U.S. STRATEGY IN COLOMBIA CONNECTS DRUGS AND TERROR

IMA, Peru, Nov. 13 - The United States war on drugs in Colombia is rapidly
being subsumed in the war on terror, according to Bush administration
officials.

The indictments of three leaders of the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia, or FARC, announced today in Washington by Attorney General
John Ashcroft, are just the latest in a series of American indictments
against Colombians. Carlos Castano, the head of the right-wing Self-Defense
Forces, was indicted on drug-trafficking charges in September, and four
other men linked to the paramilitary group were indicted on drug-related
charges in Houston this month.

The indictment unsealed today accuses three FARC military leaders,
including Jorge Briceno Suarez, widely considered the second most powerful
man in the rebel organization, of kidnapping and drug trafficking. Eight
other, lower-ranking FARC members were charged with the same offenses.

Officials said that the indictments are part of a developing strategy of
using the tactics of the drug war to help the new Colombian government of
President Alvaro Uribe to combat both the right-wing paramilitaries and
Marxist guerrillas who have been waging a 38-year civil conflict, fueled
primarily with drug money.

"This is a two-pronged approach," said an aide to Mr. Ashcroft. "We're
going after the drug traffickers and the terrorist groups at the same time."

The indictments are seen by the administration as the best, and perhaps
only, way for Washington to put direct pressure on FARC and the
Self-Defense Forces, known as the A.U.C. Both groups are included on the
administration's list of terrorist organizations.

"Castano's sins are many and multiple and they're not just drug
trafficking; they're also rape, pillage and plunder," said a high-ranking
Bush administration official involved in shaping Colombia policy. "In terms
of crimes against the United States and U.S. law, drug trafficking is the
most salient and the one we could get an indictment on."

The indictments also acknowledged implicitly that Colombia's justice
system, long criticized as weak and ineffectual, could not be trusted to
bring Mr. Castano and his associates to trial.

"Since it is extremely unlikely that he would be prosecuted in Colombia,
this indictment is a very positive step," said José Miguel Vivanco, the
director of the Americas Division for Human Rights Watch, which vigorously
supported the drug indictments against the paramilitaries. "We should never
forget they got Al Capone on tax evasion charges."

The new American tactics seem to be producing results even though Mr.
Castano and the FARC leaders remain at large, with little immediate
prospect of their being arrested. Because it was singled out first by the
Bush administration, the effects are most evident among the Self-Defense
Forces, a confederation with at least 12,000 fighters that carries out mass
killings and assassinations to erode support for the rebels.

The indictments have deepened divisions within the group, paramilitary
commanders in the Colombian city of Medellín and the surrounding
countryside said in recent interviews, as commanders weigh how involved in
the drug trade their factions should remain. They say that Mr. Castano, who
has denied direct links to drug trafficking, is trying to rein in those
commanders who are heavily involved in it.

Paramilitary commanders have long argued over the advisability of getting
involved in the drug trade, for practical and political reasons.
Politically, some felt it sent the wrong message for groups that were
supposedly defending the law against left-wing insurgents to be breaking
the law themselves. Practically speaking, many feared exactly what has
happened - that the involvement in drugs would make them vulnerable to
prosecution.

The indictments have caused "a very bad uneasiness" among top paramilitary
leaders, said Piolin, a commander in Medellín who works for Adolfo Paz, who
leads a powerful faction within the A.U.C. considered to have among the
closest ties to drug trafficking. They worry that Washington, with its
aggressive campaign against terrorism, could take drastic action to capture
or kill Mr. Castano and other paramilitary commanders, Mr. Piolin said.

"We are talking about the United States," he added. "We are not talking
about just any country."

Infighting between commanders over the drug issue has become such a serious
problem that two factions are openly fighting, the paramilitary leaders
say, and alliances between others are in tatters.

In an interview in his mountain camp far outside Medellín, a top commander
once closely allied to Mr. Castano said that he and the 1,500 men he leads
in the so-called Metro Bloc had split from the A.U.C. because they oppose
the close ties other factions have with drug trafficking. His group is
openly fighting forces controlled by Mr. Paz.

"In the Self-Defense Forces the great majority are involved directly with
narco-trafficking," said the commander, who uses the alias Rodrigo.

American officials are reluctant to claim credit for the new antiterror
strategy - or even to admit that there is such a strategy. But they are
clearly pleased with the unrest it has created.

"If indeed the indictment had the impact of further splintering the A.U.C.,
and further calling into question the leadership of those who from our
point of view are tied to drug trafficking, so much the better," the Bush
administration official said.

After the removal of Congressional restrictions on American aid to antidrug
programs, the Bush administration is also training specialized commando
units and helping establish a reliable system of intelligence gathering
that the units would use in pursuing insurgent commanders.

American troops will soon train a special 400-man commando unit that would
track paramilitaries and rebels, with a special emphasis on hunting down
leaders. The American Congress is also considering legislation to provide
$5 million for the training of an elite Colombian Army unit dedicated
solely to pursuing paramilitary chiefs.

"Castano has been a wanted man for years and they have yet to go after
him," said Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who is chairman of the
foreign operations subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. "So we
said, `We'll give you the money so you can have the capacity to capture
them.' "

Those close to Mr. Castano said the indictment had blindsided him, because
the paramilitaries have always viewed themselves as allies of the Colombian
Army in their war against the rebels.

In recent missives on his Website and in e-mail messages to associates, Mr.
Castano's tone has been one of increasing concern. He has called the
indictment "totally erroneous," and charged that the rebels have
manipulated the United States government. Mr. Castano, in e-mail messages
to a confidant, has also said he is "anguished and desperate," and
expressed fears that the United States could bomb his camp.

Some who have spoken with Mr. Castano said there is also concern that he
could be killed, since drug traffickers and commanders with close ties to
the cocaine trade may see him as a liability now that he has been branded a
drug trafficker.

"There are people putting money up for Castano to be turned in, because he
is the pebble in the shoe," said someone who recently talked to Mr. Castano
and other paramilitary leaders.