Colombians Cheer Leader

COUNTRY'S PRESIDENT HAILED BY N.J. CROWD, SAYS MORE EFFORTS NEEDED TO END
VIOLENCE

ELIZABETH - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe brought a relaxed political
style here Sunday in a freewheeling, town hall-style discussion that
covered topics ranging from identification cards for immigrants to his
negotiations with paramilitary organizations.

Uribe, who attended celebrations at the United Nations last week, met with
a crowd of almost 3,000 Colombian immigrants in New Jersey, the state with
the nation's third highest Colombian population.

He praised Colombians for how far the country has come in ending the
violence that has plagued it for decades, but said more work needs to be done.

"If you ask me what Colombia needs, eradicate terrorism, eradicate
corruption and help the poor," said Uribe, who spoke in Spanish.

The president, who enjoys tremendous support in his home country and with
many of those who showed up for Sunday's meeting, was met with a standing
ovation and cheers of "Viva Uribe!" as many in the crowd waved Colombian flags.

Others cheered "Uno, dos, tres, Uribe otra vez!" or, "One, two, three,
Uribe another time!" Uribe's term expires next year, and he'd like to run
another time but the country's Constitutional Court still must decide
whether legally he's allowed to.

Uribe swept to power in 2002 on promises he would defeat the leftist
guerrillas that have been fighting the government for four decades. He has
also won praise from the United States for taking steps like aerial
spraying and extraditing drug traffickers to the United States to cut back
on the drug trade.

"No one has fought the war on terror, and the war on narcotics more
strongly and more effectively and more in partnership with the United
States than President Uribe has," said U.S. Sen. Jon S. Corzine, D-N.J.,
who attended the event, along with Rep. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

But the president has also been criticized for failing to protect human
rights, and some say he has been too lenient on the right-wing paramilitary
organizations that were formed to oppose the guerillas.