VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR COLOMBIA

With polls indicating that President Alvaro Uribe has a popularity rating
of over 70 percent, Colombians are more confident about their country's
future than at any time in the past decade. During his recent visit to
Colombia, Secretary of State Colin Powell added to that confidence by
indicating that Mr. Uribe is equally popular in Washington and that the
Bush administration also has confidence in Colombia's new, hard-line
president..

Mr. Powell pointed out at a news conference in Bogota that drug
trafficking, corruption and terrorism are closely linked. It is clearly in
the U.S. interest to stamp out these scourges at their source. And the
principal source of at least one of these three evils is in Colombia.

"For a number of years, our efforts were strictly directed at
narco-trafficking. Congress wanted to make sure that we didn't get involved
in the other aspects of the terrorism situation in Colombia," Mr. Powell
said. "But after 9-11, as we looked at terrorist activities around the
world - and maybe the (factions fighting in Colombia) do not have global
reach in the sense that al-Qaida has global reach - but when you start to
see members of the IRA in Colombia sharing experiences, sharing knowledge,
doing heaven only knows what, it suggests that these kinds of organizations
are committed to destroying democracy in our hemisphere. Should that not be
a concern of ours?"

Mr. Powell answered his rhetorical question: "This is a case where groups
within Colombia are trying to overthrow democratically elected governments
by attacking them, by growing narcotics that come to the U.S. We have more
responsibility for this problem because we provide the demand for these
narcotics."

Describing the relationship with the Colombian government as "a partnership
that works, and a partnership that we must continue to make an investment
in," Mr. Powell said that the United States has provided $1.8 billion to
help Colombia fight drug trafficking, the leftwing guerrillas and
para-military groups that protect the cocaine and heroin cartels. Mr.
Powell said he was heartened by signs that President Uribe is making
progress on all fronts.

If American aid and President Uribe's determination to defeat terrorism and
eradicate drug trafficking combine to bring peace and restore prosperity to
Colombia, Latin America as a whole will benefit and U.S. prestige in the
region will receive a much needed boost.