Pubdate: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 Source: Reuters Copyright: 2001 Reuters Limited Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/364 Author: Reuters BUSH WANTS TO MEET COLOMBIA'S NEIGHBORS AT SUMMIT BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) is hoping to meet with the leaders of Colombia's neighbors at a summit in Quebec this week in a bid to win regional involvement for Bogota's U.S.-backed war on drugs, Brazil's foreign minister said. Brazil's foreign minister Celso Lafer told foreign correspondents late on Monday, "my perception is that the Bush government wants to examine Plan Colombia within a vision of regionalization." Colombia's neighbors Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru are suffering from the impact of Bogota's "Plan Colombia" offensive against cocaine to which the U.S. is giving more than $1 billion in mainly military aid. Hundreds of refugees have already streamed into neighboring countries as a result of increased conflict sparked by the clampdown on the drugs trade, which has complicated Colombia's 37-year-old war between the government and left-wing rebels. A meeting between the presidents of the United States, Colombia and its neighbors at this week's Summit of the Americas in Canada could mark the first time the leaders of the countries most affected by Colombia's conflict all meet. "The military issue is not on the agenda (at the meeting), but rather the idea of diplomatic and technological cooperation in the treatment of these issues," Lafer said. "We are prepared to touch this discussion." Lafer said Brazil was prepared to help Colombia with information collected by its new satellite surveillance system for the vast Amazon jungle, which would be able to monitor, for instance, airplanes passing illegally across their border. "There is worry in Brazil about what happens in our neighboring countries, there are efforts to contribute so that Colombia finds the right solutions, be it on drug trafficking or be it with the guerrillas," said Lafer. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager