President Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil has opened a meeting of defence ministers from the Americas warning that the war against drugs in Colombia should be carried out through democratic means. Mr Cardoso's comments were made in the Amazonian city of Manaus, where the US Defence Secretary William Cohen has been trying to gather Latin American support for Plan Colombia, a US-backed attempt to fight the drugs trade.

This meeting of more than 20 defence ministers from throughout the Americas is taking place in a hotel on the banks of the Negro River in Brazil's Amazon jungle.

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Latin American Defense Ministers Fear Escalation Of The Drug War.

MANAUS, Brazil -- U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen promised Latin American defense ministers Tuesday that Colombia's expanding drug war will not become a Vietnam-like quagmire.

But in interviews, defense leaders from countries bordering Colombia said they fear they will suffer escalating cross-border movements of Colombian drug traffickers and the guerrillas that thrive on protecting them.

Addressing 30 Western Hemisphere defense ministers, Cohen stressed that Plan Colombia, an international anti-drug effort that includes $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid, is essentially a training and equipping mission. It is not, he insisted, the first stage of a U.S. military intervention.

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MANAUS, Brazil -- Defense ministers from throughout the Western Hemisphere assembled in the heart of the Amazon yesterday to begin four days of meetings aimed at strengthening military and security cooperation in the region.

But the formal agenda of the meeting in Manaus was overshadowed by the deepening conflict in Colombia and the increased American commitment there. Leaders continued to express reservations about being drawn into the conflict in any way.

Both the U.S. secretary of defense, William Cohen, and his Colombian counterpart, Luis Fernando Ramrez Acuna, were on hand to allay concerns generated by the Clinton administration's recent decision to provide $1.3 billion in emergency aid, most of it in military assistance, to the Colombian government.

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Brazil Wants Security Assurances Over Colombian Drugs

Defence ministers from across the Americas are at a biennial summit in Brazil aimed at bringing about better co-operation particularly in relation to drugs in the region.

Some 25 ministers, including the US Defence Secretary William Cohen are to attend meetings which have been spread over three days.

Mr Cohen, who is pre-occupied with the apparent bombing attack against a US warship in Yemen and the crisis in the Middle East, will only spend a day at the summit in the north Brazilian city of Manaus, returning to Washington on Tuesday night.

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TABATINGA, Brazil ­­ By 9 a.m. on most weekdays, the border here is thick with traffic as Brazilians and Colombians stroll and drive unencumbered across the frontier to shop, work and attend school. But such free passage has also had a bitter downside for residents of this steamy city: an illicit cross-border drug trade.

Now, with Colombia's renewed determination to strangle drug trafficking and end a four-decade-old civil war, Brazil is fortifying the 1,000-mile frontier to bring relief to such cities as Tabatinga and to avoid spillover from the Colombian campaign. Brazilian officials say they fear Colombia's efforts could produce a swell of refugees and bring more drug use and manufacturing and arms trafficking to Brazilian soil. The government also says it fears that Plan Colombia--backed by $1.3 billion from the United States--could, at some point, draw American soldiers to the border region.

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The United States is zeroing in on drug trafficking in areas bordering with Brazil. After launching Plan Colombia early this month, the Americans have decided to follow an identical strategy regarding Paraguay. During visits to three Paraguayan Army bases located close to the Brazilian border, US Ambassador to Paraguay David Greenlee said that the fight on drug trafficking is a challenge that his country intends to face. Garments, equipment, and information services are already being lined up to fight the drug and arms trade on the border. "Paraguay is a transit country. It needs attention," he said.

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BRASILIA, Sept. 1. South America's 12 heads of state endorsed Colombia's peace process today but stopped short of unconditional support for its U.S.-backed plan to combat drug trafficking and end a four-decade-old civil war.

In a statement at the end of a two-day summit conference, the heads of state offered qualified support of the $7.5 billion Plan Colombia, which combines military efforts and social and economic development to fight drug trafficking and production. The United States is contributing $1.3 billion, most of it for military equipment and training.

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COLOMBIA: South American governments expressed "serious concern" in Brasilia yesterday at a $1.3 billion US military aid package for Colombia, at an event originally called to accelerate trade integration but dominated by Colombia's escalating internal conflict.

The Brazil summit, attended by all South American presidents, rejected plans for a multinational military force that would intervene in Colombia.

"Brazil will not participate in any such international force," said Foreign Minister Mr Luiz Felipe Lampreia, in comments published yesterday, "What's more, Brazil stands firmly against the idea of any foreign military force in Colombia."

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South American leaders opened their first regional summit Thursday in Brazil, amid concerns of a possible spillover from Colombia's anti-drug offensive and of U.S. military involvement in the fight.

Colombian President Andres Pastrana quickly reassured the 11 other leaders that his anti-drug campaign -- known as Plan Colombia -- will not lead to American military intervention. The two-day summit was convened by Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Brasilia to discuss integrating the region's economies, strengthening its democratic institutions and improving education and technology.

But the consequences of Colombia's drug war was becoming a major focus of the meeting, which got under way one day after President Clinton visited Colombia to lend support and release $1.3 billion in military aid to the counternarcotics program.

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Leaders Fear Action From U.S. Military

BRASILIA, Brazil -- South American leaders yesterday opened their first regional summit amid concerns of a possible spillover from Colombia's anti-drug offensive and of U.S. military involvement in the fight.

Colombian President Andres Pastrana quickly reassured the 11 other leaders that his anti-drug campaign -- known as Plan Colombia -- will not lead to American military intervention.

"I am the President of Colombia. There will not be a military intervention," he said. "The world should understand that drug trafficking is the common enemy."

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BRASILIA, Aug. 31 - An unprecedented meeting of South American presidents opened here today with leaders stressing their support for Colombia while expressing deep concern about the possible "Vietnamization" of its four-decade-old civil war or spillover of the conflict into neighboring countries.

The dozen leaders gathered in the Brazilian capital for a summit conference organized to encourage increased economic integration among South American nations. But one day after President Clinton's visit to Colombia--and with $1.3 billion in U.S. aid on the way, the bulk of it for the military--the agenda was overshadowed by the $7.5 billion Plan Colombia designed to fight drug trafficking and stabilize the country.

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BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) -- Brazil is dispatching thousands of troops to its jungle border with Colombia to prevent fallout as the neighbouring country launches an offensive against drug traffickers and rebel forces, the national security chief said.

Gen. Alberto Cardoso, the president's chief security adviser, told Reuters in an interview late on Monday that "Plan Colombia" -- the neighbouring country's $7.5 billion assault on drug traffickers in rebel strongholds -- is causing major concern for Brazil.

"For Brazil, Colombia is causing the biggest worry," Cardoso said. "Our attention is dedicated to the effects it could have on Brazil, like the flight of guerrillas and the transfer of (drug) laboratories and plantations."

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BRASILIA -- When Henry A. Kissinger visited here as secretary of state in the mid-1970's, his Brazilian counterpart, Antonio Azeredo da Silveira, made a point of escorting him on a tour of Itamaraty Palace, the ultramodern glass and marble headquarters of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.

Afterward, Mr. Silveira asked his American guest for his impressions.

Grinning with amusement, Mr. Silveira later recalled in an interview Mr. Kissinger's reply: "It's a magnificent building, Antonio. Now all you need is a foreign policy to go with it."

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BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stressed the need to preserve the region's democratic advances and boost free trade on Tuesday during meetings with top Brazilian officials.

Albright met with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Lampreia during her five-hour stay in Brazil -- the first leg of her whirlwind five-day tour that will also take her to Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia.

"We discussed the need to ensure that the democratic tide continues to rise in the Western Hemisphere," Albright said at a news conference before leaving for Argentina. "Over the past two decades, democracy has made enormous gains, but in some areas of the region it is experiencing considerable stress."

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BRASILIA, Brazil -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright won support from Brazil Tuesday for strengthening the region's fragile democracies, but failed to enlist it behind a $1.3 billion fight against Colombian drug traffickers.

Albright, kicking off a tour of five South American countries, said her one-day visit to Brazil showed bilateral relations were the best in 50 years and differences in opinion "were far fewer than the areas of agreement."

But Brazil's Foreign Minister, Luiz Felipe Lampreia, stressed the "autonomy" of Latin America's largest country, and said it would not participate in the Washington campaign to help battle Colombian drug traffickers.

"We have no intention of participating in any common international action," Lampreia said.

Brazil, which shares a long Amazon jungle border with Colombia, fears a massive military assault could drag it into the country's bloody civil war or send droves of refugees into Brazil.

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BRASILIA, Aug. 15 -- Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright won support from Brazil today for strengthening the region's fragile democracies, but failed to enlist it behind a $1.3 billion fight against Colombian drug traffickers and rebels.

Dr. Albright, kicking off a tour of five South American countries, said her one-day visit to Brazil showed bilateral relations were the best in 50 years and differences in opinion "were far fewer than the areas of agreement."

But Brazil's Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Lampreia stressed the "autonomy" of Latin America's largest country, and said it would not participate in the major Washington campaign to help battle Colombian drug traffickers.

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BRASILIA, Sept. 1 -- The presidents of South America's 12 countries today rebuffed President Clinton's appeal, made earlier this week, that they endorse a new American-backed military and police offensive aimed at drug trafficking and guerrilla groups in Colombia. In a joint declaration at the end of a two-day summit meeting here, the leaders expressed support for efforts by Colombia's president, Andres Pastrana, to negotiate an end to four decades of civil conflict there.

But they pointedly omitted any mention of Mr. Pastrana's plan to use military means to weaken the cocaine cartels and the left-wing guerrilla and right-wing death squads that are allied with them.

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RIO DE JANEIRO, June 12 - At least 30 people who helped, or planned to help, the Brazilian Congress in a nationwide drug trafficking investigation have been killed since the probe began 14 months ago, a member of the investigating committee said today.

The slayings are evidence of how extraordinarily difficult it has been for the government of Latin America's largest and most populous nation to attack a culture of lawlessness and impunity that has become deeply rooted throughout this country of 170 million people.

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RIO BRANCO, Brazil - The bodies have turned up one or two at a time, in ditches and tall grass on the edge of town. Most of the dead have been thieves and drug dealers, who in many cases across Brazil were tortured for hours or mutilated - a hand or arm chopped off - before being shot in the head at close range.

State civil police investigated the cases, and rarely arrested anyone. Now, federal police and human rights activists say they know why: The civil and military police were themselves the killers.

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A clash between rival gangs inside a prison in western Brazil Thursday left 13 inmates dead and another 13 wounded, authorities said.

The two groups were vying to control the drug trade within Pascoal Ramos penitentiary in Cuiaba, 980 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, said Jose Carlos de Carvalho, coordinator of the Mato Grosso State prison system.

Hundreds of riot troops were sent in to end the violence. Carvalho insisted no police were involved in the killings. In a search police said they found two revolvers and 350 packets of cocaine.

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