COLOMBIA SEES VICTORY IN U.S. BACKING FOR ANTI-DRUG EFFORT

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombian officials on Thursday greeted Washington's
conditional certification of their efforts to combat the flow of drugs into
the United States as a victory for their beleaguered president, Ernesto
Samper.

Samper, blamed by many Colombians who saw decertification over the last two
years as a personal rebuke to their president, used the waiver of drug
sanctions on national security grounds to vindicate his longstanding
criticism of the U.S. ratings, which are highly unpopular throughout Latin
America.

As he did last year, Samper conducted a ceremony honoring the national
police, who are regularly held up for praise in Washington, as the backdrop
to his response to Washington's ratings. Those countries not certified can
lose U.S. foreign aid and support for development bank loans unless
President Clinton grants them a waiver.

In a speech whose refrain was "justice has been done," Samper said on
Thursday that Washington's decision recognized the efforts of all the
sectors of society -- the police, the military, Congress and himself.

"Justice is done to Colombians abroad who with dignity raise their
country's flag to seek its respect, and the respect of its president and
its democratic institutions," he said.

"Those who thought that what was at stake was the personal fate of the
president of the republic were wrong," he said. "What counts is Colombia
and its destiny as a sovereign and worthy nation."

His words were echoed at a news conference on Thursday by Colombia's
foreign minister, Maria Emma Mejia, a highly popular figure here.

Washington has publicly accused Samper of soliciting $6 million from drug
traffickers in 1994 to finance his election.

As if underscoring just how deeply drug money has compromised the
institutions Samper was praising, Colombia's fourth comptroller-general in
a row, David Turbay, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the
election-financing scandal. The United States has dismissed the Colombian
Congress' clearing of the president of the charges against him as lacking
credibility.

The U.S. reversal also coincided with the release of a report by the
General Accounting Office that found decertification had hindered rather
than helped anti-narcotics efforts in Colombia by blocking or delaying the
delivery of some forms of aid. Nevertheless, American anti-narcotics aid to
Colombia overall has increased from $22 million to about $100 million in
the last three years.

Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company