COLOMBIA SEEKS U.S. FINANCIAL BACKING

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) 96 Colombia's finance minister traveled to
Washington on Monday to seek U.S. support for a $1.2 billion bond
offering needed to cover government expenses.

The trip follows a request during President Clinton's visit last week
for U.S. tariff exemptions on Colombian textiles and clothing as a
complement to a $1.3 billion U.S. anti-narcotics aid package.

Colombia has argued it needs economic help in addition to military aid
to successfully combat drug trafficking 96 the top U.S. policy priority
in the South American country that produces 90 percent of the world's
cocaine.

Finance Minister Juan Manuel Santos was scheduled to meet Tuesday with
Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and request his help in convincing
lenders including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to
back the planned bond sale.

A U.S. nod of approval will help 93dispel doubts in international
markets about Colombia's ability to pay its future debts,94 Santos told

the local Caracol radio station.

The trip aims to 93restore confidence94 among international organization
s
in the Colombian economy, said a statement released Monday by Santos'
office.

A severe recession in Colombia has cut into tax revenues, and some
analysts believe the government will be unable to pay some of its
estimated 800,000 workers by the end of the year without new funding.

The opposition-led congress, however, opposes tax increases, public
pension cuts and state-owned enterprise selloffs proposed by President
Andres Pastrana, claiming these would unfairly punish the poor.

Amid escalating violence in a 36-year guerrilla conflict, Colombia has
seen its currency sharply devalued during the past year, foreign
investment shrink and the country's debt ratings downgraded.

U.S. political support was critical to Colombia obtaining $6.9 billion
in credits a year ago from the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-
American Development Bank.

During Clinton's one-day visit, Pastrana said U.S. tariff exemptions on
Colombian products would create thousands of jobs for workers who might
otherwise find employment in the drug trade.