Latin American Countries Sign Anti-Terror Pact

www.voanews.com VOA News 13 Mar 2003, 13:39 UTC

Seven Latin American countries have signed an agreement pledging to work together to combat terrorism and drug trafficking.

Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, the five Andean nations, signed the accord Wednesday during a summit of foreign and defense ministers in Bogota.

Representatives from Brazil and Panama also signed the agreement. The two nations, along with Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, border Colombia.

The deal comes as Colombia struggles with a 39-year civil war that involves leftist rebels, rightist paramilitaries and the government. The conflict kills thousands of people each year.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has asked that neighboring countries declare Colombia's outlawed groups terrorists. The United States lists the Andean nation's two main rebel groups, and their rivals, the paramilitaries, as terrorist organizations.