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Rice and lawmakers wrap up Colombia visit

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, and US Democratic Representative Solomon Ortiz pose in La Ceja, Colombia, on Friday. Rice arrived in Colombia on Thursday with a group of US legislators for talks focusing on a free trade pact. PHOTO: AFP

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lunched with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at his ranch on Friday after meeting with 20 ex-paramilitary fighters to hear about their life stories.

Rice and a delegation of US Democratic Party lawmakers have concluded a two-day visit aimed at promoting a free-trade deal that is languishing in the Democratic-led US Congress over alleged links between Uribe and paramilitary groups accused of committing atrocities.

On her second day of the visit, Rice also met with union members supportive of a US-Colombian free trade agreement (FTA).

"If we don't push through the FTA, we will have problems because to exploit mines we need large machinery that does not exist and is not produced in Colombia," said Jose Palacio, one of the union representatives.

The US delegation also met Medellin Mayor Alonso Salazar and 20 former members of the ultra right-wing United Self-Defense Forces (AUC) of Colombia, 4,000 of whose fighters have been reintegrated into civil society with government help since 2006.

Former AUC member Giovanni Marin later told reporters that Rice heard from his colleagues about why they had joined and dropped out of the paramilitary group.

Democrats in the US Congress have resisted the FTA with Colombia, accusing Uribe's government of tolerating crimes and human rights abuses by right-wing paramilitary groups such as AUC.

US-based Human Rights Watch director Jose Miguel Vivanco recently called on Rice to use the FTA "as leverage to press Colombia's government to effectively confront impunity and break the paramilitaries' power."

After her talk with the demobilized fighters, Rice and the US lawmakers visited a flower plantation in nearby Rionegro, 40km outside Medellin and had lunch with Uribe at his ranch.

"With more investment we will have more jobs and better opportunities for our workers," Uribe said.
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