BEAM OF HOPE FOR COLOMBIA

Almost a year ago, in the steamy jungles of southern Colombia, then
President-elect Andres Pastrana surprised his countrymen by posing for a
photo with Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, commander of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, the hemisphere's oldest and largest guerrilla
force. Pastrana's brave and bold move was meant to demonstrate his
intention to end the 35-year-old civil war that has taken more than 35,000
Colombian lives.

Today, representatives of the government and the insurgents will begin
negotiations to achieve a peace that could pave the way toward resolving
the country's many problems.

The U.S. government should support these negotiations with diplomacy and
other resources. Achieving peace will not be easy. The drug traffickers,
the paramilitaries and others have profited from the absence of the rule of
law in Colombia. They will resist any diminution of their power. The
Clinton administration has been a staunch supporter of Pastrana's peace
initiative, and it's in Washington's interest to help where it can without
pushing.

A negotiated peace in Colombia offers America a long term answer to a big
part of the drug menace. But this view is not universally shared in
Washington. A small but powerful group of conservative Republicans,
including Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (N.Y.), Rep. Dan Burton (Ind.) and Sen.
Jesse Helms (N.C.), believes it knows what's best for Colombia. Helms and
company have placed their bets on a continued militarized antidrug policy
despite its evident failure.

Even after Colombian police crushed the Medellin and Cali drug cartels, the
trade continues, now pursued by smaller groups that are harder to crack
than the cartels. Colombia does not need more guns from America. Instead
Colombia's leadership must reach out to the deprived in the jungles and the
highlands and offer them an opportunity to build communities based on a
fair standard of living.

Pastrana deserves this chance.