Colombian Group Admits Abduction Role

Excluded from talks between the Colombian government and Marxist guerrillas, a right-wing paramilitary chief admitted Wednesday that he had ordered the kidnapping of a peace envoy’s brother in order to gain a voice in the negotiations.

Carlos Castano, head of the feared Self-Defense Forces, confirmed in a radio interview that he was behind Monday’s abduction of Guillermo Valencia Cossio, brother of government peace negotiator Fabio Valencia Cossio.

“We seek to stop the continuing and progressive hand-over of this country to guerrillas,” Castano said.

President Andres Pastrana recently announced that he will withdraw troops from an area in northern Colombia to provide a “no-fire” zone for negotiations with this country’s second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN. A larger area was cleared in November 1998 for talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country’s largest insurgent movement.

The ELN zone is in a region where rebels have battled Castano’s private army. Human rights groups have blamed Castano’s forces for most of the massacres in an increasingly brutal confrontation among Marxist insurgents, right-wing fighters and government troops. Residents of the area have staged demonstrations and blocked highways to protest the planned military pullout.

Castano threatened to keep his hostage until he is convinced that the government is looking after the interests of “honest Colombians” during the peace negotiations.

Peace Commissioner Camilo Gomez hastily called a news conference to respond to the remarks with a six-point statement condemning the abduction of Guillermo Valencia Cossio. “The attitude assumed by the Self-Defense Forces is far from placing itself on the side of honest Colombians,” he said.

“This outlaw organization has contradicted itself by taking the freedom of an innocent citizen, a method repudiated by both Colombians and the international community, and which [Castano’s group] so strongly criticizes the guerrillas for [using],” he added.

Government representatives insisted that Castano’s ploy to force his ideas into the talks will not work.

“The minute that we negotiators were to accept this, we would become paramilitary hostages ourselves,” said Luis Guillermo Giraldo, a participant in the talks.

Castano, who commands an estimated 7,000 fighters, repeatedly has expressed his willingness to negotiate peace with the government and repeatedly has been rebuffed. “I want to believe that there is a sensible government and that the Self-Defense Forces are a reality that they cannot ignore,” he said in March during a television interview.

One of his regional commanders, Julian Baena, said during a recent interview, “To talk about peace, all the actors must be involved.”

“We’re not opposed to a peace dialogue,” he said, “but [while] the government has been humanitarian, day by day the guerrillas have gotten stronger militarily and economically.”

The kidnapping with its threat of prolonged detention marks the first time that Castano has taken such an aggressive stance toward the peace process. In the radio interview, he said he chose a member of Fabio Valencia Cossio’s family because the envoy had recently said the rebels cannot be classified as drug traffickers.

Both the rebels and Castano have admitted to taking money from drug traffickers. Castano has acknowledged that he is backed by merchants and cattle ranchers, including landowners who bought their property with proceeds from the narcotics trade.

Castano’s forces previously have kidnapped and quickly released government officials, from prosecutors to a senator, in order to present Castano’s point of view. However, the tactic of holding a hostage to pressure the government could backfire on him.

In October, ordinary Colombians forcefully protested against civil war and abductions. In a nationwide demonstration that drew several million people, the protesters marched through the streets and shouted “No more!” to kidnappings.

Nearly 3,000 Colombians reportedly are abducted every year, about half of them by rebels, according to government statistics. Most kidnappings are for ransom, but a considerable number are classified as political.

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pecial correspondent Morris reported from Bogota and Times staff writer Darling from San Salvador.