COLOMBIA HAILS U.S. DECISION TO LIFT SANCTIONS

BOGOTA, Colombia -- After blacklisting Colombia as an uncooperative partner
in the war on drugs for two straight years, the Clinton administration
switched tacks Thursday by waiving sanctions against the world's number-one
producer of cocaine.

The decision falls short of a full-fledged stamp of approval for Colombia's
anti-drug efforts in 1997. But it removes a stigma and a series of economic
sanctions in place since 1996, and is likely to lower tensions between the
two nations.

Colombian President Ernesto Samper called it a "just" decision that
rewarded a yearlong effort by police, legislators and justice ministry
officials to prosecute drug lords and to renew the country's image.

"We will not fail in this task," Samper vowed Thursday.

"It is a recognition of all that Colombia has done," added Foreign Minister
Maria Emma Mejia. "This country, more than any other, has battled (drug
traffickers)."

In announcing the decision, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright praised
Colombia's police force for destroying more than 100,000 acres of coca
plants, 18,000 acres of heroin poppies and nearly 400 drug laboratories.
Forty-five police officers were killed in such operations.

Still, Washington remains extremely critical of Samper, who was elected in
1994 with the help of $6.1 million from the Cali cocaine cartel. His U.S.
visa was canceled two years ago, and U.S. officials insist his government
is deeply corrupt and beholden to drug traffickers.

As a result, Colombia remains one of eight nations that failed to receive
full "certification" this year in the U.S. government's annual assessment
of the drug war, which is required by Congress.

However, the national-security waiver means there will be no penalties and
it could lead to warmer relations. Colombia's first-round presidential vote
is May 31, and Washington is eager for a fresh start.

"Coming on the eve of that country's congressional and presidential
elections, the waiver decision is intended to lay the groundwork for
increased mutual cooperation," Albright said Thursday.

Such cooperation could also pave the way for a larger U.S. role in an
eventual peace process to end Colombia's 34-year-old civil war. Conditions
in the countryside are deteriorating as drug traffickers, guerrilla groups
and right-wing paramilitary groups vie for power.

"The United States has not wanted to apply severe sanctions because it
needs Colombia's cooperation," said Rodrigo Losada, a professor at
Javeriana University in Bogota.

Lifting sanctions means that Americans doing business in Colombia will once
again be eligible for loans from the Export-Import Bank and guarantees from
the Overseas Private Investment Corp. And the United States can vote in
favor of credits for Colombia from the World Bank and the Inter-American
Development Bank.

By letting Colombia off the hook this year, the United States may find
itself in a better position to promote a hemispheric approach to the drug
war during the Summit of the Americas in Chile in April.

For Samper, who leaves office in August, the decision was a kind of
going-away gift and could provide a boost to Horacio Serpa, the
front-runner in the presidential race and a close Samper ally.

"That would be glorious for Samper," Losada said. "It would be a very
satisfactory way for him to finish."

Copyright 1998 Special to the Chronicle