COLOMBIAN REBELS OPPOSE AID PACKAGE

Leftist rebels in Colombia lobbied Friday against a controversial aid
package moving through the U.S. Congress, inviting American legislators to
visit them in the jungle.

The rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, called for
lawmakers to tour coca plantations and see how rural poverty underlies the
South American country's booming cocaine trade. The statement said it would
be more effective to legalize drugs.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $1.7 billion emergency aid
package Thursday aimed at helping Colombia regain control of the country's
south, where the FARC taxes drug traffickers and peasants who grow coca
plants. The Senate must still consider the plan.