ALBRIGHT: U.S., COLOMBIA ON SAME PAGE IN DRUG WAR

Panama Is Second Stop Of Her Trip To Latin America

PANAMA CITY - Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright arrived here
Saturday in a bid to patch up feelings that were hurt when neither she nor
President Clinton attended the recent ceremony in which control of the
Panama Canal was turned over to Panamanians.

Albright went on a brief tour of the Miraflores Locks section of the canal
and recalled how, in the 1970s, she and other members of the Carter
administration were proud of the decision to turn the waterway over to Panama.

"It was a source of great pride at that time, and I think it should be a
source of great pride at this time," she said.

"The United States," she added, "should be justly proud of having built
this amazing engineering feat."

Albright was on the second day of a three-day trip to Latin America, where
she is promoting anti-drug cooperation among the United States and its
neighbors.

The visit comes just days after the Clinton administration proposed a huge
expansion of U.S. aid to Colombia. A total of $1.6 billion would be used to
purchase helicopters, set up anti-drug battalions, promote human rights
efforts and foster economic development.

Earlier Saturday, Albright said that an extraordinary match in views
between the United States and Colombia has opened the way for the South
American nation to finally prevail in its battle against illegal drugs.

"This is one of those very important moments in national relations" when
two countries' plans are in complete harmony, she said at a joint news
conference with Colombian President Andres Pastrana in the Caribbean port
city of Cartagena. "This is when things work."

For his part, Pastrana said he was "heartened" by news of the recent White
House proposal but siad that more help is needed in other nations.

"Plan Colombia' is not an American plan. We are looking for the help of the
United States, Europe, Asia and the entire world," he said in reference to
his government's anti-drug strategy.

Pastrana expressed hope that the European Union will agree to help finance
Colomiba's efforts to battle narco-traffickers, perhaps at a conference of
donors in Europe later this year.

In contrast to previous efforts, the U.S. aid plan for Colombia emphasizes
a broad range of efforts, from military to economic. In addition, it would
promote unprecedented cooperation between Colombia's military and the
police, who traditionally have taken the lead in the nation's anti-drug
programs.

Also Saturday, Albright toured Cartagena's bustling container port, where
she met a narcotics-sniffing German shepherd and emphasized U.S. support
for Colombia's widening effort to fight the drug trade.

"I pledge to you that the United States will continue to back this program
and others like it," she told a group of military and police officials
standing at a site where 11 tons of cocaine and narcotics ingredients have
been seized since 1998.

Top police and military officials, including Jose Serrano - Colombia's
chief drug fighter and head of the national police - accompanied Albright
on the tour of the port facilities.