PEACE TALKS IN COLOMBIA

The resumption of peace talks today between the Colombian government and20
the country's largest guerrilla group is a welcome development. There can20
be no purely military solution to this 37-year-old conflict, and without20
some kind of negotiated settlement with the guerrillas there is a20
significant risk that Washington's $1.3 billion anti-narcotics aid package
20 to Colombia could draw Americans into the fighting. Most of that
assistance 20 is for military training and equipment.

But the talks, revived after a dramatic meeting in rebel-held territory20
last week between President AndrE9s Pastrana and Manuel Marulanda, the head
20 of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC, are certain to be difficult.
An 20 agreement with the FARC has been Mr. Pastrana's main objective
since20 winning election in 1998. But he has disappointingly little to show
for his 20 efforts, despite withdrawing the army from a 16,000-square-mile
zone of20 rebel-controlled territory to encourage negotiations.

Peace talks have broken down repeatedly, most recently last November when20
the FARC objected that the government was not doing enough to restrain20
right-wing paramilitary forces. This week two high-ranking army officers20
were convicted of standing by four years ago while paramilitary troops20
massacred dozens of villagers. Mr. Pastrana must do more to control the20
paramilitaries. But the FARC has killed and kidnapped too, and has20
allegedly been exploiting the ceded zone to strengthen itself militarily.

In recent years the FARC has financed its operations by "taxing" drug20
traffickers while its guerrilla units have helped peasant coca growers20
resist crop eradication efforts. The American-financed "Plan Colombia" is20
intended to strengthen Colombian Army and police units sent to destroy20
these crops and arrest traffickers. Washington insists, implausibly, that20
American aid will be used only to help fight drugs, not the FARC units20
protecting the drug trade, an escalation that could embroil American troops
20 in a guerrilla war.

The latest round of peace talks is supposed to address some of the issues20
that thwarted progress in the past. The government has agreed to form a20
commission to recommend ways of restraining the right-wing paramilitaries.
20 The rebels have agreed to discuss a cease-fire and a cessation of20
kidnappings. But the most important question is whether the FARC, which for
20 all its military tenacity and drug riches enjoys very little public20
support, is now ready to join Mr. Pastrana in seeking peace.