BUSH PROMISES COLOMBIA HELP ON TRADE BUT REFUSES PEACE ROLE

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 -- In his first meeting with President Andres
Pastrana of Colombia, President Bush agreed today to press for
expanding trade preferences to Colombia, but refused a request to
take part in peace talks with leftist guerrillas, officials said.

Mr. Bush told Mr. Pastrana that he would work with lawmakers to renew
the Andean Trade Preference Act, a decade-old accord that expires in
December, and seek to increase the categories of Colombian goods that
may enter the American market under reduced tariffs, a senior
official told reporters after the meeting.

But Mr. Bush declined to take part in peace negotiations between the
Pastrana government and Marxist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has battled the Colombian state
for four decades. Both Mr. Pastrana and FARC leaders last week
invited the United States and Cuba to join a group of nations
assisting in the on- again-off-again talks, which resume in March.

"This is an issue that the Colombian people and the Colombian
president can deal with," said Mr. Bush, who appeared for brief
remarks with Mr. Pastrana at his side. "We'll be 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. Bush was effusive in his praise for Mr. Pastrana, whose ambitious
strategy to pacify the nation, promote development and curb
drugtrafficking has been underwritten in part with $1.3 billion in
mostly military aid from the United States. Mr. Bush has endorsed
Plan Colombia - a holdover from the Clinton administration - but has
discussed the need for limits on the extent of American involvement
in Colombia and ruled out the use of American combat troops there.

"President Pastrana is a courageous leader who is dealing with very
difficult problems," Mr. Bush said. "I am confident that with his
leadership his nation will be better off."

In an interview this week, Mr. Pastrana asserted that his nation had
"turned a corner" in several key areas. He cited the FARC's agreement
to resume peace talks, the American-supported eradication of 75,000
acres of coca in two months in the drug-growing regions of Putumayo
and Caqueta, and four quarters of growth in an economy struggling to
emerge from its worst recession in history.

Despite that progress, Colombia experts and some lawmakers sounded a
skeptical note. There will be no fast resolution to Colombia's
problems, they said, citing, among other things, the need to
establish the rule of law and to rein in paramilitary and security
forces, which were harshly criticized by the State Department's human
rights bureau this week.

"The jury's still out as to whether these are going to lead to
sustained improvements in bringing the country to peace and greater
control," said Michael Shifter, a senior fellow at the Inter-American
Dialogue, a forum for hemispheric leaders.

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who returned from a visit
to Colombia earlier this month, called on the administration to chart
a plan that addresses how long the American-backed effort will take
and how much it will cost.

"I think I made the right decision when when we voted for this
assistance," Mr. McCain said. "Not because of any wild enthusiasm,
but because I believe there is no alternative."