COLOMBIA: LEADING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE CALLS U.S. DRUG POLICY A FAILURE

BOGOTA -- A U.S.-backed program for aerially eradicating drug crops has
failed, a front-running Colombian presidential candidate said Sunday, just
days before the Bush administration's first high-level visit.

"Today there is more cocaine being produced, more trafficking, more
traffickers and larger areas under cultivation," Horacio Serpa, a former
interior minister who is leading polls ahead of next May's elections, wrote
in an editorial in Bogota's Cambio news magazine.

Top State Department, White House and Pentagon officials are scheduled to
arrive Wednesday to discuss future U.S. support for the drug war with
President Andres Pastrana's administration.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is also considering a stop here next month,
officials have said.