June 10, 2002. Copyright 2002. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

ColombiaÕs Uribe to visit U.S., Canada and Europe

LONDON, June 10, Graphic News: President-elect Alvaro Uribe is scheduled to arrive in the United States on June 16 to begin his first international tour since winning ColombiaÕs May election.

The breakaway right-leaning Liberal -- who takes office on August 7 -- faces a daunting array of challenges as the next president of one of Latin AmericaÕs largest, most populous and violence-ridden countries.

Uribe, a keen proponent of U.S. involvement in ColombiaÕs war on drugs, told journalists the United Nations will be key to ending the long-standing civil war that claims 3,500 lives a year.

Illegal armed groups from the right and left increasingly fund their wars with cash from the worldÕs largest cocaine industry. Leftist guerrillas also make money kidnapping thousands of people every year. The president-in-waiting -- who has survived 15 attempts on his own life -- has pledged to boost military spending and double the number of troops to combat the drug trade and terrorism to more than 100,000 fighters.

ÒI am going to ask the UN for international mediation to restart dialogue and to agree on places in Colombia where UN humanitarian missions, supported by Colombian soldiers, can defend the Colombian people,Ó Uribe said.

The president-elect will meet with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in New York on June 16, and U.S. President George W. Bush and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in Washington on June 17. He will meet with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on June 19-20 before travelling to Ottawa for talks with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Washington has given almost $2 billion in the past two years for ÒPlan ColombiaÓ -- an initiative created to fight the war on drugs -- making Colombia the worldÕs third largest recipient of U.S. military aid after Israel and Egypt.

Now that the U.S. has officially deemed the 18,000-member Marxist FARC and right-wing paramilitary Colombian Self-Defense Units (AUC), to be terrorist groups, the Bush administration stands a good chance of freeing up some half a billion dollars in direct military aid. This move would be the first time the U.S. has funded counterinsurgency in Latin America since the 1980s. 

Between June 24 and 29, Uribe will travel to Europe for an audience with Pope John Paul II and meetings with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and with BritainÕs Tony Blair. On July 1 the president-elect will be received by President Chirac in Paris.
/ENDS

Sources: The Economist, BBC World Service, Reuters, Associated Press