DIPLOMATS PARLEY WITH COLOMBIAN REBELS

VILLA NUEVA, Colombia, June 29 - Diplomats and officials from Europe,
Canada, Japan and the United Nations traveled to Colombia's rebel-held
jungle stronghold today on an unprecedented mission to encourage the
insurgents to make peace with the government and join international efforts
to halt production of cocaine.

The United States - which is preparing a $1 billion aid package aimed
mostly at helping Colombia fight the rebels and eradicate coca crops, the
raw material for cocaine - did not take part in the mission. Washington has
said it will have no contact with the rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, or FARC, until it surrenders the insurgents whom the
United States blames for killing three U.S. environmental activists in
rebel territory last year.

FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, 70, wore combat fatigues and marshaled an
honor guard to greet his first official foreign visitors as they arrived by
bus over a rutted road from the nearest airport. FARC began direct contacts
with foreign governments by sending a a delegation of rebel officials to
Europe in February.

The FARC, by far the most powerful of Colombia's three leftist guerrilla
groups, appeared intent on using the gathering to isolate the United States
from other foreign governments, and its leadership denounced Washington's
emphasis on aid for the Colombian military. "If we can, we will construct
one wall, two walls, to close off completely U.S. policy toward Colombia,"
said Gabriel Angel, a member of the FARC negotiating team.

One FARC commander, Ivan Rios, told the Associated Press that the rebels
will arm coca farmers - and might buy missiles to shoot down U.S.-supplied
helicopters - if the Colombian government launch an offensive with the new
U.S. aid. The U.S. package - approved by the Senate last week - devotes 80
percent of the $1 billion to buy arms for the Colombian armed forces and
provide them with training and technical assistance. That policy is
"throwing fuel on the fire" of Colombia's 36-year-old war, Rios said.

Strengthening the military is central to "Plan Colombia," President Andres
Pastrana's program to bring peace to the war-weary nation and revive its
battered economy. The diplomats' two-day visit comes as their governments
decide how - and how much to spend - to help the peace process. The
European Union, Canada, Switzerland and Japan are all considering their own
aid programs.

The visiting diplomats denied there was any rift between Washington and
their governments and said the FARC would not divide them. "These are
complementary plans," said the Dutch ambassador to Colombia, Gijsbert Bos,
who has been critical of U.S. policy. "We are allies with the U.S. in the
fight against drug trafficking."

The diplomats pressed the FARC to improve its human rights record and
protect civilians from the violence of the civil war. While human rights
groups blame pro-government paramilitary forces for 70 percent of the tens
of thousands of civilian fatalities in the war, they say the rebels have
been kidnapping as many as 3,000 people per year. Guerrilla leaders say
"retaining" people for ransom is their way of taxing the population. Since
last year, when the Colombian government withdrew its troops from this part
of southern Colombia as part of a peace process, the FARC has formally
administered five municipalities in the region.

The talks here are intended to focus on economic development programs aimed
at promoting alternative crops for Colombian farmers who depend for their
survival on growing coca. The U.S. aid program allocates about 10 percent
of its total to stimulate production of coca substitutes.

After three hours of talks, the foreign delegations attended a forum at
which hundreds of farmers from coca-growing areas complained about a
Colombian government plan - backed by Washington - to spray coca-killing
chemicals on their farmlands. "Plan Colombia is the declaration of war
against peasant farmers," said one man from the state of Cauca. "Since when
do you fight misery using chemicals, weapons and invading troops?"

The FARC has proposed that the government remove its troops from another
municipality adjacent to the rebel-administered zone to let the insurgents
run their own crop-substitution program. The rebel plan calls for financing
from the United States and European governments and envisions construction
of a tourist center in the region.