SOUTH AMERICA : In Cocaine Cartel’s Violent Wake Come the Guerrillas of Colombia

The government has succeeded in pacifying the notorious Medellin cocaine cartel, but recent attacks by a different public enemy have shattered fragile hopes for an end to terrorism in Colombia.

Leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are replacing Medellin traffickers as the country’s most lethal armed group as they continue an offensive that has killed 41 police officers and soldiers so far this month.

The army says that at least 34 guerrillas also have been killed in that period, but FARC leaders say the rebel death toll is much lower.

The guerrillas have bombed oil and gas pipelines 10 times since beginning their offensive on New Year’s Eve. Large sections of the country are isolated after rebels destroyed several electrical and communications towers.

“We have to recognize that this heightened violence is not merely unusual, but far greater than in any other recent period,” Jesus Antonio Bejarano, the government’s representative in peace talks with other leftist groups, said in an interview.

The FARC’s estimated 5,000 combatants make it the largest of Colombia’s two active rebel groups. The other group, the National Liberation Army, has long opposed any negotiations with the government.

Coordinated attacks by both forces in recent days have caused despair among Colombians who were enjoying a respite from drug terrorism. After the government began a reconciliation process with the Medellin cartel last year, bombings and assassinations by traffickers ended.

Government officials are much less optimistic that they can arrive at an agreement with the rebel groups.

“We cannot talk about any dialogue with these guerrillas in the immediate future,” said Interior Minister Humberto de la Calle Lombana, shortly after the rebels began their offensive.

But many Colombians say they believe the need for negotiations with the FARC is more urgent than ever to prevent another descent into chaos.

Alvaro Leyva, a Conservative Party senator who has led several efforts to start government negotiations with the FARC, said the guerrilla offensive has demonstrated that the rebels are a force that must be reckoned with.

“They have proven their ability to carry out attacks all over Colombia,” Leyva said.

Leyva, who has been in contact with FARC leaders, said the group began its campaign to prove its military viability. The army claimed to have severely hurt the FARC in a well-publicized December seizure of the group’s headquarters in southern Colombia.

But even army commanders admitted that they failed to capture even one FARC leader during the attack on the headquarters, known as Casa Verde, or Green House.

“What the army accomplished . . . was to force the rebels to go back on the offensive,” Leyva said.

Leyva, one of 70 delegates designated to rewrite Colombia’s constitution, ran for his seat in November as part of a multi-party coalition led by the April 19 movement, or M-19. The party was formed by the first leftist guerrilla group to lay down its arms under a government peace plan.

The administration of President Cesar Gaviria is completing peace agreements with three other rebel groups, who will be represented in the Assembly. Leyva said the FARC would also like to take part. But the government has ruled out the group’s participation until it lays down its arms.

Bogota’s Semana newsmagazine reflected the views of many when it lamented the continuing guerrilla violence. “The country seems to be condemned to war on two fronts,” Semana said. “When the guerrilla problem is under control, drug traffickers’ terrorism rises up. When the traffickers’ violence diminishes, the conflicts with the guerrillas resurge.”