BUSH PLEDGES MORE AID FOR COLOMBIA

President Seeks Renewal Of Anti-Drug Assistance, Praises Uribe's Efforts

CARTAGENA, Colombia - President Bush pledged new drug-fighting aid and
praised Colombia's leader on Monday as an effective foe of drug
traffickers and the militant groups they help finance.

Stopping in Colombia on his way back from a 21-nation Pacific Rim
summit in Chile, Mr. Bush said drug trafficking threatened the
stability of the entire Western Hemisphere. And he asserted that
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe is winning the decades-long drug war
in Colombia with the help of the United States.

"The drug traffickers who practice violence and intimidation in this
country send their addictive and deadly products to the United
States," Mr. Bush said. "Defeating them is vital to the safety of our
peoples and to the stability of the hemisphere."

The United States has invested more than $3 billion in Colombia's
anti-drug campaign since 2002, but the funding package, known as Plan
Colombia, expires next year. Mr. Bush has asked Congress for $566
million in assistance to Colombia for the coming year. Three-fourths
of the money would go toward military assistance and police training.

There are 325 U.S. troops in Colombia, as well as 600 military-trained
U.S. civilians on contract, assisting Colombia's domestic forces in
countering the narcotics organizations.

The payback for the U.S. aid, Mr. Bush said, has been a sharp increase
in arrests, eradication and drug seizures.

"This man's plan is working," Mr. Bush said, following two hours of
meetings with Mr. Uribe.

Mr. Uribe said that continued U.S. aid was needed to ensure
success.

"We cannot stop this task halfway through," Mr. Uribe said, standing
beside Mr. Bush at an outdoor news conference. "We will win, but we
have not won yet. ... The serpent is still alive."

Mr. Bush's four-hour visit to Cartagena was a show of support for Mr.
Uribe, who won office in 2002 by promising to crack down on drug
traffickers and their rebel allies.

More than 15,000 police and military personnel were pressed into
service for Mr. Bush's visit. Heavily armed guards lined his motorcade
route from the airport. Helicopters hovered close, and armed patrol
boats scoured the coastline for any sign of trouble.

Despite some law-enforcement successes against the Medellín and Cali
drug cartels in the mid-1990s, Colombia is still the world's leading
supplier of refined cocaine. U.S. officials estimate that more than 90
percent of the cocaine that flows into the United States is produced,
processed or shipped through Colombia.