COCAINE FARMERS WILL LIKELY HAVE TO MOVE OR GROW NEW CROP

Rebel Protectors Moving Out

VISTA HERMOSA, Colombia -- Despite U.S.-backed efforts to stamp out cocaine
production in Colombia, the drug trade flourished inside a vast southern
region that was 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 on Feb. 20, and ordered the military
to recapture their territory. His decision followed the brazen guerrilla
hijacking of a domestic airliner and kidnapping of a senator.

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.