Dems urge tougher stance on Columbia as Clinton appears with Columbian president.

NEW YORK - With top Democratic lawmakers threatening to reduce the $700 million a year in aid that Colombia receives, former President
Bill Clinton appeared with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Friday and urged Congress to consider that the country has made strides to overcome violence.
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The appearance came hours after the circulation of a letter that Democrats, including presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Chris Dodd, sent to Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice last month urging Colombia to reverse the "infiltration" of murderous paramilitary groups at high government levels.

"We need to remember that we are friends," Clinton said at a ceremony to accept an award from Uribe. "We need to remember that we want to share a common future. We need to remember that for the first time in over three decades there is a law enforcement presence representing the elected government of Colombia."

Clinton was honored for his efforts to reverse Colombia's image of violence and drugs. The ceremony coincided with Colombian lobbying to Washington to counter Democrats' intense scrutiny of the country's human rights record.

Since gaining control of Congress in November, Democrats have refused to pass a trade deal with Colombia and are threatening to cut military assistance as a scandal linking government allies to right-wing militias creeps closer to Uribe.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070609/ap_on_re_us/colombia_obama_letter;_ylt=AgWvIMlXUNiV1EQFq3HB_kJp24cA

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The name of the place is Colombia. And, for people from Colombia (like my wife's family), having people from the U.S. continually refer to it by an "Americanized" name is as infuriating as you likely feel when one or another Republican talks about the "Democrat Party."

Got it?????

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