POWELL PROMISES U.S. ASSISTANCE TO COLOMBIA

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Visiting the hemisphere's worst conflict zone,
Secretary of State Colin Powell offered solidarity to troubled Colombia on
Wednesday and promised more aggressive U.S. involvement to fight
drug-linked violence and outlaw armies.

"This is a partnership that works, a partnership that we must continue to
make an investment in," Powell said, moments before concluding a 22-hour visit.

Earlier in the day, as helicopter gunships hovered and sharpshooters lined
city streets, Powell met with President Alvaro Uribe Velez and then with
top Colombian military leaders to talk about counterdrug programs and
tactics for ending lawlessness in this South American nation.

The Bush administration is betting heavily on Uribe, especially as problems
fester in neighboring Venezuela, nearby Brazil and Haiti. Powell's trip,
and his warm words for Uribe, signaled that the Bush administration sees a
boost in assistance to Colombia as part of its global war on terrorism.
Colombia also is the source of most of the world's cocaine and as much as
90 percent of the heroin consumed in the Eastern United States.

Uribe promised law and order when he ran for president, and since he took
office Aug. 7 he has cracked down on leftist and rightist outlaw groups
that benefit from the drug trade. He also has led Colombia's most
aggressive campaign to eradicate coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine.

"We're seeing a leader who's taking charge," Powell said.

Powell also said Washington would pressure Colombia to improve its human
rights record. "There can be no tolerance for abuse of human rights of the
kind that has been seen in the past," he said Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group, said it was particularly concerned
that Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio had undermined human rights
investigations, firing or forcing some 26 prosecutors and investigators to
resign in the past 16 months.

Colombia assumed the presidency of the U.N. Security Council last Saturday,
and Powell noted that it would play a key role in the U.N. debate on Iraq
this month. But he said discussions about Iraq were not a motive for his visit.

He said the Bush administration would study how it might increase aid and
cooperation with Colombia in such areas as intelligence-sharing, security
and eradicating narcotics crops.

"We're searching for ways . . . to give more support to Uribe across a
broad range of issues, intelligence, sustainment, helicopters and such,"
U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Anne W. Patterson said. "I think we'll see an
enhancement."