Pubdate: Thu, 29 Oct 1998
Source: International Herald-Tribune
Section: page 3
Copyright: International Herald Tribune 1998
Contact: iht@iht.com
Website: http://www.iht.com/
Author: IHT (Reuters, AP)

COLOMBIA LEADER GETS WARM U.S. WELCOME

WASHINGTON---President Andres Pastrana of Colombia, given a warm
welcome by President Bill Clinton, opened a state visit here Wednesday
by promising to seek a "renewed partnership" with the United States
and to work toward the creation of a drug-free hemisphere.

Mr. Pastrana said he would "act now to achieve the dreams of peace to
end the fear and the killing and the corruption and begin a new era of
social and economic justice."

U.S.-Colombian relations sank to an all-time low when the United
States revoked the travel visa of Mr. Pastrana's predecessor, Ernesto
Samper, and branded him a "truly corrupt president" amid a scandal
over allegations that he funded his 1994 election campaign with drug
money.

Alluding indirectly to that trying period, Mr. Pastrana said, "I come
here to inaugurate a new era of relations between Colombia and the
United States."

During the ceremony at the White House, Mr. Clinton praised .Mr.
Pastrana for his "courage and determination" to end Colombia's
three-decades-old civil war. "As you embark on your mission to build
an honorable and enduring peace, count on the United States as a
friend and partner," Mr. Clinton said.

Mr. Clinton called on leftist guerrillas and rightist para'military
groups to respond to Mr. Pastrana's "bold initiative for peace by
ending terrorism, hostage-taking and support for drug
traffickers."

Suggesting that he hoped to reach a pact with drug traffi ckers, Mr.
Pastrana said, "The only peace treaty acceptable to 'me and the
Colombian nation is one that strengthens our ability to rid Colombia
of cocaine production." (Reuters, AP)

Checked-by: Patrick Henry