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Rice to show support for Colombia Rice seeks Colombian trade accord
(about 4 hours later)
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to Colombia in an effort to secure a free trade agreement. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Colombia for talks aimed at securing a free trade agreement.
The visit is also a show of support for Washington's closest ally in the region, President Alviro Uribe. The visit is also seen as a show of support for the US's closest ally in the region, President Alviro Uribe.
Mr Uribe is currently engaged in a bitter diplomatic struggle with his neighbour, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Mr Uribe is currently engaged in a diplomatic struggle with his neighbour, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Ms Rice, accompanied by 10 Democratic congressmen, will meet Mr Uribe and some demobilised Colombian right-wing guerrillas on Friday in Medellin.
The Democrats in the US Congress have resisted a free trade pact, accusing Mr Uribe's government of tolerating crimes and human rights abuses by rightist guerrilla groups.
'Tolerating crimes'
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin says the treaty will be a tough sell for Ms Rice.
The Democrats control Congress, while America's mind is on the upcoming presidential elections and President George W Bush is seen as a bit of a lame duck, he says.
The Bush administration is trying to promote the free trade agreement, not as an economic measure, but as an opportunity to support a stalwart ally, he adds.
The White House says Colombia has made great gains in the war on drugs and terrorism, and is a counter-balance to the increasingly hostile Venezuelan leader President Chavez.
Mr Chavez has stated his support for Colombia's Marxist rebels and asked that they be removed from international lists of terrorist organisations.Mr Chavez has stated his support for Colombia's Marxist rebels and asked that they be removed from international lists of terrorist organisations.
Ms Rice is bringing with her 10 Democrat congressmen in an attempt to sell the idea of a free trade agreement in Washington. Medellin, Colombia's second largest city behind the capital Bogota, was the base of cocaine baron Pablo Escobar and one of the world's most violent cities in the last decade.
It is a tough sell with America's mind on the upcoming presidential elections, President George W Bush regarded as something of a lame duck and Congress controlled by the Democrats. But it has since been transformed into a manufacturing heartland and a model of progress and urban development, according to our correspondent.
Model for progress He says the White House worry is that without a trade pact, Colombia's economic gains could come undone, opening the door to the drug traffickers, paramilitaries and Marxist guerrillas waiting in the wings.
But the Bush administration is trying to promote the free trade agreement not as an economic measure but as an opportunity to support a stalwart ally that has made great gains in the war on drugs and terrorism, and is a counter-balance to the increasingly hostile Venezuelan President Chavez.
And the US visit is focused in Medellin, once home to Pablo Escobar and his infamous Medellin drug cartel and a decade ago one of the most violent cities in the world.
Now Medellin has transformed itself into a model for progress and urban development, boasting a metro system and cable cars that ferry people from the neighbourhoods that climb up the mountain sides of this Andean city.
This is Colombia's manufacturing heartland and a motor for the economy.
The argument is that if the US Congress does not support a free trade agreement for Colombia, the gains this country has made could be undone, its economy badly hit and the drugs traffickers, paramilitaries and Marxist guerrillas that are waiting in the wings could make a comeback.