Pubdate: Sat, 13 May 2000 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company Contact: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Larry Rohter Note: additional articles on Latin America may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/latin.htm POLITICAL TURMOIL ADDS TO COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT'S WOES Since taking office in August 1998, President Andres Pastrana of Colombia has had his hands full trying to fend off both guerrillas and drug traffickers. Now a deepening political crisis is threatening to weaken his authority even further. The crisis is in large part a result of a plan that Mr. Pastrana announced on March 30 for a referendum to enhance his power by dissolving the existing Congress and electing one that would be more streamlined and, presumably, more compliant. But the move backfired when legislators urged that Mr. Pastrana's own job also be submitted to a vote, and the president withdrew his plan on Monday. In addition, three of Mr. Pastrana's closest advisers have resigned in recent weeks. Interior Minister Nestor Martinez is the latest casualty, stepping down on Monday just as Congress was about to begin an investigation -- apparently in reprisal for the referendum proposal -- into accusations that he had been making payoffs to lawmakers to support government legislation. The turmoil in Bogota occurs as the United States Congress is considering $1.7 billion in emergency aid to Colombia to help Mr. Pastrana combat an increase in drug production that Washington attributes to guerrilla groups. The bill has passed the House but is stalled in the Senate, and President Clinton warned last week that Colombia might be "undermined and overwhelmed," unless action was promptly taken. Mr. Pastrana's approval rating has dived, to 29 percent from 40 a month ago. With the midway point of his four-year term approaching, he increasingly has to fight the perception that he is no longer running the country or able to control events. In an editorial on Tuesday, El Espectador, the daily in Bogota, compared Colombia to a "ship that is tossing around in stormy seas without a compass or a crew." The paper, owned by the country's leading business group, also said, "It is hard to remember a time of greater turmoil or a time when there was worse leadership in charge of the state." Almost simultaneously, peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the main Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group, have taken a turn for the worse. Last month, the group, known by the Spanish acronym FARC, said it intended to impose a "peace tax" on all people and companies with assets of $1 million or more. People who did not pay would be kidnapped, the rebels said. That announcement was followed by the resignation of Mr. Pastrana's chief peace negotiator, Victor G. Ricardo, and a wave of speculation that the FARC was writing off the possibility of an accord and building up a war chest to counter American aid. "Things are heating up in such a way that it could quickly lead to a break-off of negotiations," Manuel Marulanda, the group's founder, said on Sunday in a rare interview with reporters. Despite the outcry, Mr. Marulanda has refused to budge from the "tax" demand, presenting it as preferable to his group's current extortion and abduction. "This law is going to avoid kidnapping," he said. "Instead of searching for them, we can reach an agreement" with targets. To succeed Mr. Martinez, his chief political operative, Mr. Pastrana has turned to a onetime rival, former Vice President Humberto de la Calle. A member of the opposition Liberal Party, Mr. de la Calle was the running mate of Ernesto Samper, who defeated Mr. Pastrana in his first run for the presidency, in 1994, but was ostracized by the United States after it was learned that drug traffickers had bankrolled his campaign. Mr. de la Calle, who resigned halfway through the scandal-ridden Samper administration, said this week that his most urgent task would be to try "to rapidly lower the temperature and return to an atmosphere of democratic discussion." Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernandez also called for a respite from squabbling, saying: "The language we should use at this moment is of calm, not confrontation. It seems that the country cannot withstand more confrontation." Mr. Pastrana has also lost his chief of staff, Juan Hernandez. He stepped down this month after having been accused of "improper personal enrichment," the same type of corruption that Mr. Pastrana pledged to eradicate as a candidate two years ago. The uncertainties have worsened the economic crisis, which had recently shown signs of easing. The peso fell to record lows against the dollar this week, and there is wide speculation, which the government called unfounded, that Finance Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo will be the next minister toppled. "The combination of guerrilla threats with the development of a political crisis of unpredictable consequences that damages the management and the correction of serious fiscal problems has reverberated very negatively in debt evaluations and the perceptions of Colombia abroad," said Armando Montenegro, president of the National Association of Financial Institutions. The confrontation also increases fears that Mr. Pastrana will not win approval of tax and pension reforms that are requisites for a $2.7 billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund. In a speech to a business group on Monday, Mr. Pastrana asked lawmakers to show "a patriotic sense of duty" but said he would act without them if he had to. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder