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DATE=1/14/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT (L) TITLE=ALBRIGHT/LATAM TRIP NUMBER=2-258074 BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS DATELINE=MEXICO CITY CONTENT= VOICED AT= INTRO: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright leaves today/ has left (departs Washington 1 PM) for Colombia, the first stop in a three-nation trip to Latin America. She will also visit Panama and Mexico before returning to Washington on Sunday. VOA's Mexico City correspondent Greg Flakus has this report on the topics to be addressed during the trip. TEXT: The major issues likely to dominate Secretary of State Albright's discussions are the ones that have tended to be at the top of the agenda every time a U-S official visits the region -- drugs, immigration, trade and aid. The fight against drug smuggling is an important topic in U-S relations with both Colombia and Mexico. Colombia is the source for about 80 percent of the world's cocaine and home to the top smuggling cartels. Mexico is the major transit nation for cocaine and also a producer of heroin, marijuana and the key ingredients for methamphetamine. President Clinton has asked Congress for one-point-six billion dollars in aid for Colombia, with most of the money destined for special Colombian military units that target the drug smugglers. But Colombia is also enmeshed in a long-running guerrilla war and some U-S congressional critics worry that the aid might draw the United States into the conflict. Some Colombian guerrillas are, in fact, involved with drug producers and smugglers, so the distinction between funds for the anti-drug effort and overall military aid could easily be blurred. In her meetings with Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario Green on Sunday, in the southern state of Oaxaca, Secretary of State Albright will focus on the agenda for the 17th meeting of the U-S/Mexico binational commission in May. Spokespersons for both countries say that while drugs and immigration are issues that are likely to be part of the discussions, there are many other areas of mutual interest. Total trade between Mexico and the United States is over 160 billion dollars. There are also important cultural ties between the two countries largely resulting from the growth of the Mexican ethnic population in the United States. During her brief stop in Panama on Saturday, Secretary of State Albright will need to address the irritation caused by her failure to attend the formal ceremony marking the transfer of control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama on December 14. The Panamanians had wanted President Clinton or Vice President Al Gore to attend. They were further disappointed when the Secretary of State cancelled her attendance at the last minute in order to prepare for Middle East peace talks. The special relationship between the United States and Panama came to an end last year with the transfer of the canal and the closure of all U-S military bases. Under the 1977 Canal treaties, however, the United States retains the right to intervene if there is a threat to the canal. (Signed) NEB/GF/ENE/KL 14-Jan-2000 11:03 AM EDT (14-Jan-2000 1603 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .