MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bush talks trade, regional security with Colombia's Uribe

President Bush welcomed his closest ally in Latin America, Colombia's Alvaro Uribe, to the White House Wednesday for talks that centered on free trade and regional stability.

The Colombian leader was on his first visit to the United States since winning a second four-year term in the May 28 election, in which he garnered more than 60 percent of the votes. In a joint press appearance after their discussions, both presidents spoke of the bilateral free-trade pact they signed earlier this year and mentioned some of the challenges confronting what Bush called the regional "neighborhood.

"Hailing Uribe as an ally and "personal friend," Bush praised his guest's stand against the "narco-terrorist groups" - the term Washington and Bogota use for Colombian leftist rebels who derive revenue from the drug trade - and pledged to speed the resolution of problematic points in the trade deal so it can be submitted to Congress.

Uribe responded by thanking Bush and the United States for supporting Colombia as it works to end "this long nightmare of terrorism," referring to the conflict that has wracked the Andean nation for more than four decades. "I understand the mandate my fellow country citizens have given me to work harder, and with better results, for my country to get peace, and the United States cooperation is necessary," he said of his election victory.

The Colombian president also mentioned discussing with Bush how Bogota might accelerate its program to eradicate coca fields, but he did not offer any specifics. Making his ninth official visit to the United States since he took office in August 2002, Uribe hopes to ensure continued assistance for Bogota - which trails only Israel and Egypt in the amount of U.S. aid it receives - and to persuade lawmakers to ratify the free-trade treaty when it reaches Capitol Hill, though analysts say that probably won't happen until next year.

Besides his session with Bush, Uribe had meetings set with congressional leaders, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and with the new U.S. trade representative, Susan Schwab.

Another regular feature of Uribe's sojourns in Washington is having to face criticism from lawmakers and activists over the state of human rights and workers' rights in Colombia.

Thursday, the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center plans to release a study showing that a mere 376 of the roughly 3,000 murders of unionists in Colombia between 1986 and 2002 were investigated, leading to a total of five convictions.