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DATE=1/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON - COLOMBIA (L)
NUMBER=2-258434
BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  President Clinton has met with Colombian 
President Andres Pastrana at the White House, and is 
predicting bipartisan Congressional support for a one-
point-six billion-dollar U-S aid package to help 
Colombia combat drug trafficking.  Correspondent 
Deborah Tate reports from the White House.
TEXT:  Mr. Clinton says he believes most Republicans 
and Democrats will back the aid package.  However, 
some lawmakers are concerned that the plan -- which 
includes funding for 60 military helicopters -- would 
draw the United States into a civil conflict with no 
guarantee it [the assistance] would curb Colombia's 
drug trafficking problem.
Mr. Clinton, speaking to reporters ahead of his 
meeting with Mr. Pastrana, admitted there are risks 
inherent in the aid deal, but said they are worth 
taking.
            /// CLINTON ACT ///
      I believe that this is not only something we 
      should do for our friend and neighbor in a 
      country that is either the production or transit 
      point for about 80 percent of the cocaine that 
      gets dumped in this country, but also, if you 
      will, a test run for the kind of challenges that 
      my successors and our people will face in the 
      years ahead.
             /// END ACT ///
Although left-wing rebels control the drug-producing 
southern provinces in Colombia, U-S officials say the 
aid would not target insurgents. 
Colombia is the third-largest recipient of U-S aid 
after Israel and Egypt, and the one-point-six-billion 
dollar assistance package to Bogota represents a four-
fold increase over the current level.
Mr. Pastrana, emerging from his 45-minute meeting with 
Mr. Clinton, responded to concerns of some lawmakers 
about human-rights abuses within the Colombian army.  
He acknowledged the problem exists, but said the 
country is addressing it.  He said 70 cases are 
currently being investigated.
            /// PASTRANA ACT ///
      We are showing results.  We have a special 
      program [with the Vice President] directly 
      managing the human-rights programs, regarding 
      the protection of human rights in the government 
      and in the military.
               /// END ACT ///
During his two-day visit to Washington, Mr. Pastrana 
will also meet with Republican and Democratic leaders 
in Congress.  (Signed)
NEB/DAT/WTW
25-Jan-2000 17:34 PM EDT (25-Jan-2000 2234 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.