U.S. REBUKES SOUTH AMERICA FOR LACK OF SUPPORT IN DRUG WAR

Manaus, Brazil-United States rebuked South America for failing to support Colombia's planned military offensive against drug producers, amid fears that the conflict will spill over the border.

In a private meeting Wednesday with defense ministers from the region, U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense James Bodner said the U.S. backed Plan Colombia would go ahead with or without their support. "He complained about the lack of solidarity by South America, and he laid it on heavy," said Rep. Joao Herrmann Neto of Brazil's House Foreign Relations Committee, who also attended the meeting. Herrmann said some delegates bridled at the U.S. position and tone, which he described as "typical American superiority."

Defense ministers from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Venezuela and Brazil were attending the gathering in this Amazon jungle city. A Pentagon official present, who asked not to be named, said: "Our position is: We're going to take a stand. If you're with us, fine."

The blunt talk was a response to a rising chorus of complaints about the "spillover" effects from the offensive against Colombia's leftist rebels forseen under the $7.5 billion plan. Under the plan, U.S. trained troops using U.S. made combat helicopters will try to wrest away rebel-held areas producing cocaine and heroin. Planes would then spray the crops with herbicide. That means an upswing in fighting on the ground that has Colombia's neighbors worried.