COLOMBIA DESERVES A BREAK

The Copa America soccer championship is so important to Colombia's
morale that when the South American Soccer Federation threatened to
cancel it on security grounds, President Andres Pastrana went on
television wearing the national team's blue-and-yellow soccer jersey.
He declared: "We are going to show the world and our brothers in the
Americas that Colombia is more than the bloodshed and the attacks
they see on the news."

Holding the championship, which, in Latin America, is second only to
the world's most popular sporting event, the World Cup, is a victory
in itself. Prior to Wednesday's opening game in Cali, the
championship was canceled twice and postponed once. President
Pastrana appealed to Colombia's South American brother and sister
nations to show their solidarity by taking part. But the response was
half-hearted at best.

Several of the top players refused to come to Colombia. Argentina,
currently top of the soccer ladder in Latin America, opted out. The
championship in Colombia was first in jeopardy last month when three
terrorist bombs were planted in Bogota, Cali and Medellin with the
obvious intention of scaring off the organizers, the South American
Soccer Federation.

It was called off entirely when a Colombian soccer official was
kidnapped by guerrillas. But he reappeared, explaining that he had
been the victim of a random kidnapping and personally pleaded with
the federation not to call off the championship. President Pastrana
has named the championship the "Peace Cup" and has provided 20,000
police, army sharpshooters and bomb-sniffing dogs to protect
participants and spectators.

It's a pity that Argentina, which has had a taste of the terrorism
that Colombia is going through, failed to show solidarity with a
nation that is literally under siege. South America should have
united against violence by supporting Colombia in its battle against
left- and right-wing extremists and drug traffickers. When he put on
the national soccer team's jersey, President Pastrana's promised, "We
are going to replace the bombs with goals." May his wish come true. A
successful championship could provide just the morale boost that the
ravaged country needs.