DATE=8/11/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41119
TITLE= COLOMBIA / PEACE
BYLINE= MICHAEL BOWMAN
DATELINE= BOGOTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: COLOMBIA'S GOVERNMENT HAS AN ALLY IN ITS EFFORTS TO FORGE
A PEACE PACT WITH LEFTIST GUERRILLAS: A NATIONAL PEACE
COMMISSION COMPRISED OF PROMINENT MEMBERS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
INCLUDING INTELLECTUALS, THE CLERGY AND BUSINESS LEADERS. SABAS
PRETEL IS PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA'S FEDERATION OF BUSINESSMEN AND
A MEMBER OF THE PEACE COMMISSION. MR. PRETEL TELLS VOA, AFTER
DECADES OF CONFLICT, HE BELIEVES THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR
NEGOTIATING AN END TO HOSTILITIES. MICHAEL BOWMAN REPORTS FROM
BOGOTA.
TEXT: SABAS PRETEL HAS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON HIS COUNTRY'S
CIVIL WAR. HE IS ONE OF A SELECT GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO HAS SAT
DOWN FACE-TO-FACE WITH REBEL COMMANDERS. IN GERMANY LAST MONTH
COLOMBIA'S NATIONAL PEACE COMMISSION MET WITH LEADERS OF THE
COUNTRY'S SECOND-LARGEST GUERRILLA ORGANIZATION, THE NATIONAL
LIBERATION ARMY (E-L-N). THE ENCOUNTER GENERATED AN ACCORD IN
WHICH THE REBELS PROMISED TO RESPECT SOME BASIC HUMANITARIAN
GUIDELINES -- SUCH AS REFRAINING FROM KIDNAPPING ELDERLY PEOPLE
OR PREGNANT WOMEN.
MR. PRETEL SAYS NEGOTIATION IS THE ONLY WAY TO END THE BLOODSHED.
HE SAYS COLOMBIA'S MILITARY AND THE GUERRILLAS ARE AT A
STALEMATE.
////PRETEL ACT. IN SPANISH--ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER
TEXT////
MR. PRETEL SAYS IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT FOR THE ARMY TO
DEFEAT THE REBELS, AND IT WOULD BE EQUALLY DIFFICULT FOR THE
GUERRILLAS TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT. THE PEACE COMMISSION
MEMBER SAYS COLOMBIA IS A SIZEABLE COUNTRY, NOTING THAT MANY OF
ITS LARGER DEPARTMENTS ARE COMPARABLE IN AREA TO THE ENTIRE
FORMER NATION OF SOUTH VIETNAM (WHERE U-S FORCES FOUGHT IN THE
LATE 1960'S AND EARLY 1970'S). AS A RESULT, HE SAYS, THE ARMY'S
GOAL OF PROTECTING ALL OF COLOMBIA-- AND THE GUERRILLAS' IMPLICIT
GOAL OF CONQUERING IT--ARE PRACTICAL IMPOSSIBILITIES.
BOTH THE E-L-N AND COLOMBIA'S NUMBER-ONE REBEL GROUP, THE
REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA (FARC), HAVE INDICATED A
WILLINGNESS TO LAUNCH FORMAL TALKS. AS A RESULT, MR. PRETEL SAYS
THE NEXT STEP IN COLOMBIA'S PEACE PROCESS WILL BE TO ESTABLISH A
NATIONAL CONVENTION REPRESENTING ALL SECTORS OF SOCIETY. HE SAYS
PARTICIPANTS WILL DEBATE COLOMBIA'S SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS, AND DRAFT PROPOSALS TO SOLVE THEM. THE
PROPOSALS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE COUNTRY'S NEW PRESIDENT,
ANDRES PASTRANA, WHO MR. PRETEL SAYS , WILL HAVE TO TAKE DECISIVE
ACTION TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THE PEACE INITIATIVE.
A DEBATE EXISTS IN COLOMBIA AS TO WHETHER THE GUERRILLAS TRULY
DESIRE PEACE-- OR ENGAGE IN NEGOTIATIONS MERELY TO BOOST THEIR
POLITICAL STANDING. MR. PRETEL SAYS HE, FOR ONE, IS GIVING THE
REBELS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.
////PRETEL ACT. IN SPANISH--ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER
TEXT////
MR. PRETEL SAYS HE BELIEVES, IN THE CASE OF THE E-L-N, THE
GUERRILLAS HAVE DEMONSTRATED A CLEAR WILLINGNESS TO PURSUE AN
ACCORD TO END HOSTILITIES.
MEMBERS OF PRESIDENT PASTRANA'S GOVERMENT INDICATE THEY TOO ARE
WILLING TO TAKE THE REBELS AT THEIR WORD. INTERIOR MINISTER
NESTOR MARTINEZ NEIRA ACKNOWLEDGES BOTH MAJOR REBEL GROUPS HAVE
REFUSED TO CEASE HOSTILITIES UNTIL A PEACE ACCORD IS FINALIZED.
INDEED, GUERRILLA ATTACKS LAST WEEK ALONE LEFT MORE THAN 200
PEOPLE DEAD. NEVERTHELESS, THE INTERIOR MINISTER TELLS VOA
NEGOTIATIONS ARE POSSIBLE--EVEN WHILE SECURITY FORCES BATTLE
GUERRILLA UNITS.
////MARTINEZ NEIRA ACT. IN SPANISH--ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER
TEXT////
MR. MARTINEZ NEIRA SAYS THE GOVERNMENT WILL PURSUE TALKS IN THE
MIDST OF CONFLICT. THE INTERIOR MINISTER SAYS THE GOVERNMENT
BELIEVES THAT THE ONLY WAY TO RESOLVE THE CIVIL WAR IS FOR BOTH
SIDES TO EMBRACE DIALOGUE, AND HE SAYS HE IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE
CHANCES FOR SUCCESS. (SIGNED)
NEB/MCB/PLM
11-Aug-98 3:36 AM EDT (0736 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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