BUSH WANTS TO MEET COLOMBIA'S NEIGHBORS AT SUMMIT

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) is hoping to
meet with the leaders of Colombia's neighbors at a summit in Quebec this
week in a bid to win regional involvement for Bogota's U.S.-backed war on
drugs, Brazil's foreign minister said.

Brazil's foreign minister Celso Lafer told foreign correspondents late on
Monday, "my perception is that the Bush government wants to examine Plan
Colombia within a vision of regionalization."

Colombia's neighbors Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru are
suffering from the impact of Bogota's "Plan Colombia" offensive against
cocaine to which the U.S. is giving more than $1 billion in mainly military
aid.

Hundreds of refugees have already streamed into neighboring countries as a
result of increased conflict sparked by the clampdown on the drugs trade,
which has complicated Colombia's 37-year-old war between the government and
left-wing rebels.

A meeting between the presidents of the United States, Colombia and its
neighbors at this week's Summit of the Americas in Canada could mark the
first time the leaders of the countries most affected by Colombia's
conflict all meet.

"The military issue is not on the agenda (at the meeting), but rather the
idea of diplomatic and technological cooperation in the treatment of these
issues," Lafer said. "We are prepared to touch this discussion."

Lafer said Brazil was prepared to help Colombia with information collected
by its new satellite surveillance system for the vast Amazon jungle, which
would be able to monitor, for instance, airplanes passing illegally across
their border.

"There is worry in Brazil about what happens in our neighboring countries,
there are efforts to contribute so that Colombia finds the right solutions,
be it on drug trafficking or be it with the guerrillas," said Lafer.