U.S. drug czar praises Colombian police

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) The White House drug czar praised Colombian police
today for fighting guerrillas who protect drug trafficking, a day after two
officers died during a jungle raid on cocaineprocessing labs.

The officers were killed Sunday evening by rebels guarding labs near Loma
Linda, 125 miles south of Bogota, according to police.

"Colombia faces a great threat," Barry McCaffrey told officers at national
police headquarters, "the terrible direct threat to democracy of 15,000
narcoguerrillas with mortars machine guns and automatic weapons" as well
as traffickers themselves and paramilitary forces.

U.S. drug policy in Colombia, he added, is closely tied to support for
democracy, which is threatened by growing rebel violence.

McCaffrey was to meet later today with President Ernesto Samper in the
first highlevel U.S. contact in more than two years with the
scandaltainted Colombian leader, whom McCaffrey himself has branded an
accomplice of drug traffickers.

On arriving Sunday in Bogota, McCaffrey skirted the question of whether the
controversial teteatete represents a shift in U.S. policy: "I'm not a
politician. By law, I may not take part in U.S domestic politics and
certainly not in Colombian politics."

The retired fourstar general, on a threeday visit, also was to meet today
with human rights groups, Cabinet ministers and business leaders.

McCaffrey's arrival coincided with the antinarcotics raid in the jungles
near Loma Linda. Maj. Jairo Alberto Castro and agent Carlos Bolivar were
killed by machinegun fire while in a helicopter that was taking off after
police set fire to one lab, said Lt. Ricardo Blanco, an antinarcotics
police spokesman.

He said five choppers were hit by gunfire in the operation near Loma Linda
in Meta state that began Saturday and was personally directed by
antinarcotics commander Col. Leonardo Gallego.

Defense Minister Gilberto Echeverri told reporters the incident
"demonstrates the intensity of the conflict" with guerrillas involved in
drug trafficking.

Some observers in Washington criticized the meeting between Samper and
McCaffrey, arguing that it would allow Samper to rehabilitate his tarnished
image.

Samper was elected in 1994 with $6 million in contributions from Cali
cartel kingpins but was cleared by congress last year of charges he
solicited the drug money. Samper denies he knew of the drug cash, but U.S.
officials don't believe him.

McCaffrey, however, said his visit was aimed at examining how Washington
can help strengthen Colombian democracy.

The guerrillas control large areas of the countryside and earn tens of
millions of dollars annually from kidnapping, extortion and taxes on heroin
and cocaine production.

More than two dozen candidates have been killed, mostly by guerrillas, in a
rebel intimidation campaign aimed at disrupting Sunday's nationwide
elections for state and municipal officials. At least 1,500 candidates have
withdrawn after receiving death threats.

McCaffrey also was expected to discuss human rights issues with Colombian
officials as well as ways in which the United States can more effectively
back police antinarcotics efforts in the world's No. 1 cocaineexporting
country.

The United States has decertified Colombia as an ally in the war on drugs
for two years in a row, principally because of Samper's alleged links to
drug traffickers.

The State Department canceled Samper's tourist visa last year, and its
steady pressure on his government has been credited with enactment of new
laws mandating stiffer jail terms for drug bosses and the forfeiture of
their illgotten gains.

A joint SenateHouse conference in the U.S. Congress is expected to soon
debate an additional $50 million in antinarcotics assistance for Colombian
police: four Blackhawk helicopters and related aid.