`Tighten security' call as Pope packs for Colombia

THE Pope sets out on Tuesday for Colombia and St Lucia, his seventh trip to Latin America during the eight years of his pontificate.
He will spend a week in a Colombia still recoiling from the attempted assassination of the Interior Minister, Jaime Castro, last week.
Senor Castro was giving an interview to a journalist in his official car as it sped through the streets of Bogota, the capital, when guerrillas attacked.
The Minister had that day been planning to push for the lifting of the state of siege in the country, but after his narrow escape a government spokesman said the siege would continue for the foreseeable future.
The guerrillas who attacked the Minister belonged to the April 19 Movement — M-19. Their activities have led churchmen in Colombia to appeal for tighter security around the Pope when he arrives on Tuesday.
M-19 were behind the attack on the Palace of Justice last November which left 100 people dead, including 11 judges. The theme of guerrilla warfare and violence is expected to come up in the Pope's addresses, a Vatican spokesman said.
Another theme will be Colombia's mushrooming drugs trade — estimated as bringing $8 billion into the country, illegally, last year.
The Pope will be greeted by the outgoing President, Belisario Betancur. His liberal successor, Virgilio Barco Vargas, takes office on August 3 pledged to reform laws on marriage, divorce and abortion.
Currently Catholics cannot have a civil divorce in Colombia under an agreement between the state and the Vatican.
The Colombian hierarchy are noted for their deep conservatism, and the Colombian ambassador to the Holy See, Gaitan Mahecha, predicted that liberation theology will not be an issue which will catch the Pope's attention in his country.
After seven days in Colombia, Pope John Paul will stop over in the predominantly Catholic West Indian island of St Lucia on his way back to Rome.