DRUG FARMERS FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE

ET VISTA HERMOSA, Colombia -- Despite U.S.-backed efforts to stamp out
cocaine production in Colombia, there is one place where the drug trade has
flourished: inside a vast southern region ceded to leftist rebels in 1998
as an incentive for peace talks.

When the rebels moved in, the area's economy quickly turned from cattle
ranching to coca farming. Now, with the return of government troops,
farmers who have become dependent on illegal crops are fearful about the
future. "The only thing that makes money here is coca," said one Vista
Hermosa grower, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that his name
not be used. "It's how people survive here now." In other parts of
Colombia, the United States has spent millions to fight the drug war, by
providing equipment to Colombia's military, training the country's soldiers
and spraying pesticide over illegal crops. Until last week, the area
occupied by the rebels was exempt from the drug eradication effort.

A frustrated President Andres Pastrana called off talks with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia last Thursday, and ordered the
military to recapture their territory. His decision followed the brazen
guerrilla hijacking of a domestic airliner and kidnapping of a senator on
Feb. 20. The rebels have since abandoned the five towns inside the zone and
launched attacks in other areas, targeting civilians and government
infrastructure.

Pastrana, whose term ends in August, set peace as the goal of his
administration. When he handed the FARC the Switzerland-sized territory as
a site for the negotiations he set a precedent. Never before had a country
created a sanctuary for insurgents prior to peace talks. But the nation's
sacrifice came at a price.

"Before the demilitarized zone was created, 20 percent of the crops in
Vista Hermosa were coca," said mayor Leonel Castano. "Now 80 percent is
coca. Vista Hermosa really became a drug trafficking center during the last
three years." "If the coca is eliminated, we are going to see a terrible
quantity of unemployed farmers here," he added.

Colombia, which produces 80 percent of the world's cocaine, is fighting its
38-year leftist insurgency largely in the shadow of the massive U.S.
counter-narcotics aid. Though the money -- nearly $2 billion in the last
two years alone -- is restricted by U.S. law to fighting drugs, the battles
are closely intertwined because the FARC have long financed their
insurgency by taxing and protecting the drug trade.

The FARC have broadened their drug operation recently, trying to sell drugs
on the international market last year, Klaus Nyholm, the U.N.'s top
counter-drug official in Colombia, said Tuesday.

The coca grower, speaking in the town plaza a few feet from police officers
who arrived with the troops Sunday, said the rebels kept a tight hold on
the drug market while they held the zone. So many farmers began producing
coca, the price of the crop fell.

"The first thing that changed here when the demilitarized zone was created
was the market was taken over by the rebels," he said. He has a 10-acre
coca field at his farm outside of town, where he employs 20 people, he
said. But he plans to stay in Vista Hermosa until the situation calms.

"A lot of the coca growers are here in town now," he said. "We don't want
to get caught in a firefight." Gen. Gustavo Socha, head of the anti-drug
police, said officials were planning to resume fumigation flights over the
former rebel territory "soon," but he wouldn't say when.

The prospects of the government again attacking the drug crops in the
region has many here worried.

"Many peasants neglected their cattle to get involved in coca," said Daniel
Valencia, a rancher. "Now people are worried the government is coming. What
will happen to the coca crops?" Castano, the town's mayor, hopes the
government might offer loans to help farmers switch to legal crops. But a
U.S.-financed program to promote alternative crops has had little success,
according to a congressional investigation released Monday.

Pastrana has sought greater U.S. assistance in fighting the rebels. The
Bush administration is reviewing options to increase aid, but no combat
role is envisioned for U.S. forces.

In rebel attacks Tuesday, four police officers and a child were killed, and
19 civilians were kidnapped at a roadblock, though nine women and children
were later freed. Power and telephone service was cut to dozens of towns
after the rebels dynamited electrical towers. There was no word Tuesday on
the fate of presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped
Saturday along with her campaign manager. Five members of congress have
also been abducted. The rebels reportedly have suggested trading the
hostages for captured guerrillas -- an idea the government has ruled out.