arrested three men with bomb-making 
materials and there were other security-related 
incidents but no immediate threat to the U-S 
delegation. (Signed)

NEB/DAG/PT




30-Aug-2000 18:28 PM EDT (30-Aug-2000 2228 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.