MILLIONS MARCH FOR PEACE AS TALKS BEGIN IN COLOMBIA

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Millions of Colombians marched Sunday in hundreds of
cities and villages, chanting, "No more, we want peace!" to demand an end
to their country's prolonged conflict and to abuses of civilians.

An estimated 2 million people turned out in the capital, nearly 1 million
each in Cali and Medellin, and thousands more in 800 villages across the
country, along with hundreds of Colombians in 30 foreign cities. Even as
they marched, one of the demonstrators' key petitions was being met as
peace talks resumed between the government and Marxist rebels, who have
been fighting for 35 years.

Sunday's turnout was remarkable both because of a nationwide drizzle and
because Colombia, unlike other Latin American countries, lacks a tradition
of public demonstrations. Marchers were protesting a multi-sided civil war
that has left more than 100,000 people dead in a country of 40 million and,
in this decade alone, has displaced an estimated 1.5 million others.

Civilian Killings

So far this year, rebels and the right-wing armed groups that oppose them
have killed some 1,100 civilians, and rebels currently are holding 221
civilians for ransom, according to police and armed forces records. Protest
organizers estimated that, each month, 25,000 civilians are driven from
their homes.

Until Sunday, talks between the government and Colombia's oldest and
largest rebel group -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by
the initials FARC -- had been stalled for three months over the issue of
international observers.

As the talks resumed, government officials attending the discussions
acknowledged that the marchers' other demands -- an immediate cease-fire
and an end to kidnappings -- are two of the thorniest issues that
negotiators confront.

Kidnapping, along with drug trafficking, is a major source of financing for
the rebels, who control about 40 percent of the national territory. Any
success in U.S.-backed efforts to thwart narcotics production in areas
under rebel control would leave the rebels more dependent on funds from
kidnapping, analysts warn.

Colombia is the world's No. 1 source of cocaine and is a growing supplier
of heroin.

Negotiators have dismissed calls for an immediate cease-fire from the armed
forces and the right-wing fighters, who call themselves self-defense
forces, as extremist positions that would destroy any possibility of
continuing talks.

In a reminder that finding a negotiated solution to the country's complex
civil war will be difficult, four peasants reportedly were slain and 20
houses burned Saturday on the road to the jungle town of Uribe, where
negotiators met. Self-defense forces are suspected in the killings, which
occurred in a zone the Colombian military evacuated almost a year ago to
clear the way for peace talks.

Shortly after the peace march, authorities reported that three bombs had
exploded in the old cocaine cartel headquarters of Medellin, where alleged
leaders of a suspected new drug ring were arrested earlier this month
pending extradition to the United States. No one immediately claimed
responsibility for the explosions, which caused extensive damage but no
casualties.

History Of Conflict

Early in this decade, terrorism from drug traffickers opposed to
extradition made Colombians feel increasingly vulnerable to attack in the
cities. When bombings and kidnappings by drug traffickers subsided, the
civil war became more intense, especially in the countryside.

The self-defense forces then became major actors in the conflict,
displacing such people as 2,500 farmers from the northwestern province of
Choco who have been living in refugee camps for 31 months.

"While they talk about peace, the number of displaced people is becoming
critical," said Marco Velasquez, 36, who fled his farm in the Cacarica
region of Choco when self-defense forces threatened to kill anyone who did
not leave.

While still afraid for their lives, refugees from Choco joined Sunday's
marches.

Uribe, the site of the peace talks, was one of the few places where the
demonstrations took on an air of protest, with the relatives of soldiers
and police being held by the FARC marching with their mouths taped to
symbolize their feelings of exclusion from the peace talks.

In Bogota, where most marchers wore white, as organizers requested, the
atmosphere was more festive. Streets along the three march routes were
decorated with banners and balloons, and many demonstrators brought their
dogs along. Nearly all the participants waved flags reading "No mas" ("No
more"), which local businesses distributed for free.

Marta Diaz, 37 and pregnant with her first child, said she was marching
because "I think about where my baby is going to live and what his future
will be." Noting that the child is due "any minute," she added, "Let him be
born protesting."

Renewed Prospects

The marchers' optimistic mood reflected the renewed prospects for peace in
Colombia after months of tension and disappointment.

Even before talks with the FARC broke down, the government had refused to
meet with representatives of the second-largest rebel force, the National
Liberation Army, or ELN, until it released civilians kidnapped during a
Mass in Cali and from a domestic airline flight. However, talks with the
ELN resumed in Cuba a week ago.

"I am convinced that we are living a historic moment and that we cannot
fail to take advantage of it," government peace commissioner Victor G.
Ricardo told a small group of foreign reporters last week.

After Sunday's protocol opening, negotiations with the FARC will begin in
earnest Monday, Ricardo said. The first item on the agenda, he said, will
be to reaffirm the commitment of both sides to finding a political solution
to the conflict.