FIGHTING A WAR WITH DRUG MONEY

SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia -- It is one of the world's few
remaining bands of Marxist guerrillas.

But unlike Fidel Castro's rag-tag army of Cuban peasants in the 1950s
or leftist insurgents of Central America in the 1980s, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is flush with cash -- lots of
it.

The FARC, as it is known by its Spanish acronym, has tapped a 1990s
source of revenue: drug money.

The guerrillas buy their guns and equipment with tribute paid by poor
farmers raising coca and poppy, as well as by drug traffickers who
process and smuggle the cocaine and heroin.

The rebels also make millions by kidnapping people for ransom, but
ties to Colombia's notorious drug industry are what have propelled the
FARC from a backwater group to a powerful military force with a
sophisticated propaganda machine.

Its top negotiators now hobnob with visiting diplomats and recently
toured several European countries with a delegation aiming to bring
peace to Colombia.

Its opponents, however, bristle at the notion that the FARC is
anything more than a group of ruthless, ideologically driven killers.

"They don't answer to anybody on this earth or in the next life," said
Gen. Mario Montoya, chief of a new Colombian anti-narcotics task
force. "They make huge amounts of money from the drug trade. Coca
grows like a weed here, and they are the middlemen."

Although the bulk of its forces still hides in the mountains and the
jungles, the FARC now has its own territory where the rebels walk the
streets free from attack by government forces.

Seeking to jump-start peace talks, Colombian President Andres Pastrana
pulled his troops out of a Switzerland-size area in southern Colombia
in January 1999, in effect creating a FARC safe haven. The peace talks
have made little progress, with the two sides barely able to agree on a
rough list of topics to discuss.

But FARC has consolidated its hold on its turf, turning San Vicente --
a town of about 15,000 -- into a rebel showcase.

Few tourists venture to the town, which can be reached by regular
commercial airline service. Guerrilla checkpoints dot all roads
leading into the enclave, with FARC soldiers ordering riders out of
cars for searches and questioning.

But the guerrillas have welcomed journalists, even opening an
information office just off the town square.

"We have confidence that we can construct a new government for
Colombia," said Fidel Rondon, a member of the FARC commission holding
peace talks with government negotiators in a rural village called Los
Pozos, about 40 minutes from San Vicente. "We want a better future for
all Colombians. This nation has been ruled by a violent political
class. The people of Colombia no longer believe in this
government."

San Vicente -- a busy farm center on the banks of the Caguan River --
is the largest of five small towns in the FARC-held territory. The
town government still functions as it did before the FARC came.

The local courts collapsed when the judges fled, and they've been
replaced by a FARC system of justice that includes a complaint center
where citizens bring gripes about everything from disputes with
neighbors to domestic squabbles. There are numerous reports that a
separate FARC tribunal deals sternly with those accused of spying for
the government, sometimes imposing death sentences.

Townspeople shrug when asked about their strange status. But they
admit there is now peace in San Vicente, which had suffered attacks
from all sides in the long-running civil war.

"Before the guerrillas came, nobody wanted them to come," longtime
resident Jorge Solis said. "But now we have had peace, so everybody is
happier. The economy is good, people have work, and there aren't
bodies in the streets like before. Most people don't favor one group
over the other. They just want peace and to be able to work."

Critics, however, say the rebels rule by terror, forcing young
peasants into their ranks or seducing them with the promise of a gun,
comradeship and a monthly salary of about $200, more than double the
average wage.

International diplomats and Colombia's press also have blasted the
FARC -- as well as other rebel bands and right-wing paramilitary
groups -- for kidnapping. There is growing outrage that about 200
children were among the estimated 3,000 kidnapping victims nationwide
last year.

FARC leaders deny kidnapping children, although they admit taking
adults for ransom to raise money. They also deny involvement in the
growing or shipping of cocaine and heroin, although they admit
"taxing" those who do.

"We condemn narcotrafficking," said Andres Paris, one of FARC's top
negotiators. "It's not of the guerrillas. It's an economic and social
reality in Colombia. We charge taxes on the biggest business in our
area. It's a political tax to finance the war."

Despite the demise of many Marxist regimes around the world, FARC
leaders seem committed and confident.

"You can't compare us to Russia," Rondon said. "We have taken the
ideas of Marx but applied them to Colombia. As the crisis between the
rich and poor in Colombia has grown, we've grown."

You may contact Mike Williams at mikew@coxnews.com.

On the Web: Marxist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, who are known by their Spanish acronym FARC, even have their
own Web site: http://www.contrast.org/mirrors/farc/