STILL HOPE IN COLOMBIA

Dear Editor:

What a relief it was to hear that after breaking off negotiations, the
Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas have agreed to continue to
negotiate for peace. For this we can thank U.N. diplomats who traveled to
Colombia for last-minute talks with the guerrillas.

The Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas began formal peace
negotiations in January 1999, eight months after thousands of Colombians
took to the streets demanding peace. The two groups met and agreed on an
agenda of items to be discussed including: protection of human rights as a
responsibility of the state, agrarian policy including redistribution of
unproductive land, respect for international humanitarian law, opposition
to self-defense groups (the paramilitaries), judicial reform, the
strengthening of social services, and the broadening of the democracy to
include equal opportunities for minorities and opposition parties.

All of these reforms are desperately needed in a country where: citizens
are routinely assassinated for speaking out against human rights abuses,
more labor union leaders are murdered than in any other country in the
world, two million mostly poor farmers (about 5 percent of the population)
have been displaced by the conflict and receive almost no help from the
government, 97 percent of crimes go unsolved, the paramilitaries, who are
responsible for 80 percent of the human rights abuses, often work with the
support of the military and assassinations of opposition party candidates
are not uncommon.

The break in negotiations came the day after 14 Black Hawk helicopters
purchased from the U.S. were delivered to Colombia. In the past two years
Congress has voted to send $1.85 billion of mostly military aid to the
region. The bulk of this money was for Colombia for the expansion of its
military and the purchase of military helicopters.

I hope that as the strength of its military grows the Colombian government
can keep its sights set on working toward the peace its citizens so
desperately want.

Ann George

Winthrop