Colombia's top peace negotiator quits

April 26, 2000
Web posted at: 11:15 p.m. EDT (0615 GMT)

In this story: Numerous death threats The highest kidnap rate in the world Rebels' image tarnished RELATED STORIES, SITES

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- The senior Colombian official leading efforts to negotiate an end to the country's three-decade guerrilla war unexpectedly resigned on Wednesday.

Peace commissioner Victor Ricardo's surprise move was announced by President Andres Pastrana just hours after the rebels threatened a new wave of kidnappings targeting the wealthy, though it was not known if the two events were linked.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest guerrilla group and known as FARC, issued a statement earlier in the day saying they would impose a so-called "peace tax" on individuals and businesses with assets of more than $1 million.

Those who refused to pay would be kidnapped, said the FARC statement.

Ending the guerrilla war has been a priority for Pastrana since his election in 1998. Support for his government has fallen, however, as peace talks have shown little sign of progress.

Talks were launched more than a year ago, though Ricardo had held negotiations with the rebels prior to Pastrana's election victory.

This week, Ricardo helped reach a deal to start negotiations with the country's second-largest guerrilla group, the national Liberation Army, known as the ELN.

But in his public letter of resignation to Pastrana, Ricardo wrote, "I've taken the decision to resign after a serene analysis ... peace is as near or as far away as the goodwill of the actors in the conflict allow.

"I leave my successes as a legacy of peace and ask pardon for my mistakes," he added.

Ricardo, who is considered a close ally of the president, has received numerous death threats from Colombia's extreme right-wing paramilitary groups. But he denied that such threats had played a part in his decision to quit.

Pastrana noted such threats while commending Ricardo's efforts for peace.

"You showed unrivaled audacity and imagination needed to get the process on track with prudence and patience," the president wrote.

But Pastrana expressed outrage at the new kidnapping threat issued by FARC.

"The FARC pays a thin service to peace by intimidating Colombians with threats of kidnapping," Pastrana said. "Nobody understands how they (the FARC) can agree to discuss a cease-fire but at the same time continue kidnapping."

Pastrana and Ricardo have been criticized for making concessions to FARC in their attempt to obtain a cease-fire agreement.

More than 18 months ago, Pastrana withdrew Colombian security forces from a Switzerland-sized area in the southeast of the country, thereby creating a safe haven for FARC forces.

But critics say that all that was achieved was to create a lawless fiefdom where the guerrillas could fund their operations by kidnappings and the "taxes" it levies on drug traffickers.

Colombia has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the world. Last year, 2,945 people were abducted, according to government figures. About half of those kidnappings were conducted by left-wing guerrillas.

The Colombian army estimates FARC earns about $10 million a month from extortion and took in about $84 million from ransom kidnappings last year alone. The guerrillas claim those numbers are hugely inflated.

FARC's announcement to target the rich comes in the same month as the organization declared it would consider its first cease-fire in 13 years.

The announcement also seems to contradict the tone of recent meetings between veteran FARC commander Manuel Marulanda and local and overseas business leaders aimed at building support for the peace process.

A leading cattle rancher who has attended meetings in the FARC-controlled areas said that business leaders would now have to consider whether to attend future meetings.

"From now on anyone who heads down there might be forced to stay," said Jorge Visbal, head of the conservative Colombian Cattle Ranchers Federation.

"Instead of contributing to the climate for peace and giving it greater credibility, this does the opposite," Visbal said.

"The logic behind it defies me and I think anyone else with common sense," said one senior Western diplomat who raised the possibility that it might be just a negotiating ploy by the rebels.

Ernesto Borda, a former peace envoy and political analyst at Bogota's Javeriana University, said the rebels could be trying to re-establish their image as "Robin Hoods" -- stealing from the rich in order to serve the poor.

The guerrillas' image has been severely tarnished as they have become more involved in the drug trade and by the widespread kidnappings of Colombians of all means, Borda added.

Earlier this week, the Catholic Church said the rebels had begun extorting parishes around the country and threatening priests who refuse to pay.

Presidential adviser Camilo Gomez, who is also a member of the government negotiating team at the peace talks, will replace Ricardo.

Gomez recently suggested that the government should pay the rebels for the duration of talks so the armed groups could suspend their illegal fund-raising activities.

In a previous high-profile resignation, Defense Minister Rodrigo Lloreda stepped down last May in protest at the president's decision to indefinitely extend the demilitarization of the FARCE safe haven.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Colombian Embassy in Washington

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