BUSH BACKS COLOMBIA DRUG OFFENSIVE

President Pastrana wants closer trade links US President George Bush has
pledged to help Colombia fight drug trafficking and said American drug
users were part of the problem.

He made his promise during talks in Washington with Colombian President
Andres Pastrana, which focused on the battle against illegal drugs as well
as trade issues.

Mr Pastrana said afterwards that he had pressed for greater access to the
US market for Colombian exports, in order to provide an economic
alternative to growers of coca, the raw material of cocaine.

He also said a co-ordinated effort was needed against illegal drug
trafficking "that is financing violence in my country and maybe also in
part of your country."

Military Aid

Mr Bush said he understood the difficulties facing Colombia, the world's
largest cocaine producer.

"We're fully aware of the narcotics that are manufactured in his country,"
he said. "I also told him that many of the them wouldn't be manufactured if
our nation didn't use them."

Colombia is the third largest recipient of US military aid, receiving
training and equipment as part of a $1.3bn anti-drug package.

Many Americans are worried about the escalating level of US involvement in
Colombia, where the government has been fighting a 37-year war against
leftist rebels.

Addressing those concerns, Paul Wolfowitz, Mr Bush's nominee for deputy
defence secretary told Congress on Tuesday that he was wary of deeper US
involvement that could lead to a Vietnam-style conflict.

Escalation Fears

"It is essential to everyone concerned, including ourselves, to not find
ourselves in a situation that we were in 35 years ago, where we were
fighting someone else's civil war," he said.

After his talks with Mr Pastrana, Mr Bush repeated the US position that it
would not take part in peace talks between the Colombian Government and the
main leftist rebel group, FARC.

"This is an issue that the Colombian people and the Colombian president can
deal with," he said. "We're glad to help Colombia in any way to make the
peace. We'll be glad to help the Colombian economy through trade, but I
won't be present for the discussions."

Mr Pastrana had argued that the presence of US observers would speed up the
peace process which began two years ago.

Last week, FARC invited the US and Cuba to join the European Union and
other Latin American countries as observers to the talks.