U.S. AID STILL FAR AWAY FOR COLOMBIANS WEARY OF DRUG WARS, REBEL
KIDNAPPINGS

Second American Among Those Freed By Guerrillas After Fight With
Soldiers

WASHINGTON - When Congress recently approved a $1.3 billion package of
economic and military aid for Colombia, hopes rose that Bogota would
finally make headway against the murderous guerrillas and drug lords
who have held the Andean nation in thrall for decades.

The bulk of the U.S. aid, however, won't be delivered until next year.
Meanwhile, the weary and impatient Colombians may have to continue to
tolerate rebel attacks and stalled peace talks.

The latest outrage came Sunday, when about 50 members of the National
Liberation Army, or ELN, abducted dozens of civilians from two
restaurants and a farm near the provincial city of Cali, in the heart
of an area known for rebel cocaine trafficking. Among the about 80
people kidnapped were two U.S. citizens, both longtime residents of
Colombia.

More than half the hostages, including the Americans, have been freed.
The most recent release came Wednesday amid an exchange of gunfire
between the kidnappers and pursuing soldiers. Two soldiers and seven
rebels were killed, after which the kidnappers released 12 prisoners
and fled higher into the mountains, the government said.

Among those freed Wednesday was Norma Sardi, a 70-year-old U.S. citizen
who moved to Colombia as a child, according to her family. Sardi's
Colombian son, Rodrigo, 42, was among the 30 or so people still held by
the guerrillas yesterday.

"It's good that they could rescue her, but my brother is still there,"
said Dr. Armando Sardi, a Baltimore-area oncologist. After speaking to
his mother by phone yesterday, he described her ordeal as "a horrendous
experience."

A second U.S. hostage with Maryland connections, Elena Gould de Lima,
58, was released Monday. De Lima grew up in Baltimore and moved to
Colombia more than three decades ago after marrying a Colombian
physician.

Sunday's kidnapping, the largest mass abduction in Colombia this year,
was the latest of several blows against President Andres Pastrana's
efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Marxist rebels and end
decades of conflict.

Bogota has been holding sporadic talks with the country's biggest
insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC,
and had planned to begin formal talks with the ELN.

Both rebel groups demand a role in government and justice for
Colombia's poor. But neither group has demonstrated good faith, and
after Sunday's kidnappings, Colombians' patience with the peace process
showed signs of wearing thin.

Recent opinion polls disapprove of Pastrana's handing of peace talks
with the FARC and faulted his handling of negotiations with the 5,000-
member ELN.

"The Colombians are really concerned about this," said a State
Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This may
really be a major setback to the peace talks. The Colombians really did
not expect the ELN to engage in this, and they did. It's not good."

On Tuesday, Luis Carlos Villegas, head of the National Industrialists
Association, a big-business group, called on Pastrana to halt the peace
process if ELN will not release all hostages.

Kidnappings have become a common way for Colombian rebel groups to try
to finance their insurgency. Sunday's abductions were similar to last
year's ELN kidnapping of more than 150 people from a Cali church.

Last week, FARC kidnapped two Russian engineers who were working on a
dam project, then released them Wednesday. Two Italians kidnapped by
FARC last Friday were still being held yesterday.

ELN has mounted attacks on oil pipelines and refineries, depriving
Colombia of much-needed revenue at a time when petroleum prices are at
10-year highs.

The $1.3 billion U.S. aid package, which includes 60 armed helicopters,
is intended to force FARC and ELN to the negotiating table by cutting
off another source of their revenue: proceeds from cocaine and heroin
sales. The helicopters are supposed to give more punch to Colombian
drug-eradication operations.