BUSH CALLS DRUG WAR 'VITAL'

President Bush Traveled To Colombia, The World's Leading Supplier Of
Cocaine, And Promised More U.S. Aid To Help Fight Drug Traffickers And
Guerrillas.

CARTAGENA, Colombia - President Bush traveled to the heart of the
international cocaine trade Monday to pledge America's help in the fight
against smugglers and guerrillas that live off the industry.

Stopping in Colombia on his way back from a 21-nation Pacific Rim summit in
Chile, Bush said drug trafficking threatened the stability of the entire
Western Hemisphere. He promised more U.S. aid to help Colombia fight an
alliance of drug traffickers and guerrillas.

"The drug traffickers who practice violence and intimidation in this
country send their addictive and deadly products to the United States.
Defeating them is vital to the safety of our peoples and to the stability
of this hemisphere," Bush said during a joint appearance with Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe.

The United States has invested more than $3 billion in Colombia's antidrug
campaign since 2002, but the funding package, known as Plan Colombia,
expires next year. Bush didn't say how much more he would seek from
Congress next year.

SHOW OF SUPPORT

His four-hour visit to Cartagena, a sweltering colonial city on the
Caribbean coast, was a show of support for Uribe, who won office in 2002 by
promising to crack down on drug traffickers and their rebel allies.

Some Colombians have given their Harvard-educated leader the nickname
"Bushito" -- little Bush -- for his hard-line stance.

More than 15,000 police and military personnel were pressed into service
for Bush's stopover. Heavily armed guards lined his motorcade route from
the airport. Helicopters hovered close, and armed patrol boats scoured the
coastline for any sign of trouble.

Uribe is struggling to fulfill his campaign commitment to rein in
Colombia's drug lords and defeat Marxist insurgents who have been trying to
topple the government for 40 years, as well as right-wing paramilitary
fighters often also allied with traffickers.

"We will win, but we have not won yet," Uribe said, standing next to Bush
under a brutal sun that left both men dripping sweat. "We have made
progress, but the serpent is still alive."

Despite some law-enforcement successes against the Medellin and Cali drug
cartels in the mid-1990s, Colombia is still the world's leading supplier of
cocaine. U.S. officials estimate that more than 90 percent of the cocaine
that flows into the United States is produced, processed or shipped through
Colombia.

Profits from the Colombian drug trade are estimated at about $5 billion a
year, a substantial sum in a country whose annual production of goods and
services is about $75 billion.

SPATE OF KIDNAPPINGS

The drug trade and the lawlessness that accompanies it have spawned a side
industry of kidnapping. The list of hostages includes three American
defense contractors -- Keith Stansell, Tom Howes and Marc Gonsalves --
captured by guerrillas in February 2003 when their surveillance aircraft
crashed in rebel-held territory. The three are among a growing number of
civilian contractors and U.S. military advisors sent to Colombia to help
fight drug traffickers.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC in its Spanish initials,
the leading insurgent group, has offered to swap the three men for FARC
prisoners held by the Colombian government.

For all its problems, U.S. officials consider Colombia an emerging success
story. Violence is down, the economy is growing by nearly 4 percent
annually, and legal trade with the United States has risen by about $1
billion since 2003.

U.S. and Colombian officials say the U.S. investment in the antidrug
campaign is paying off. The production of coca leaf, the starting point for
cocaine, is down by 20 percent for the second year in a row, according to
U.S. officials. For the first time in years, Colombia's military is
launching operations against the FARC deep in rebel-held areas.

MET BASEBALL PLAYERS

After lunch with Uribe, Bush met with some young Colombian baseball
players, along with Orlando Cabrera of the Boston Red Sox. Edgar Renteria
of the St. Louis Cardinals, another Colombian who made it to the big
leagues, was scheduled to meet with Bush, but was unable to join the gathering.

Bush plans to spend the rest of the week in Texas.