Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jun 2000
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
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Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Steven Dudley Special to the Washington Post

DIPLOMATS PARLEY WITH COLOMBIAN REBELS

VILLA NUEVA, Colombia, June 29 - Diplomats and officials from Europe, 
Canada, Japan and the United Nations traveled to Colombia's rebel-held 
jungle stronghold today on an unprecedented mission to encourage the 
insurgents to make peace with the government and join international efforts 
to halt production of cocaine.

The United States - which is preparing a $1 billion aid package aimed 
mostly at helping Colombia fight the rebels and eradicate coca crops, the 
raw material for cocaine - did not take part in the mission. Washington has 
said it will have no contact with the rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Colombia, or FARC, until it surrenders the insurgents whom the 
United States blames for killing three U.S. environmental activists in 
rebel territory last year.

FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, 70, wore combat fatigues and marshaled an 
honor guard to greet his first official foreign visitors as they arrived by 
bus over a rutted road from the nearest airport. FARC began direct contacts 
with foreign governments by sending a a delegation of rebel officials to 
Europe in February.

The FARC, by far the most powerful of Colombia's three leftist guerrilla 
groups, appeared intent on using the gathering to isolate the United States 
from other foreign governments, and its leadership denounced Washington's 
emphasis on aid for the Colombian military. "If we can, we will construct 
one wall, two walls, to close off completely U.S. policy toward Colombia," 
said Gabriel Angel, a member of the FARC negotiating team.

One FARC commander, Ivan Rios, told the Associated Press that the rebels 
will arm coca farmers - and might buy missiles to shoot down U.S.-supplied 
helicopters - if the Colombian government launch an offensive with the new 
U.S. aid. The U.S. package - approved by the Senate last week - devotes 80 
percent of the $1 billion to buy arms for the Colombian armed forces and 
provide them with training and technical assistance. That policy is 
"throwing fuel on the fire" of Colombia's 36-year-old war, Rios said.

Strengthening the military is central to "Plan Colombia," President Andres 
Pastrana's program to bring peace to the war-weary nation and revive its 
battered economy. The diplomats' two-day visit comes as their governments 
decide how - and how much to spend - to help the peace process. The 
European Union, Canada, Switzerland and Japan are all considering their own 
aid programs.

The visiting diplomats denied there was any rift between Washington and 
their governments and said the FARC would not divide them. "These are 
complementary plans," said the Dutch ambassador to Colombia, Gijsbert Bos, 
who has been critical of U.S. policy. "We are allies with the U.S. in the 
fight against drug trafficking."

The diplomats pressed the FARC to improve its human rights record and 
protect civilians from the violence of the civil war. While human rights 
groups blame pro-government paramilitary forces for 70 percent of the tens 
of thousands of civilian fatalities in the war, they say the rebels have 
been kidnapping as many as 3,000 people per year. Guerrilla leaders say 
"retaining" people for ransom is their way of taxing the population. Since 
last year, when the Colombian government withdrew its troops from this part 
of southern Colombia as part of a peace process, the FARC has formally 
administered five municipalities in the region.

The talks here are intended to focus on economic development programs aimed 
at promoting alternative crops for Colombian farmers who depend for their 
survival on growing coca. The U.S. aid program allocates about 10 percent 
of its total to stimulate production of coca substitutes.

After three hours of talks, the foreign delegations attended a forum at 
which hundreds of farmers from coca-growing areas complained about a 
Colombian government plan - backed by Washington - to spray coca-killing 
chemicals on their farmlands. "Plan Colombia is the declaration of war 
against peasant farmers," said one man from the state of Cauca. "Since when 
do you fight misery using chemicals, weapons and invading troops?"

The FARC has proposed that the government remove its troops from another 
municipality adjacent to the rebel-administered zone to let the insurgents 
run their own crop-substitution program. The rebel plan calls for financing 
from the United States and European governments and envisions construction 
of a tourist center in the region.
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