Colombia Sides Agree to Reach Truce by April

This country and leftist rebels agreed late Sunday on a blueprint for future peace talks, preventing a return to full-scale war and breathing life into long-stalled negotiations.

With only a few hours to go before a midnight deadline, the two sides announced an ambitious schedule to reach a truce by April that would put a stop to all hostilities in the country’s nearly 4-decade-old internal conflict.

But the last-minute scramble for a peace breakthrough came amid signs that the two sides were readying for a wider war that threatened to draw the United States deeper into a messy conflict that already claims 3,500 lives a year.

“The parties recognize that a politically negotiated solution is the way to resolve the armed conflict in Colombia,” said Camilo Gomez, the government’s chief negotiator. “We are going to spend all of our efforts to continue working in an atmosphere of mutual trust with the hopes of reaching accords that will allow us to advance the process.”

Negotiators from the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, appeared remarkably relaxed after one of the most nerve-racking weeks in the history of the three-year peace process.

Last Monday, President Andres Pastrana was hours away from ordering troops to retake from the rebels a Switzerland-size demilitarized zone created for the peace process.

But on Sunday, international diplomats and white-robed religious leaders were smiling and shaking hands with camouflage-clad FARC rebels in celebration of the new agreement.

In a national TV address late Sunday, Pastrana said he would continue the zone’s existence through April 10 and held out hope for peace.

“Now, to get back on track to a politically negotiated solution, we only have to work without pause to demonstrate with concrete acts that peace is possible,” Pastrana said.

The two sides agreed to discuss several issues that have bogged down the talks, including an end to hostilities and kidnappings, government action against the country’s right-wing paramilitary groups, and economic and social justice for Colombia’s millions of poor and unemployed.

Significantly, they also agreed to allow international observers from the United Nations, the Roman Catholic Church and a group of 10 countries to continue to participate in the peace process, something long resisted by both sides.

The cessation of hostilities is a top priority for the government. FARC leaders want a simple stop to fighting with the army. But the government insists that the FARC also end the kidnappings and extortion that provide a substantial portion of the group’s estimated $300-to-$500-million annual income.

For its part, the FARC is most interested in major structural reforms in line with its Marxist agenda, including redistribution of land to poor farmers and increased social benefits.

Despite the good feelings, doubts remained about the two sides’ commitment to the process, which to date has resulted in few achievements and much disappointment.

The Colombian government spent much of last week renewing calls for direct military support from the United States, which until now has limited aid to counter-narcotics efforts. The U.S. granted $1.3 billion in aid to Colombia two years ago, most of it in the form of training and military equipment in the war on drugs.

In response to last week’s urging, U.S. officials said they were reviewing their policy in Colombia but had made no decisions. Last summer, embassy officials in Bogota said they were considering a plan to train new Colombian military units to protect elements of the infrastructure, such as oil pipelines and energy towers, that have been the objects of frequent rebel attacks.

“Ideas are floated all the time. But . . . there’s still a long way between here and there,” a State Department official said.

Critics of U.S. policy in the region have predicted some form of direct American military aid to Colombia, raising worries about whether the U.S. would become more involved in the conflict.

“For the first time, they’ll cross the line from counter-narcotics to counterinsurgency,” said Adam Isacson, a Colombia expert for the Center for International Policy, a Washington think tank.

FARC rebels mounted scattered attacks throughout the nation last week. The rebel army controls an estimated 40% of the countryside, mostly rural areas where a government presence is nonexistent.

Colombian military officials blamed the rebels for more than 40 deaths last week, including those of police officers, soldiers and civilians. In one case, rebels forced down a Huey helicopter being used by police as part of an anti-narcotics mission.

*

Times staff writer Paul Richter in Washington contributed to this report.