Colombian President Rejects Rebel Offer
Pastrana to Order Army Into Guerrilla Zone
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, January 13, 2002; Page A17
LOS POZOS, Colombia, Jan. 13 (Sunday) -- President Andres Pastrana today refused a last-minute rebel offer to return to Colombia's troubled peace talks and preserve a government-sanctioned safe haven around this city. In stern words, the president said he would order the Colombian military into the region Monday evening, effectively ending his three-year experiment to bring the country peace after nearly four decades of civil war.
After two days of tense negotiations mediated by the United Nations, Pastrana said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC as the country's largest Marxist-insurgency is known, did not offer enough to convince him that they would return to peace talks in good faith after a months-long impasse. Pastrana created the 16,000 square-mile demilitarized zone for peace talks three years ago, but since then it has become a controversial element in a peace process that has deeply divided Colombians.
Just an hour before Pastrana's dramatic midnight speech, rebel negotiators proposed two new commissions to handle their complaints independently from the talks. One of their demands would have required Pastrana to label the guerrillas as "valid political interlocutors in the peace process," even though the U.S. State Department considers the FARC a foreign terrorist organization. Many of the FARC proposals reiterated previous promises, including an unfulfilled pledge to end mass kidnappings.
"These are unacceptable to the national government," said Pastrana, appearing behind a podium in an open-collar shirt. "These are proposals that have already been agreed to."
The events of the past two days have held this nation, whose conflict claims 3,500 lives a year, riveted to a political drama with profound consequences on its direction toward peace or more war. After months of stalled talks and mounting criticism over the rebels' use of the demilitarized zone, Pastrana signaled Wednesday that he had finally run out of patience with a process that has done nothing to reduce violence.
Amid pressure from the international community, Pastrana offered a U.N. special envoy for peace, James LeMoyne, a last chance to bring the FARC back to the peace table. The guerrillas have refused to talk to the government since October, when Pastrana imposed new military checkpoints outside the zone and surveillance over flights above it, and prohibited foreigners from entering the area without special permission.
But a weary LeMoyne could not coax the FARC into making a gesture acceptable to Pastrana, who for some time has been criticized for being to generous to the guerrillas. "I think the FARC went as far as they could go," LeMoyne said outside the thatched pavilion that served as the site of peace talks about an hour's drive from here.
In recent days, the Colombian military has deployed along the Switzerland-size safe haven's borders and national evening newscasts have featured pictures of gleeful troops, faces painted and rifles in hand, heading toward the front. That footage has been scored with music worthy of a George Lucas movie, feeding support for an end to a region that has come to resemble a foreign country.
What the FARC reaction will be to the army's arrival is unclear, but many analysts here predict a surge in violence as the guerrillas increase the tempo of their military operations.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of guerrillas and the group's top commanders are based in the zone, and many will now likely fan out into the rest of the country. Diplomats here predict that the guerrillas will withdraw from the urban areas, retreating to jungle-shrouded mountains where they have long held sway.
But since Pastrana's announcement Wednesday that he was considering sending in troops to retake the five municipal areas that make up the safe haven, the 100,000 residents of the area have considered leaving.
For months, the irregular forces of Colombia's paramilitary army have been gathering at the edge of the zone, particularly along its southern border. In the coming weeks, they will likely follow through with previously announced plans to enter the area and purge it of guerrilla sympathizers. The paramilitary force frequently uses the Colombian military as an escort into areas held by the guerrillas, an enemy they share.
Even if they don't flee, residents in the safe haven say their current address has tagged them guerrilla sympathizers in a war where each side disguises fighters and operatives in civilian clothes.
"There are many of us who want to leave but are unable," said Jose Tafari, a 20-year-old taxi driver who has seen several colleagues killed this year, most likely by paramilitary forces infiltrating the zone. "The problem is that everyone outside this place says 'You are a guerrilla.' Everyone is afraid of us."
But the hundreds, if not thousands, of residents who plan to flee in the coming days face uncertain prospects outside of the zone. A 22-year-old feed store employee named Carlos, who declined to give his last name, said he has tried to find work outside the safe haven twice. But each time he has been challenged by would-be employers because of the name of the town written on his national identity card.
In several cities outside the zone, he said company managers concerned about his possible guerrilla affiliation repeatedly rejected his job applications, even though he has a degree in veterinary medicine.
"Why did you leave the zone and why do you want to live here?" Carlos recalled being asked during job interviews at restaurants and factories. "In Colombia, there are millions of unemployed so it's much easier and safer to hire someone else."
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