PASTRANA HOPES FOR GAINS FROM CLINTON'S COLOMBIA VISIT

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian President Andres Pastrana says he is
hoping U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit on Wednesday will advance
relations in two specific areas -- world support for fighting
narcotrafficking and increased trade and commerce for his South American
country.

"Now we know that we are not alone in world, that we have friends that are
helping us in this fight against a common enemy," Pastrana, speaking in
English, said Tuesday in an interview with CNN.

As his country battles cocaine and heroin producers, "sometimes people
don't realize that we are fighting the largest business in the world; it's
a $500 billion business," Pastrana said. "We are fighting the largest
criminal organization."

President Bush visited in 1990

Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine. When U.S. President
George Bush visited the country in February 1990, coca cultivation was
estimated at about 92,700 acres.

By 1999, that number had soared to 303,000 acres, the U.S. State Department
says. Moreover, Colombian traffickers are now major suppliers of heroin to
the United States.

During his 1990 visit, Bush hailed the creation of an "anti-drug cartel"
backed by $2.2 billion in U.S. aid.

The summit between Bush and three Latin American presidents marked a
milestone in international drug cooperation. But a decade later, overall
cocaine production in the Andean region remains about the same.

Clinton's brief visit to Cartagena, Colombia, follows the approval of the
latest U.S.-backed anti-drug plan, a $1.3 billion package named Plan
Colombia that Clinton and Pastrana will discuss.

Most of the U.S. funding will provide helicopters and other equipment for
two Colombian army anti-narcotics battalions, while about a quarter of it
is for social programs, such as helping displaced Colombians and
strengthening the judicial system.

And that last part is as important to Pastrana as the former. "The U.S. is
willing to invest in social investment, and that for us is very important,"
he said.

"I think this commitment should go for many years, and I think that's what
the visit of President Clinton is going to support in Colombia," Pastrana
said. "He's showing the Colombian people and he's showing the international
community that the United States is really committed in the fight (against)
drugs."

Membership in NAFTA sought

The second focus for Pastrana is increased trade with the United States and
the rest of the world.

"Trade for us is very important, because here's a way of helping not only
the apparel industry and the textile industry that create a lot of jobs in
our country, but also a way of getting rid of drugs. That's a way also of
getting alternative programs in fighting drugs," Pastrana said.

He is specifically hoping to gain some trade preferences for Colombia,
membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement, or a bilateral
agreement to help spur industry and trade between the United States and his
country.

"We want to not only see how can we fight narcotics, but also how can we
create jobs in this country," he told CNN. "That will help us also fight
narcotrafficking."

Pastrana acknowledges that the results of such accords might not be quickly
obvious.

"This is nothing that could be solved in two or three years. I think this
is a long-term solution that we need, and that's why we're asking the
commitment of the international community in Plan Colombia," he said.
"We're working hard on our own side. The U.S. should work on (cutting)
demand" for cocaine, and "Europe should ... look for how to fight demand."