PRESSURE ON COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT TO GAIN REBELS' COMMITMENT TO NEGOTIATIONS

BOGOTA, Colombia -- With the hopes of a war-weary nation on his shoulders,
Andres Pastrana won the presidency in June 1998. He was the candidate for
peace who Colombians believed would bring Latin America's largest and
oldest rebel group to the peace table.

But more than 2 1/2 years later, peace remains elusive, and Pastrana's
popularity has plummeted. The rebels refuse to negotiate, and the swath of
territory Pastrana ceded to them as a haven for peace talks remains firmly
in their grasp. Many Colombians, frustrated over the lack of progress, have
lost faith.

Now, Pastrana has embarked on a politically risky move that analysts are
calling a last-ditch effort to avert all-out war: a meeting today in the
rebel zone with Manuel Marulanda, the Marxist revolutionary who leads the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The goal, as Pastrana put it in a direct appeal to Marulanda, is to
``decide once and for all if we are going to continue the peace process
that you and I started.''

Public in doubt

But political analysts say that for Pastrana to maintain political
legitimacy and presidential authority, he has to return with more than just
a nebulous pledge from Marulanda that his group is committed to a peaceful
resolution of the 37-year-old conflict.

The rebel leader must agree -- and forcefully so -- that his group, known
as FARC, will pursue peace through negotiations, experts say. And to prove
the rebels' sincerity to a doubtful public, progress must be made on issues
that have been obstacles to negotiations.

``The reunion shouldn't be just to reactivate the dialogue,'' said Luis
Fernando Velasco, a Congress member and supporter of the peace effort. ``It
wouldn't be enough to satisfy the expectations and the needs of the people.''

Several analysts said one hopeful and likely outcome could be an
announcement that the two sides had agreed to press ahead on an exchange of
sick prisoners.

But better for the president would be an affirmation from the rebels that
they would seriously pursue a cease-fire or that international monitors
would be allowed into the territory that the group controls.

``What has to be reaffirmed is there are two sides in this, that the FARC
is also interested in moving the process forward,'' said Daniel
Garc(acu)a-Pe, a former government peace negotiator and now the director of
the peace group Planeta Paz. ``There has to be a re-launching of the
process that will bring, in a few months, some concrete results, concrete
accords that can give the process some life.''

Pastrana's efforts to renew the peace talks come as the United States is
delivering a huge aid package aimed at curtailing Colombia's cocaine trade,
which has helped fuel the war.

When Pastrana first created the demilitarized zone in November 1998, hopes
were high that the unusual gesture would foster enough good will to bring
peace. After all, Marulanda had supported Pastrana's candidacy.

Months later, though, Pastrana's efforts were being seriously tested. In
January 1999, Marulanda snubbed Pastrana by failing to show up at their
first planned meeting inside the rebel zone.

Setbacks in negotiations

And although the two men did finally meet again in May 1999, the past two
years have seen both sides break off negotiations numerous times. Pastrana
has repeatedly been forced to extend the life of the demilitarized zone to
restart peace talks. All the while, the FARC has been accused of using the
territory to fortify itself, hide kidnap victims and cultivate coca.

The latest slap in the face came in December, when a Colombian Congress
member, Diego Turbay, and six others were assassinated just outside the
zone and the rebels at first declined to take responsibility or offer a
denial. Three weeks ago, Marulanda emphatically denied responsibility in an
interview with Voz, a communist paper.

The setbacks have been devastating to Pastrana.

Semana, the leading newsmagazine in Colombia, noted in a story this week
that the president ``who will arrive for the meeting with Marulanda'' is
``not the same one from 2 1/2 years ago.'' Pastrana ``put all his chips''
on the peace plan, the article went on, which could mean he will finish his
presidency with little to show for his efforts unless the FARC agrees to
seriously talk peace. A presidential election is scheduled for next year,
and Pastrana, as the incumbent, cannot run.