"Terrorists attacked our
country and hurt us," Bush said at the start of an Oval Office
meeting with Uribe. "They attack Colombia and hurt them, they're
still equally as guilty as far we're concerned. Doesn't matter who
the victim is. What matters is whether or not they're practicing
terrorist activities."
In an announcement timed to coincide with Uribe's White House
visit, the Justice Department ( news
- web
sites) unsealed drug trafficking indictments on Tuesday against
three members of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary forces,
including leader Carlos Castano who said later he would turn himself
in.
News of Castano's indictment came as the recently elected Uribe,
a strong supporter of U.S.-backed anti-drug programs, visited
Washington to seek financial backing for his military and social
spending plans.
Some in Congress, which must approve aid to Colombia, have raised
questions about ties between the paramilitary and the Colombian
government as Bogota battles leftist rebels.
But Uribe asked for U.S. support, and for Bush's support
personally "to solve problems of violence, economic and social
problems."
"You have set up a very effective example of the way we need to
go on to fight and to defeat terrorism," he added.
The U.S. government's indictment alleges Castano, head of the
outlawed United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (commonly known as
AUC) smuggled more than 17 tons of cocaine into the United States
and Europe since 1997. Also indicted were two of his deputies. The
AUC is on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist
organizations.
U.S. WILLING TO HELP
"If there are terrorists, we're going to hold them to account,"
Bush said. "So the guy (who) got indicted yesterday made a decision
to be a terrorist, we made a decision to hold him to account. ... I
look forward to working with President Uribe to hold others to
account if they continue to terrorize the world."
Uribe met with members of the Senate and House of Representatives
on Tuesday. Congress is considering the Bush administration's
request for about $430 million for Colombia, most of it for security
and counter-narcotics programs.
"We discussed his plans, and I let him know of my concerns,
especially about the failures of the Colombian justice system to
prosecute high-level military and paramilitary leaders responsible
for human rights violations," Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of
Vermont said. " Impunity is the norm, and justice is not. This is
one of his biggest challenges."
As Uribe began his visit, U.S. officials said Washington was
ready to help him win support from the World Bank ( news
- web
sites), the International Monetary Fund ( news
- web
sites) and the Inter-American Development Bank. Treasury
Secretary Paul O'Neill sat in on the Oval Office meeting between
Bush and Uribe.
Uribe, who took office in August, is seeking international credit
to keep the country solvent. The United States has sunk more than
$1.5 billion into Colombia's war against drugs and this year agreed
to extend its assistance to include the fight against the rebels.
