Washington D.C. (U.S.A.), Oct. 10 (MFA), The following is the letter of Colombia’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Carolina Barco, in response to the New York Times’ editorial published yesterday:

On October 8, the Times editorialized against the passage of a US-Colombian trade agreement saying Colombian President Uribe has not "done enough "to bring paramilitary thugs and their political backers into justice.

When President Uribe took office in 2002, paramilitary and guerrilla groups controlled various regions of the country. Under a ground-breaking Peace and Justice Law, he put forward a path toward peace, but one that requires that those who have committed crimes against humanity face justice.

Now more than 60 paramilitary leaders and 40 Colombian congressmen with alleged paramilitary connections are in jail awaiting trial and more than 33,000 paramilitaries have been demobilized with OAS oversight.

For these reasons I strongly disagree with the Times assessment of President Uribe’s record and its illogical suggestion that economic abandonment will somehow improve matters. We need both free trade and continued transparency and justice to secure a brighter future for Colombia.

Carolina Barco

Ambassador of Colombia