COLOMBIA . . . U.S. SAYS PREZ TOOK CARTEL'S CASH

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Claiming to have two damning audiotapes in its possession, the State Department says that Colombian President-elect Ernesto Samper got campaign contributions from his country's drug lords after all. Despite Samper's repeated denials, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Gelbard told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that "the totality of the evidence . . . would cause one to think there was a certain amount of credence to the reports." Does it matter? Samper has pleased the U.S. by pledging an all-out war on the coke bosses, and Washington can deal Colombia out of lucrative trade agreements if he doesn't deliver. BTW: Samper gets sworn in Sunday.