Colombian police arrested three people believed to be Marxist guerrilla sympathizers and seized explosives Wednesday.

Colombian police seize explosives near Clinton route Colombian police arrested three people believed to be Marxist guerrilla sympathizers and seized explosives Wednesday, just six blocks from a site that U.S. President Bill Clinton and Colombian President Andres Pastrana are scheduled to visit later in the day. Officials told CNN the explosives were not rigged to cause serious damage, and they say the rebel sympathizers possibly intended a distraction to Clinton's one-day visit to Colombia. The officials said Clinton and Pastrana were never in danger from the explosives. Clinton's trip to Colombia, the first in a decade by a U.S. president, lends support to Pastrana's $7.5 billion initiative to break the grip that drug traffickers hold on the nation. Pastrana's plan also seeks to make peace with Marxist insurgents financed by drug profits, rev up the economy and strengthen the justice system. "Colombia's democracy is under attack," Clinton said in an address televised to Colombians on the eve of his visit. "Profits from the drug trade fund civil conflict. Powerful forces make their own law, and you face danger every day." "As you struggle, with courage, to make peace, to build your economy, to fight drugs and to deepen democracy, the United States will be on your side," the president said. During his one-day visit, Clinton plans to hold formal talks with Pastrana. He's also scheduled to inspect drug interdiction efforts in the Port of Cartagena, meet members of the Colombian national police, and talk to widows of police officers killed in the line of duty.