From: [S--Y--A] at [SUVM.SYR.EDU] (Sergio Rivera)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Officials link drug cartels to Colombian president
Date: Mon, 01 May 95 23:02:37 LCL

                  Copyright 1995 The Daily Orange Corp.
                            The Daily Orange
                         April 28, 1995, Friday
 
SECTION: News at a Glance; World; Page 2
HEADLINE: Officials link drug cartels to Colombian president
DATELINE: Washington, District of Columbia
 
   Arrest warrants issued last weekend by the chief prosecutor in
Colombia and new charges linking prominent political figures there to
narcotics money form a trail that could lead directly to President
Ernesto Samper, according to some US officials.
 
   If such a link is established, it will reinforce the views of
Assistant Secretary of State Robert Gelbard and other Clinton
administration officials who have long been suspicious of Samper and
sought his resignation. Secretary of State Warren Christopher has
resisted pressure to break with Samper, saying the administration wants
to ''work with'' him despite disappointment with his performance, but the
cases against Colombian legislators and members of Samper's party are
likely to increase pressure in Congress for a formal rupture.
 
   ''There isn't necessarily a direct connection yet, but the evidence
(against Samper) is out there and will come out eventually,'' said a US
official in Bogota, the Colombian capital.
 
   Samper was elected president of Colombia last year. Washington
accepted the election as free and fair, but US officials warned Samper
during the campaign that they suspected drug cartel money was financing
his campaign.
 
   Samper firmly and repearedly denied any link to Colombia's notorious
cocaine underground, depicting himself as a victim of the cartels in a
1989 assassination attempt, and promised to crack down on narcotics
trafficking.