Bogota Fears Rebel Warfare

Leftist rebels from Colombia’s largest guerrilla army prepared Sunday to evacuate a demilitarized zone created for peace talks, bringing this nation a step closer to a full-scale war.

The rebels announced that they would leave the zone as planned before a 9:30 p.m. deadline today. More than 5,000 Colombian troops had surrounded the Switzerland-size zone to seize control of the region, which the government ceded to the guerrillas three years ago to jump-start the peace process.

With the process apparently over, the nation was transfixed by the growing prospect that it was about to plunge into a terrible new chapter of its 38-year-old internal conflict, which already claims more than 3,500 lives a year.

Neither President Andres Pastrana nor rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia budged from their positions. The guerrillas, known by their Spanish initials as the FARC, blamed the talks’ failure on Pastrana.

“The ultimatum of 48 hours . . . handed down by the president changes everything we have agreed upon during the past three years and thus closes all possibilities for the current process,” said Simon Trinidad, a former banker turned FARC negotiator.

In a chilling note, Trinidad warned about the violence to come.

“To the country and the world, we repeat our willingness to continue using all forms of struggle for the changes that Colombia needs to achieve reconciliation and reconstruction,” he said. “The search for a political solution is the patrimony of Colombia and the best road for the future.”

FARC rebels already kidnap people to raise ransom money, attack rural towns and military bases, and protect cocaine fields targeted by U.S. drug planes. Many Colombians fear that with the end of the peace process, the rebel army might begin striking major cities and bombing the country’s vulnerable infrastructure.

Analysts said Sunday that there seemed to be no reason for hope. “The possibilities have run out,” said Alfredo Rangel, a defense expert.

Still, negotiators raced desperately against tonight’s deadline, hoping for a final concession that would resuscitate the moribund peace process. Diplomats from 10 countries met with Pastrana on Sunday in the capital, Bogota, in search of a solution.

U.N. special envoy James LeMoyne, meanwhile, met with guerrilla leaders in this peace village even though a previous 48-hour mandate given to him by Pastrana to talk with the guerrillas had expired.

LeMoyne described the situation as “very grave” but said he had not given up hope. On Sunday afternoon, he disappeared into the jungle with one rebel negotiator, leading to speculation that he might be meeting with the guerrillas’ supreme commander, Manuel Marulanda.

The rebels also reportedly had contacted Cuban President Fidel Castro in an attempt to involve him at the eleventh hour.

“I don’t want to suggest that there is a magic solution. It’s possible that we won’t get what we’re hoping for, which is peace for this country,” LeMoyne said. Then, his voice catching, he asked all those who wanted peace to “pray a little,” before turning away to go back to the negotiating table.

Nestor Leon Ramirez, mayor of San Vicente del Caguan, the largest town in the rebel zone, said he had spoken with Pastrana twice and with the government’s top negotiator, Camilo Gomez, once. Gomez, he said, was on the way to the zone from Bogota.

Pastrana “asked me to tell the people to stay calm,” Leon said. “He is still analyzing some details” of the final FARC proposal.

The crisis began after Pastrana, declaring that the FARC had exploited the haven to abduct people and raise illicit funds, imposed security restrictions that included aircraft surveillance and more military patrols.

The FARC has insisted since October that those restrictions be lifted, and Pastrana has adamantly refused. In their last proposal, the guerrillas seemed to take a step toward reconciliation, not mentioning the restrictions in a 14-point draft accord.

But Pastrana, speaking to a nationwide audience just before midnight Saturday, announced that the government would not accept the draft, which he said lacked concrete new proposals.

On Sunday, residents of the zone watched with growing dread. Most feared the entry of the military and violent paramilitaries, who routinely massacre civilians they believe are linked to guerrillas.

In Los Pozos, people spoke of their fear of the future. But few had the resources to flee the village, and many said they were simply too tied down with children, homes and work to leave.

“It’s very scary,” Diego Alfonso Camallo, 16, said as he sat with two friends on a park bench in the main square. “If the army enters, they’re going to say we’re the ones that helped the guerrillas. They’re not going to care who is who.”

Others sounded more positive. Maria Olos brought her daughter on a moped to buy a Popsicle from a giant plastic penguin that a vendor had set up on the main square.

“It’s a frightening time, but I have faith,” said Olos, 40, the mother of four. “All of our lives are here. All of our work. All of our family. I can only hope the peace process continues.”