Colombian Rebels Launch Party

In a quest for legitimacy that could mark a new phase in peace efforts, Colombia's most powerful rebel army massed more than 4,000 troops here Saturday for the launch of a new political party.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, also transported hundreds of civilians by bus and boat from its zones of influence to a field outside San Vicente Del Caguan, a ranching town in the rebel-controlled southern demilitarized zone.

The newly inaugurated Bolivarian Movement for a New Colombia will, however, remain clandestine for now to prevent its leaders from being slaughtered, said FARC commanders.

"Colombia is gravely ill because its Liberal and Conservative political leaders have used their posts to favor the rich ... waging a dirty war to stay in power," the movement's four-page manifesto said of the two parties that have traditionally monopolized power in the nation.

Although the 36-year-old movement suffers from low popularity except in some rural areas, Saturday's event was an invitation by the FARC to Colombia's impoverished masses to join it in seeking power.

From a wooden stage built for the occasion, FARC leaders railed in speeches to the gathered troops and civilians against the political corruption most Colombians consider their country's main problem, decried the lack of tolerance for an organized left and demanded an equitable redistribution of wealth.

"If a new political, social and economic environment can be created in Colombia that makes the use of arms unnecessary, surely the outlook would be different," proclaimed Alfonso Cano, the new party's chairman. "But reality has been very stubborn."

Colombia's last leftist congressman was assassinated in 1994, capping the systematic slaughter by right-wing death squads of more than 3,000 activists of the Patriotic Union, a political party formed a decade earlier by demobilized rebels.

Despite overcast skies following days of rain, the guerrillas tried to make the day festive.

They festooned the meadow with helium-filled balloons with the blue, red and yellow of the Colombian flag and hung banners heralding the new movement with pictures of its namesake, 19th-century Latin American independence leader Simon Bolivar.

Many analysts think the FARC is seeking to portray itself as a "Robin Hood" force, acting on behalf of the masses, though opinion polls consistently show its support in the low single digits.

Last week, the insurgency sparked national outrage by announcing that the FARC's seven-member ruling council was demanding "peace taxes" from any individuals or companies worth more than $1 million.

The announcement comes as the FARC weighs a government cease-fire proposal and is inviting the international community—including the United States—to guerrilla territory on May 29-30 to discuss weaning peasants off drug crops.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress is considering $1.7 billion anti-narcotics package for Colombia, the bulk of which would go to the military and thus, the FARC says, be used against rebels.

On Saturday, Colombian military intelligence released what it said was an intercepted radio transmission in which the insurgency's No. 2 commander, Jorge Briceno, allegedly says he wants the FARC to double its ranks to 32,000 fighters and step up attacks on the nation's energy infrastructure.

Many residents of this region, which President Andres Pastrana cleared of troops 17 months ago to initiate peace talks with the FARC that have moved slowly, say they feel like pawns in the struggle.

Few believe the rebels, their ranks swelling with illiterate teen-agers, represent a force that can improve their lives—and end a nearly four-decade-old struggle that has claimed at least 35,000 lives.

"I don't understand why we've got two governments giving orders. And I don't know whether they're fighting for the country or for money," said Armando Lozada, a 40-year-old peasant who traveled for 16 hours by bus and on foot for Saturday's event.

"We hope for a peaceful solution so we can finally be allowed to work," Lozada said.

By VIVIAN SEQUERA