COLOMBIA SEEKS CASTRO'S SUPPORT

HAVANA (AP) Fidel Castro could play a key mediation role in Colombia's
peace talks with leftist rebels, Colombia's president said Friday during an
official visit in which he sought the Cuban leader's support.

Colombian President Andres Pastrana said Castro reiterated his desire to
help end the longest running conflict in the Americas. "He wants to actively
participate," Pastrana said.

"The involvement of Mr. Castro is a guarantee of the peace process,"
Pastrana told a news conference. "He still has a lot of influence with the
insurgent groups in our country."

Castro would most likely be one of several regional leaders helping mediate
talks, Pastrana said.

Acting as a mediator would be a new role for Castro, whose communist
government in the 1960s actively supported Marxist-inspired revolutions
throughout Latin America.

The United States has also expressed interest in mediating Colombian peace
talks. That could ultimately force Cuba and the United States two
countries without diplomatic relations into an unusual partnership to help
bring about peace in a third nation.

Pastrana said U.S. officials recently met in Costa Rica with representatives
of the Colombian government and Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the
15,000- member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

"That first step between the FARC and the American government was very
important," he said.

Pastrana opened negotiations with FARC on Jan. 7. Preliminary peace talks
are planned for Feb. 13, between the government, civilian leaders and the
5,000- member National Liberation Army.

While Pastrana is focused on his country's peace process, one of Castro's
primary interests in Colombia has been blocking attempts by Colombian drug
traffickers from using his country as a transshipment point.

Several hours after Pastrana arrived here Thursday, the two presidents
signed agreements on drug interdiction and the extradition of accused
Colombian drug traffickers jailed in Cuba.

In a speech earlier this month, Castro lashed out at narcotics trafficking
as a threat to the Cuban revolution. In December, Colombia seized more than
7 tons of cocaine in a maritime warehouse that police say was to have been
loaded onto a Cuba-bound cargo ship.

This weekend, Venezuelan President-elect Hugo Chavez was to arrive in Cuba
and join Pastrana and Castro for informal meetings. Their agenda was not
disclosed, but Chavez has expressed interest in helping resolve the
Colombian conflict.