STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN COLOMBIA

President Uribe Also Imposes A Wartime Surtax On The Wealthy To Expand The
Military.

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe declared a state of
emergency and imposed a wartime surtax Monday, taking his first steps in a
presidency he promised would offer a "firm hand" against rebels.

The limited state of emergency lets the government prohibit public rallies
or interviews with guerrilla commanders, among other things, and allows
curfews, wire-tapping and searches without a court order.

Uribe made the announcement in the pre-dawn hours after a six-hour Cabinet
meeting, declaring that it was necessary to combat recent terrorism. He
said the tax would be aimed at the wealthy to expand the armed forces.

"He's sending a message that these are not normal times, sacrifices must be
made, and liberties must be restricted," said Daniel Garcia-Pena, a former
peace commissioner.

Announcing the measure, Interior Minister Fernando Londono declared: "The
nation is subject to a regime of terror in which democratic authority is
sinking."

Uribe's decisive step illustrates a sea change in Colombia's effort to
terminate a decades-long insurgency. After four years of rule by a
president who sought peace through negotiation, Uribe is relying on popular
support to take more decisive action.

Although previous governments imposed a state of emergency for brief
periods five times in the past decade, the last was seven years ago.

The emergency decree seemed to be widely accepted, coming just days after
rebels launched mortar attacks at the presidential palace during Uribe's
inauguration, killing 21. In the following days, 115 more died in military
skirmishes.

"This is what Colombia voted for - a turn toward authority," said Alejo
Vargas, a political science professor at Bogota's National University. "Now
let's see what results they get."

The mortar attack was attributed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, a leftist rebel group known as the FARC that has engaged in
guerrilla warfare for 38 years in a crusade to overthrow the state and
implement Marxist rule.

Dubbed a "state of internal commotion," Uribe's measure is a step below the
more drastic "state of siege," eliminated here in 1991 with the writing of
a new constitution. The emergency measure lasts 90 days but can be
overturned by the Supreme Court or renewed twice with congressional
approval for as long as 270 days.

Politicians pressured Pastrana to declare a state of emergency last month,
when the FARC launched an intimidation campaign against the nation's
mayors. Pastrana said the state of emergency was "useless" and refused to
use it.

But critics said Uribe must be closely watched. Past governments often
abused the stricter state of siege, often leading the Supreme Court to
overturn it.

"Pablo Escobar (the late drug kingpin) would set off a car bomb, and they'd
start censoring the press coverage of guerrillas or throw striking union
leaders in jail," said Garcia-Pena, the former peace commissioner. "It
extended governments blank checks to ignore the constitution and congress."

Uribe's new one-time surtax, 1.2 percent to be levied against people with
$65,000 in liquid assets, is expected to generate some $800 million, nearly
twice the current defense budget.

Defense Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez said the government would hire 10,000
more police officers and 6,000 new soldiers.

Also Monday, Colombia's top police officer, whose force was rocked by
scandals including the disappearance of about $2 million in U.S.
anti-narcotics aid, resigned, the government said.

Ramirez gave no reason for the resignation of Gen. Luis Ernesto Gilibert.

The United States discovered in March that about $2 million had gone
missing from an anti-narcotics police account meant to cover administrative
expenses in the U.S.-backed war on drugs.