U.S. drug czar's visit ends Bogota isolation

BOGOTA,Colombia U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey ended a two year White
House embargo on highlevel contacts with Colombian President Ernesto
Samper on Monday, in effect declaring that the war on Colombian
"narcoguerrillas" takes precedence over isolating the scandaltainted
Colombian leader.

McCaffrey met for a halfhour with the Colombian president even though
Samper is banned from the United States because his 1994 presidential
campaign received more than $6 million in contributions from drugcartel
leaders.

President Clinton's top adviser on drug policy declared in a speech after
the meeting that Colombian democracy was under attack from leftist rebels
backed by drugcartel profits. He described recent rebel advances in the
countryside as "a warning bell to all who support democracy."

Neither Samper nor McCaffrey commented on the substance of their meeting.

U.S. officials insisted that the encounter does not signal a softening of
Clinton administration policy toward Samper, nor does it mean Colombia is
and closer to gaining certification as a partner in the war on drugs. But
McCaffrey said Monday that "the time for global cooperation against drug
traffickers is at hand."

Two years ago, Colombia lost U.S. certification, which qualifies it for
millions of dollars in U.S. aid, in part because of allegations that Samper
was linked to Cali drug cartel figures. The Clinton administration also has
registered its concern about the repeated failure by the Colombian
legislature to remove legal restrictions to the extradition of suspected
drug lords wanted for trial in the United States.

The threeday visit here by McCaffrey, a retired fourstar general and
former head of the U.S. Southern Command, comes less than a week before the
nation goes to the polls for municipal elections that have been challenged
by Colombia's two main rebel groups.

About 25 candidates have been killed and scores kidnapped in recent months
as part of a rebel offensive designed to sabotage the elections. At least
1,500 candidates have withdrawn from the election after receiving death
threats.

Both the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the People's
Liberation Army have formed alliances with the nation's major drug cartels
and provide protection for clandestine air strips, labs and cultivation
fields behind rebel lines.

McCaffrey took the unusual step in his speech of praising "the individual
commitment, skill and professionalism" of Colombia's former top prosecutor,
Alfonso Valdivieso, who is currently a presidential candidate and an ardent
foe of Samper.

Samper denies having knowingly accepted cash from Cali cartel leaders.