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 BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - President Alvaro Uribe flew to Washington on Wednesday hoping to revive Colombia's trade accord with the U.S., but he could also face a move in Congress to slash anti-drug aid for the world's largest producer of cocaine.
Colombia is the biggest recipient of U.S. aid dollars outside the Middle East and Afghanistan, but Democratic lawmakers are pushing a major overhaul that they say reflects the failure of the seven-year-old, multibillion-dollar program to curb cocaine production.
If the changes are approved, the Andean nation stands to lose as much as 10 percent of the more than $700 million it has received yearly under Plan Colombia, and see a severe curtailment of aerial eradication of drug crops — the cornerstone of Uribe's anti-drug strategy.
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