Harris Whitbeck: Negotiation site pocket of peace in country at war

Harris Whitbeck

CNN Mexico City Bureau Chief Harris Whitbeck is in San Vicente, Colombia, covering negotiations between Colombian President Andres Pastrana and rebel leader Manuel Marulanda.

Q: What is the scene as the talks take place?

WHITBECK: The most remarkable thing about the venue of these talks is that they are taking place within the safe haven zone that was declared by the government of Colombia two years ago. "Safe haven" means that while civilian authority continues in the hands of the Colombian government, the rebels have pretty much free rein here.

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You see columns of armed rebels walking down the street, hanging out in the town storefronts and such, and pretty much enjoying complete freedom to do whatever they want to do. So it is uncanny, in a way, that here we are in the middle of Latin America's longest running and perhaps bloodiest civil war, and we're hanging out with rebels who are being hunted by the army, and there's nothing happening.

So it's an odd pocket of peace within this morass of war which a great part of the country is living with.

Q: You mentioned storefronts. Would anything look familiar?

WHITBECK: I'm sitting right next to a little rebel-run souvenir store. It's funny -- you walk in and see a female teen-age rebel dressed in fatigues and armed to the teeth, and she says, "Come on in to the store. How can I help you?" They sell T-shirts, they sell CDs, and they sell posters, all which put forth the revolutionary message of change for Columbia. There was one T-shirt that said "No to Gringo intervention!"

As for the CDs, music has always been a very important part of guerrilla doctrine in Latin America. They see it as a way of reaching their people. So you have very traditional Colombian songs using traditional instruments. But the words of these songs talk about American intervention and government corruption, and the need for a revolution.

Q: Are the rebels nervous that their commander is negotiating with the man whose army is ringing their safe haven?

WHITBECK: They have a lot of hope in these meetings. Their hope is that the safe-haven zone not be ended. This meeting was being billed as one of the last-ditch efforts for that idea to be put forth.

If no agreement is reached, the president very well might let the safe-haven status expire. In that case, the army and paramilitary units will be free to come in here.

He's under a lot of pressure to do that. There's a lot of pressure from the army, which says the declaration of the safe-haven zone never resulted in any concrete concessions from the rebels. They're saying it's useless. They are just champing at the bit to come in here.

I talked to officers of the army yesterday before we came into the zone, and they spoke of a military base that is here in the zone. They said that that is their home and they want to come back in here.

Q: Does the Colombian military totally accept the civilian authority?

WHITBECK: The mid-level officers I spoke to off-camera did express frustration at government policies, particularly policies referring to the safe haven. They said that even if some sort of agreement is reached at this meeting, it would still take years for the conflict to end because of the sense of hatred. There is so much violence. It would be very hard for all of this to be washed away overnight.

Colombian rebels reject Pastrana's bid to restart peace talks
January 22, 2001

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