DRUG TRADE NOT THE CAUSE OF ALL OF COLOMBIA'S PROBLEMS

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombians are fond of telling visitors of the
geographical splendor of their country, its rich mineral resources and the
undeniable beauty of its women.

This glossy introduction is immediately followed by a catalog of woes. If
it wasn't for guerrillas, paramilitaries and drugs, what a great country
this would be, runs the oft-heard refrain.

It is indeed a great paradox that a country endowed with so much should be
so steeped in its own blood.

The simple explanation is the curse of the drug trade. It is true that the
enormous consumer market for cocaine and heroin in the United States, and
increasingly Europe, bears part of the blame. Without those consumers there
would be no drug production in Colombia and no vast sums of capital to
finance the brutal war waged by guerrillas and paramilitaries.

But it hardly answers all Colombia's problems.

Its attributes are surprising. Colombians on the street are among the most
affable and helpful people one is likely to find anywhere on the continent.

Colombia is seven times the size of Florida. Its ports access both the
Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. It is a leading world producer of oil and
precious stones, emeralds in particular.

It also boasts one of the best-educated, most well-dressed and cultured
societies in Latin America. Spaniards are quick to recognize how
well-spoken their mother tongue is here.

Newspapers dedicate long articles to cultural and social issues, as
Colombians try desperately to live normal lives -- even enjoy themselves.
When politics and violence are not dominating the news, football, music and
fashion take center stage.

So why do they spend so much energy killing each other?

The answer lies partly in the fact that there are two Colombias -- one for
upper- and middle-class professionals in the cities, and another for
farmers and peasants living in the countryside where state services are
minimal or non-existent.

For the elite, Colombia is a society where the sons of the rich don't go to
war, and the wealthy can escape violence by moving to Miami. A flourishing
old-boy network ensures that many of the good jobs and most lucrative
government contracts are passed around between friends.

Political corruption and bureaucracy gobble up any money that might be
available for economic development of the poor countryside.

The answer also is that Colombia is a society so weary of war after 35
years that it has become almost blase about violence. One mayor in a
southern town who recently survived an assassination attempt that wounded
two of his bodyguards casually remarked that he doubted he was the target.
The gunmen were standing so close, he couldn't understand how they missed,
if they really meant to get him.

Most Colombians themselves don't appear to know the answer to their problems.

One newspaper editorial last week gave its analysis of a recent peace
meeting between the government and guerrillas under the headline, "Perplexed."

It was indeed an unusual meeting. Colombian President Andres Pastrana
greeted veteran guerrilla leader Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda with a warm
embrace. Both sides were all smiles. When the meeting carried over to a
second day, a Colombian newspaper published a cartoon of Pastrana meekly
asking Marulanda if it was okay for him to sleep over.

Instead of ending the conflict, they agreed to work toward "reducing" its
intensity. By Colombian standards, that was seen as quite an achievement.
Also revealing was the guerrilla's announcement Sunday that as a first step
they were looking at possibly ending the recruitment of minors.

That's the kind of war this is. In Colombia, peasant children frequently
end up in guerrilla ranks. Only recently, the Colombian armed forces
stopped using children as soldiers.

The guerrillas also said they might end their notorious use of gas
cylinders as rocket-propelled bombs against Colombian villages. The highly
inaccurate but deadly customized cylinders are responsible for many of the
innocent lives lost. This, too, was deemed a major breakthrough.

Peace, and the answer to Colombia's paradoxical society, still remain a
long way off.