DATE=4/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S / COLOMBIA (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261186
BYLINE=KYLE KING
DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Colombian President Andres Pastrana is meeting
with top U-S officials in Washington, in an effort to
rescue a one-point-six billion dollar anti-narcotics
aid package that is being held up in the U-S Senate.
From the State Department, V-O-A's Kyle King reports.
TEXT: President Pastrana emerged from talks with
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright saying he hopes
U-S aid for his country will be approved as soon as
possible.
The aid package has already been passed by a wide
margin in the House of Representatives. But last week
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott delayed a vote on
the measure, saying it could be passed later and does
not need to be considered on an emergency basis.
Speaking to reporters after her talks with President
Pastrana, Secretary of State Albright called the issue
urgent, and said the aid package needed to be approved
as soon as possible.
/// ALBRIGHT ACT ///
We have put a great deal of effort into it, and
President Pastrana himself has spent a lot of
time on this, as has his ambassador here, and I
think we need to move this forward. It is an
urgent issue; otherwise we would not have
presented it as an urgent issue.
/// END ACT ///
Earlier in the day, President Pastrana met with White
House drug control chief Barry McCaffrey, who said a
long delay in the aid package would diminish its
effectiveness and could have what he called a chilling
effect on other potential donors.
President Pastrana also scheduled meetings with
Senator Lott and other Senate leaders to discuss the
aid, which would provide additional helicopters to
fight drug traffickers, mostly in the south of
Colombia.
Production of cocaine in Colombia has more than
doubled over the past few years, and violence by
leftist rebels and right wing paramilitaries has
increased.
/// REST OPT ///
Asked about television news reports that Russian
organized crime gangs are now importing weapons into
Colombia, President Pastrana said his government is
looking into the issue.
/// PASTRANA ACT ///
We are investigating but we do not have the
real, real evidence at this moment. We are
controlling with the armed forces and police our
borders, to avoid any entrance of arms or
shipments to our country that are going to be
used by insurgent groups, but we do not have any
evidence of information that was brought (shown)
on television over the weekend.
/// END ACT ///
Secretary of State Albright said the United States is
very concerned about the acquisition of arms by the
rebels in Colombia and the possibility of Russian
organized crime becoming involved in the drug trade.
(Signed)
NEB/KBK/ENE/gm
11-Apr-2000 16:31 PM EDT (11-Apr-2000 2031 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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