U.S. ENDS TOP-LEVEL VISIT TO COLOMBIA

The first high-level Bush administration visit to Colombia wrapped up
Friday amid the most serious crisis in the peace process here since the
effort started anew nearly three years ago.

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman headed a
who's who delegation of government Andean specialists for three days of
meetings with top Colombian officials and a look at U.S.-backed
drug-eradication efforts.

Grossman said the visit was part of an administration review of Plan
Colombia, the U.S.-financed initiative to reduce by half the production of
illegal drugs in two years. It also served to send a message to those who
have criticized the administration for disengaging from foreign affairs:
The U.S. cares. "Colombia matters to the United States," Grossman
repeatedly told a news conference.

Grossman said he was satisfied with the direction of the plan, though he
did not rule out changes. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell will visit
Colombia on Sept. 11-12 to decide whether to alter the carrot-and-stick
policy of fumigating coca plants, which are used to produce cocaine, while
providing development money to impoverished farmers who voluntarily rip out
their illegal crops.

Grossman's delegation included Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, head of the
U.S. Southern Command, who has been nominated to be vice chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff; Rand Beers, assistant secretary of State for
international narcotics and law enforcement affairs; and William
Brownfield, deputy assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs.

Colombian and international observers have criticized U.S. policy, saying
it overemphasizes military and anti-drug aid and shortchanges the peace
process. The U.S. has not directly participated in peace talks in Colombia
since 1999, when three Americans were killed after being kidnapped by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country's largest
leftist rebel group.

Grossman said the administration nevertheless strongly backs peace efforts.
A senior American official said the U.S. has set aside $3 million of the
$1.3-billion that is funding Plan Colombia to encourage conflict-resolution
programs here. The U.S. Embassy also has arranged six conferences devoted
to achieving peace.

"No country could support the peace process more than the United States of
America," Grossman said. "Peace is crucial to the future development of
Colombia, and that's why we support the peace process."

That process is in need of all the support it can get right now. The
biggest concern is over the fate of the Switzerland-size demilitarized zone
that Colombian President Andres Pastrana ceded to the FARC nearly three
years ago to encourage peace talks.

Pastrana must decide by next month whether to continue the zone, whose
existence has come under increasing criticism by groups as diverse as the
Bush administration and Human Rights Watch.

Chief among the complaints is that the FARC has used the area less for
peace than war. Since its inception, the zone has served as a training
ground for the FARC's 30,000 troops, an agricultural region for growing
coca plants and a temporary prison for kidnap victims the FARC uses to help
finance its nearly 4-decade-old insurrection, according to U.S. and
Colombian officials.

More recently, the FARC allegedly has used the zone for a sort of bomb
college run by three suspected Irish Republican Army members, who were
arrested Aug. 11 as they tried to leave Colombia. The Irishmen are awaiting
trial. On Friday, a Colombian mayor was killed by unknown gunmen just
outside the zone.

Though few expect Pastrana to unilaterally take back the zone, he is facing
searing criticism from hard-liners and his own military. The Colombian army
has become increasingly confident in its ability to wage war, thanks in
part to U.S. training and aid.

Adding to the worry over the fate of the FARC zone is the collapse of peace
talks with the National Liberation Army, Colombia's second-largest leftist
rebel group. Pastrana broke off the talks Aug. 7, citing a lack of progress.