John McCain points to supporter at opening of town hall meeting campaign event in Pipersville, Pa., 30 Jun 2008

U.S. presidential candidate John McCain travels to Colombia Tuesday, where he is expected to highlight the country's efforts to fight drug trafficking, and also push for passage of a U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee meets with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and other officials in the city of Cartagena Tuesday.  Wednesday, the Arizona senator travels to Mexico and is to meet the following day Thursday, with President Felipe Calderon.

McCain is expected to discuss drug trafficking and free trade in both countries.  McCain supports President Bush's proposed free-trade agreement with Colombia, unlike his opponent, presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Obama, like many of his Democratic Party colleagues, has expressed concern over Colombia's often-criticized record on human rights, labor union activity and the environment.  Bush administration officials have said failure to adopt the free trade agreement will harm U.S. credibility in Latin America.
 

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.