MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bush ratifies full support for Plan Colombia

United States president George Bush ratified full support for Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and his fight against the narcotic trade and leftist guerrillas highlighting “this is the way to promote security and democracy in the Americas”.

"Our two nations are working together to fight drug trafficking and terrorism, and to promote security, democracy and the rule of law throughout the Americas," Mr Bush said at the joint news conference in his Texas ranch.

The presence of Mr Uribe and his wife at the Crawford ranch is a sign of how important the US-Colombian alliance is.

Under the Plan Colombia the South American country has received more than 3 billion US dollars from the US since 2000 to help it fight drug smugglers and left-wing rebels. Aid includes mainly forces training and equipment for jungle warfare and elimination of coca crops.

"The great enemy of Colombian democracy is terrorism. And our great partner in defeating terrorism has been the government and the people of the United States", said President Uribe.

"Violent crime in Colombia is at its lowest level in 16 years. Since 2002, murders, kidnappings and terrorist acts in Colombia have all declined significantly", said President Bush in support of the Plan Colombia which in the coming weeks needs renewed support from US Congress.

However Congress is worried about alleged human rights abuses by the Colombian military and has imposed conditions on existing funding. Earlier this week, the US State Department certified that Colombia had met human rights standards needed to release about 70 million US dollars of that money - a move that was criticised by Amnesty International.

Mr Bush said he had been assured by Mr Uribe that Colombia was taking alleged abuses seriously.

"Our strategic relation is vital for the security, prosperity and freedom of our countries and the Americas", added President Bush who anticipated he would request Congress to "keep our commitment with the Plan", so that Colombia can develop and progress, "and win its war over narco-terrorists".

Another issue of the presidential meeting was the free trade agreement with United States, currently under discussion, that will become "a powerful instrument to promote economic and social stability in Colombia".

The agreement also includes Ecuador and Peru.

"This is a very important event and agenda, for the future of our peoples and to help Colombia definitively free itself from the plague of terrorism", underlines President Uribe.

This is the sixth time the two presidents meet in three years and it included top officials from both administrations, among which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Colombian ministers of Foreign Affairs Carolina Barco and Defence Camilo Ospina.