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.
