BUSH: LATIN AMERICA NO `AFTERTHOUGHT' TO U.S. POLICY

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- (AP) -- When George W. Bush was running for
president, he vowed that Latin America would be no ``afterthought'' to his
foreign policy. Now that he's been elected, he'll face some of his biggest
challenges south of the U.S. border.

Bush led one of the biggest Spanish-speaking states as governor of Texas.
As president-elect, he insists Latin America won't be overshadowed, saying
he wants to promote ``strong partners'' and not ``weak neighbors.''

``Weak neighbors export problems: environmental trouble, illegal
immigration, even crime, drugs and violence,'' Bush said on the campaign
trail last August. ``Strong neighbors export their goods and buy ours,
creating jobs and good will.''

``I will look south not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental commitment
of my presidency.''

It won't take long for Latin America's problems to land on Bush's desk:
Colombia's cocaine trade is rising along with the bloodshed, beleaguered
democracies from Haiti to Peru will be clamoring for attention, and then
there is the question of free trade and illegal immigration.

Managing it all will be a tall task.

Soon after Bush takes office in January, a $1.3 billion U.S. anti-drug
initiative dubbed Plan Colombia will get under way, aimed at stemming the
flow of cocaine and heroin to the United States. Bush supports the plan, to
the praise of Colombian President Andres Pastrana.

``The good thing is there will be continuity in U.S. policy toward
Colombia,'' Pastrana said last week after Bush's election was confirmed.

But Plan Colombia has raised fears the conflict might spill across borders.

Samuel Moreno, an independent lawmaker in Colombia, said Republicans
generally have a heavier hand in military affairs -- a tendency that could
throw a wrench into moves toward peace.

``The fact that a Republican has won means a much bigger commitment to the
military aspect of Plan Colombia, something that is rather worrisome,'' he
said.

Elsewhere, shoring up democracy tops the agenda.

Chile, Argentina and Brazil long ago retired their dictatorships, but
Paraguay has bumped from one crisis to another since military rule ended in
1989. Ecuador struggled through a coup by military officers in January.
Haiti has a still tenuous grasp on democracy. And Peru is bidding to put
Alberto Fujimori's decade of autocratic rule behind.

Riordan Roett, a Latin American expert at Johns Hopkins University, said
Peru's special presidential election in April bodes well but much remains
to be done to rebuild weakened institutions there.

As for Haiti, muddling along after troubled elections, Roett said: ``I
don't think anyone has an answer.''

Venezuela offers another challenge. President Hugo Chavez is a nationalist
whose warm ties to Cuba's Castro have largely been ignored by Washington.
But a new Venezuelan contract to provide subsidized oil to Cuba rankled
Washington, because of the ongoing U.S. embargo on the island.

Still, U.S. officials are quick to emphasize there are more points of
agreement -- including fighting drug trafficking -- than disagreement with
Venezuela, one of the top suppliers of crude oil to the United States. But
opinion could change should Chavez take his ``Bolivarian'' revolution abroad.

South America's largest economy, Brazil, offers Bush solid support.

``We are standing before an exceptional opportunity,'' President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso wrote Bush. ``Together we can make this century, the
century of the Americas.''

The United States, with an economy nearly five times bigger than the rest
of the hemisphere combined, is Latin America's leading trade partner. Bush
has said he'll seek fast-track negotiating authority from Congress to
expand free trade across the hemisphere, shooting for a 2005 deadline.

The last George Bush in the White House launched the talks that led to the
North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. But his son
will have to be wary of the kinds of crises that can blow up quickly on a
presidential watch.

For the elder Bush, it took a 1989 invasion of Panama to oust strongman
Manuel Noriega. Some Panamanians say they hope the younger Bush will head
off the inevitable problems before they become full-blown.

``I hope he's not coming in with the same ideas as his father,'' said one
Panamanian, Jose Murillo, still angry over the invasion. ``We all suffered
here and we lost everything ... because of the problem between the United
States and Noriega.''