Pubdate: Fri, 22 Sep 2000
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2000 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Contact:  501 N. Calvert Street P.0. Box 1377 Baltimore, MD 21278
Fax: (410) 315-8912
Website: http://www.sunspot.net/
Forum: http://www.sunspot.net/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro
Author: Jay Hancock, Sun National Staff 

U.S. AID STILL FAR AWAY FOR COLOMBIANS WEARY OF DRUG WARS, REBEL 
KIDNAPPINGS

Second American Among Those Freed By Guerrillas After Fight With
Soldiers

WASHINGTON - When Congress recently approved a $1.3 billion package of 
economic and military aid for Colombia, hopes rose that Bogota would 
finally make headway against the murderous guerrillas and drug lords 
who have held the Andean nation in thrall for decades.  

The bulk of the U.S. aid, however, won't be delivered until next year. 
Meanwhile, the weary and impatient Colombians may have to continue to 
tolerate rebel attacks and stalled peace talks.  

The latest outrage came Sunday, when about 50 members of the National 
Liberation Army, or ELN, abducted dozens of civilians from two 
restaurants and a farm near the provincial city of Cali, in the heart 
of an area known for rebel cocaine trafficking. Among the about 80 
people kidnapped were two U.S. citizens, both longtime residents of 
Colombia.  

More than half the hostages, including the Americans, have been freed. 
The most recent release came Wednesday amid an exchange of gunfire 
between the kidnappers and pursuing soldiers. Two soldiers and seven 
rebels were killed, after which the kidnappers released 12 prisoners 
and fled higher into the mountains, the government said.  

Among those freed Wednesday was Norma Sardi, a 70-year-old U.S. citizen 
who moved to Colombia as a child, according to her family. Sardi's 
Colombian son, Rodrigo, 42, was among the 30 or so people still held by 
the guerrillas yesterday.  

"It's good that they could rescue her, but my brother is still there," 
said Dr. Armando Sardi, a Baltimore-area oncologist. After speaking to 
his mother by phone yesterday, he described her ordeal as "a horrendous 
experience."  

A second U.S. hostage with Maryland connections, Elena Gould de Lima, 
58, was released Monday. De Lima grew up in Baltimore and moved to 
Colombia more than three decades ago after marrying a Colombian 
physician.  

Sunday's kidnapping, the largest mass abduction in Colombia this year, 
was the latest of several blows against President Andres Pastrana's 
efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Marxist rebels and end 
decades of conflict.  

Bogota has been holding sporadic talks with the country's biggest 
insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, 
and had planned to begin formal talks with the ELN.  

Both rebel groups demand a role in government and justice for 
Colombia's poor. But neither group has demonstrated good faith, and 
after Sunday's kidnappings, Colombians' patience with the peace process 
showed signs of wearing thin.  

Recent opinion polls disapprove of Pastrana's handing of peace talks 
with the FARC and faulted his handling of negotiations with the 5,000-
member ELN.  

"The Colombians are really concerned about this," said a State 
Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This may 
really be a major setback to the peace talks. The Colombians really did 
not expect the ELN to engage in this, and they did. It's not good."  

On Tuesday, Luis Carlos Villegas, head of the National Industrialists 
Association, a big-business group, called on Pastrana to halt the peace 
process if ELN will not release all hostages.  

Kidnappings have become a common way for Colombian rebel groups to try 
to finance their insurgency. Sunday's abductions were similar to last 
year's ELN kidnapping of more than 150 people from a Cali church.  

Last week, FARC kidnapped two Russian engineers who were working on a 
dam project, then released them Wednesday. Two Italians kidnapped by 
FARC last Friday were still being held yesterday.  

ELN has mounted attacks on oil pipelines and refineries, depriving 
Colombia of much-needed revenue at a time when petroleum prices are at 
10-year highs.  

The $1.3 billion U.S. aid package, which includes 60 armed helicopters, 
is intended to force FARC and ELN to the negotiating table by cutting 
off another source of their revenue: proceeds from cocaine and heroin 
sales. The helicopters are supposed to give more punch to Colombian 
drug-eradication operations.  
- ---
MAP posted-by: John Chase