COLOMBIA: REBEL TALKS

Delegations representing 21 nations, including European and United Nations
diplomats, began two days of meetings with the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia, the country's main
left-wing guerrilla group, in a demilitarized area controlled by the
rebels. The topic of the conference is drug trafficking: the
guerrillas are heavily involved in the cocaine trade but say they
would favor alternative crop-substitution programs. The United States
did not take part because of a ban on official contacts with the group.