NEW PEACE COUNCIL FACES DAUNTING TASK

Colombia Tries to Rein In Rebels Scoring Big Successes With Drug Ties,
Extortion

BOGOTA, Colombia—In a ceremony last week replete with pomp and optimism,
President Ernesto Samper presided over the installation of the newly created
National Peace Council.

Comprising governors, mayors and other representatives of society here, it
is to advise the government on the formidable task of reaching a national
reconciliation among the state, Colombia's leftist guerrillas and right-wing
paramilitary groups.

Samper indicated to the gathering of more than 200 people that he believes a
resolution to Colombia's nearly four decades of civil conflict is
attainable, saying the council would facilitate "the great peace accord."

But the increasingly brutal and defiant actions of this South American
nation's guerrilla forces paint a strikingly grim picture about the ability
of Colombia's government not only to remedy but to control the insurgent
violence that imperils the oldest democracy in Latin America.

"The guerrillas have a military capacity that is growing. The army has a
great vulnerability. It has not been able to respond to the challenges of
the guerrillas," said Alfredo Rangel, a security analyst who once worked for
the Samper administration.

"While the guerrillas strengthen and fortify, the state has become a
spectator in the face of a confrontation between the guerrillas" and
paramilitary groups, Rangel said.

The difficulties of achieving a negotiated peace were further complicated
last week when one of the two rebel groups, the National Liberation Army
(ELN), backed out of preliminary discussions with the government planned for
June.

The largest and most powerful guerrilla organization, the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), refuses to participate.

FARC rebels last month dealt the Colombian military its worst defeat in
recent times. In the jungles of the southern province of Caqueta, they
killed at least 62 soldiers and captured another 43 during a firefight in
which the army patrol ran out of ammunition.

Several weeks later, following a declaration by insurgents that Americans
were "military targets," guerrillas kidnapped four U.S. citizens on a
bird-watching trip, as well one Italian and more than two dozen Colombians.
One of the four Americans found his way to freedom Thursday.

Rebels, who over the years have sabotaged oil production and exploration
sites were suspected last month by authorities of launching a bombing attack
against a British Petroleum PLC facility in Cupiagua in eastern Colombia,
injuring three employees and halting operations at three wells.

Authorities also say ELN guerrillas may be responsible for the recent
disappearance of three British Petroleum contract employees.

Observers contend that during an era when leftist guerrilla movements
elsewhere in Latin America have been virtually disbanded through peace
accords, Marxist rebels here are experiencing a period of power rarely seen
in their nearly 40-year history.

They have been strengthened largely by the fortunes they are reaping from
their ties to drug traffickers dealing in cocaine and heroin, and from money
collected through kidnapping ransoms and extortion.

"They can maintain this war as long as they want with that flow of money,"
said Daniel Garcia-Peña, Colombia's high commissioner for peace.

For instance, fronts made up of FARC rebels are scattered throughout an
eastern region of Colombia and are being paid to protect the area, where 85
percent of all Colombian coca, the precursor to cocaine, is produced.

The rebel forces also have been emboldened by the weakness of the Samper
administration and the frequently cited shortcomings of the Colombian
military, criticized as inadequately trained and ill-equipped to tackle the
mounting insurgent threat while also trying to fight the war against drugs.

U.S. intelligence estimates show that rebels control at least 40 percent of
Colombia's countryside, and that they operate small cells in major cities,
albeit with little consequence so far. Membership in the country's two
largest guerrilla groups totals about 16,000.

The current campaign of guerrilla violence has been attributed in part to
the rebels' determination to influence local and national elections, which
began last October and will culminate with a presidential vote in May and
June. Hundreds of governors, mayors, local council members and candidates
have been kidnapped, and some killed, by insurgents.

There are distinct differences between the two guerrilla groups. The
Cuban-inspired ELN, with 3,000 to 4,000 rebels, has its roots in the student
movements of the 1960s, according to analysts. It is less centralized than
its counterpart, which is more hierarchical.

Although it provides protection services to drug traffickers, the ELN does
not derive as much of its money from the drug trade as does the FARC.
Rather, it gets most of its funding from extortion and kidnapping.

The FARC, with an estimated 12,000 fighters, has a larger peasant base and
generates most of its money by working with drug traffickers. The group has
demanded that the Colombian government undertake greater agrarian reform.

Both groups want the government to invest more funding in social programs,
and both want the role of the armed forces significantly scaled back.

Some observers say the political fervor within the rank and file of both
forces has diminished over the years. "The ideological level is pretty much
zip," said one analyst here. "It is an 'I kill, therefore I am' philosophy."

The guerrilla groups increasingly are recruiting younger fighters, often by
coercion, as well as people whose relatives were victimized by paramilitary
groups.

Last week, Gen. Charles Wilhelm, commander of the U.S. Southern Command
based in Miami, warned that Colombia's armed forces are incapable of
defeating the left-wing rebels and drug traffickers. He said in testimony
before the House Committee on International Relations in Washington that the
growing strength of the insurgency, coupled with the brutal paramilitary
groups, is devastating the nation.

In an interview, Colombian Defense Minister Gilberto Echeverri said that
while the military has problems, they are being addressed through an
extensive modernization program covering equipment and communications.

Echeverri said the changes within the armed forces are taking place "so the
guerrillas know they cannot win the war and must discuss peace."

Echeverri said the Colombian army is having more success against the
guerrillas than it is given credit for, noting that last year nearly 2,000
rebels were captured and 754 killed by the armed forces. So far this year,
454 have been captured and 190 killed.

Special correspondent Laura Brooks contributed to this report.

© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company