COLOMBIA'S PRESIDENT-ELECT DECLARES NEW ERA IN U.S.

WASHINGTON -- Colombia's President-elect Andres Pastrana, saying ``the era
of mistrust is over,'' met President Clinton on Monday to discuss U.S. aid
for Colombia's wars with guerrillas and drug traffickers.

Pastrana was elected president in June, and his inauguration is to take
place Friday in Bogota.

The Clinton administration rewarded his independence from Colombian drug
traffickers by scheduling Monday's meetings with Clinton, Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright and White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey.

Clinton promised to work with Congress to increase U.S. help in fighting
Colombia's drug war and protecting human rights.

``The president said that the United States wanted to support an integrated
approach to the problems of drug trafficking and bringing peace, ending
Colombia's civil conflict,'' said Jim Dobbins, senior Latin American
specialist with the National Security Council.

Pastrana offered an upbeat assessment of the talks.

``The challenges we face are great ones,'' he said. ``But I am 100 percent
sure that in the new atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect evident
here today, we will be able to achieve together most of what must be
done.''

Switching to Spanish, Pastrana told reporters he wanted to invite Clinton
to an anti-drug summit in Colombia to discuss a ``Marshall Plan'' for
moving coca-growing farmers into other crops.

White House officials said Pastrana did invite Clinton to Colombia.
Clinton, rather than responding, invited Pastrana to return to Washington
in the fall. Pastrana accepted the invitation.

Pastrana took his Marshall Plan idea to the Inter-American Development Bank
earlier Monday, where he discussed a $100 million crop substitution loan.

Pastrana made clear, however, that his top priority is trying to end the
war with guerrillas and drug traffickers.

In recent months, guerrillas financed by kidnappings and deals with drug
traffickers have won control over as much as half of rural Colombia.
Rightist paramilitary groups, sometimes also in league with the drug
traffickers, operate unchecked in large areas of the country, analysts
said.

U.S. military assistance to Colombia has grown to $100 million, and more
than 200 U.S. military advisers are in Colombia working with the army.

U.S. efforts to help Colombia have been constrained by evidence that
President Ernesto Samper won the 1994 election against Pastrana with $6
million in campaign funds from the Cali cocaine cartel.

In March. Clinton issued a national security waiver allowing U.S.
assistance to Colombia to continue even though the Colombian government was
considered laggard by the U.S. government in its anti-narcotics efforts.

With Samper about to step down, U.S. officials have been looking to open
wide channels of cooperation and help.

Pastrana's meeting with Clinton ``clearly signals that we are looking
forward to expanding the cooperation,'' said White House spokesman P.J.
Crowley.

Pastrana met with leaders of Colombia's largest guerrilla faction last
month. He said peace talks with the guerrillas would begin within 90 days
of his inauguration.

Clinton walked with Pastrana to the door of the West Wing of the White
House, where Colombian photographers were waiting at the conclusion of
their 30-minute meeting.

Pastrana then met for 40 minutes with McCaffrey. He had lunch with Albright
and spent the afternoon in meetings at the State Department.

Dobbins said Pastrana's nominees for foreign minister, defense minister and
ambassador to the United States accompanied him.

He returned to Bogota on Monday evening.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)