WORLD : Bush to Visit Colombia, Briefly
President Bush will travel to Cartagena, Colombia, in mid-February for a drug summit with three South American leaders, but his stay will be limited to just a few hours because of security concerns, an Administration official said today.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said Feb. 15 has been tentatively selected for the meeting.
Bush has said he wants to go to Colombia to demonstrate his determination to face down the drug cartels.
The 4-month-old drug war between the Bogota government and the country’s cocaine barons escalated with the Dec. 6 truck bombing that killed 63 people and wounded more than 650 in Bogota.
The drug cartels have been blamed for that explosion and for the deaths of 111 people two weeks ago, when a Colombian passenger jet was blown up.
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