DAVID LETTERMAN APOLOGIZES FOR A JOKE THAT RILES COLOMBIA

NEW YORK -- Television talk-show host David Letterman apologized Tuesday
for a joke about Colombian drug trafficking, but it hasn't quelled a minor
international incident.

The consul general to the Colombian mission in New York said he didn't
believe the CBS late-night host's apology was serious enough.

Letterman dipped into hot water last Friday when talking about beauty pageants.

"You know what has really gotten impressive," he said. "The talent
competition. For example, Miss Colombia, she swallowed 50 balloons full of
heroin."

Miss Colombia, Andrea Noceti, was not amused.

"I'm totally outraged," she told RCN television in Bogota on Tuesday. "I
don't know why we have this stereotype."

Mauricio Suarez, the Colombian consul general, said in a letter to
Letterman that the joke "not only defamed the reputation of Miss Colombia
but also hurt the feelings of our entire community.

"Colombia is the one country in the world where the strongest battle
against the production of drugs is being fought," he wrote. "Many
Colombians have lost their lives in this conflict, our population has
suffered and continues to suffer immensely."

Letterman issued a statement saying he apologized for the joke about
Noceti. "There was no intention to offend her or the people of Colombia,"
he said.

He also apologized on Monday night's "Late Show."

While Suarez said Tuesday he believed the apology was "another joke,"
Noceti appears to be more forgiving. She's already booked to appear on
Letterman's show on Thursday.