Colombia: In a Clearing

Guerrillas sign a truce

The six members of the presidential peace commission did not know where they were headed when their Bell 212 helicopter took off from Bogotá at dawn. The pilot had been given the top-secret coordinates minutes before takeoff, but not even he was sure of the destination. Suddenly the flag of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (F.A.R.C.), the oldest, largest and bloodiest of the country’s numerous antigovernment guerrilla groups, was sighted in the jungle below. This time, however, the flag signified the making of history, not war. In a small clearing in the Alto de la Mesa rain forest, F.A.R.C. guerrillas and the government’s representatives met to sign a momentous eleven-point cease-fire agreement. Last week Colombian President Belisario Betancur Cuartas triumphantly announced on national television his government’s formal acceptance of that pact.

F.A.R.C. consists of 2,050 guerrillas backed by an additional 5,000 people in “civil defense cadres” spread mainly throughout the countryside. Armed with modern weapons, pro-Communist F.A.R.C. has proved a match for the 65,000-man Colombian army, which it has been fighting for the past 28 years. The government hopes the new cease-fire arrangement will encourage other militant factions to enter into similar agreements. Betancur, a co-founder of the Contadora group that has been trying to bring peace to Central America, also believes that the pact with F.A.R.C. demonstrates that negotiations are a workable alternative to a military solution for problems in Central and South America.

The agreement calls for a yearlong truce beginning May 28. During that time, the government will consider granting pardons to F.A.R.C. members who are wanted by the authorities for political crimes, bank robberies, kidnapings or violent acts committed “in combat.” The document opens the door for land and political reforms, promises business loans to the guerrillas and guarantees educational and other benefits to facilitate their return to “normal public life.”

Nevertheless, integrating hardened former guerrillas into Colombian society could prove difficult. Some government authorities have already expressed concern privately over F.A.R.C.’s reputed involvement in Colombia’s $5 billion-a-year cocaine business. For their part, Colombian dope czars are indignant about charges of being connected to the guerrillas. “You can accuse me of being a narcotics dealer,” huffed Billionaire Pablo Escobar, “but to say I’m in league with the guerrillas, well, that really hurts my personal dignity.”

Whether other armed movements will follow F.A.R.C.’s example and negotiate similar agreements with the government remains to be seen. These include the 200-man, Castro-backed Army of National Liberation (E.L.N.), and the 275-member Maoist Popular Liberation Army (E.P.L.). Together with F.A.R.C., these groups are blamed for Colombia’s leading the world in kidnapings during each of the past two years (183 in 1982 and 215 last year). Another problem is how to control right-wing death squadrons like the Death to Kidnapers (M.A.S.) group. Last year these squads were held responsible for the killing and disappearance of at least 600 Colombians. In such an atmosphere, even a temporary truce is a maj or success. —By Hunter R. Clark.

Reported by Tom Quinn/Bogota