COLOMBIA REBELS: NO CLINTON ATTACKS

SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia (AP) -- Leftist rebels who oppose growing
U.S. ties to Colombia' s military promised Monday not to stage attacks to
disrupt President Clinton' s upcoming visit to the South American country.

" We will not impede (the Aug. 30 visit) with guerrilla actions, " Andres
Paris, a commander and spokesman of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia told The Associated Press in an interview in this southern
ranching town.

But the insurgents known as FARC are " calling on the Colombian people --
the labor unions, student groups, organizations of the unemployed and
others -- to protest Clinton' s visit, " Paris added.

Paris said a $1.3 billion U.S. anti-narcotics aid package for Colombia
recently approved in Washington is " just a smokescreen to promote
imperialist interests, " and that the U.S. government aims to exert control
over the Andean region' s oil and mineral wealth.

Clinton' s planned one-day visit is intended as a show of support for
President Andres Pastrana and his so-called " Plan Colombia" -- a strategy
to revive Colombia' s economy and stem the country' s booming cocaine and
heroin trade to the United States and Europe.

Security is expected to be extremely tight for Clinton' s brief visit and
meeting with Pastrana in Cartagena, a Caribbean port. The president is only
scheduled to stay a few hours and will not spend the night in Colombia, one
of the world' s most violent countries.

Paris said FARC rejects Clinton' s visit " cause he is coming as the head
of an empire to shore up Plan Colombia, which is only going to intensify
the armed confrontation."

The U.S. aid package will provide battle helicopters and Green Beret
training to support a military push into southern jungles where FARC rebels
and the militias take payoffs to protect peasant drug plots and
traffickers' airstrips and laboratories.

Increased bloodshed is widely expected in the conflict that already claims
thousands of lives a year. The rebels, whom the State Department considers
a terrorist organization, have claimed repeatedly that they are the real
target of the U.S. aid plan.

But U.S. officials insist that Washington is not becoming involved in
Colombia' s 36-year civil conflict. They concede, however, that
U.S.-trained troops and equipment will be used against any guerrilla units
who try to block stepped up efforts to eradicate drug crops and destroy labs.