Colombia Challenges Rebels With a New Weapon

"I think they're right to go down that road, to provide more resources for it and show that the government can have a positive influence in people's lives," said Tim Rieser, Latin America policy aide to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations. "We've always looked for opportunities to support that kind of thing, and if we saw that it was taken on seriously, we'd be more inclined to provide funding."

Congressional Democrats, who have had reservations about the emphasis on a military solution to Colombia's problems, say U.S. aid redirected from military to social programs could help Colombia's efforts, though the assistance will probably never top $700 million a year. Colombian officials said they will likely bear the brunt of the funding.

"It's something that has to be done," said Vice President Francisco Santos. "It's very, very important, and that's why we're putting so much attention to it, but you have to be realistic and, in the end, it's going to be us."

Colombia's alternative, grim and violent, is readily apparent barely 120 miles to the southwest, in Nariño state. The FARC regularly battles government troops there. Thousands of poor farmers have fled their homes. And paramilitary gunmen who participated in a government-run disarmament program are rearming, forming new groups that challenge rebels and drug traffickers for control of the cocaine trade. The U.S.-funded fumigation of coca is a constant, pounding farms in much of the state and leaving the shiny green leaves shriveling.

Outside the town of Naranjo, in southwestern, Nariño state, residents complain about the lack of potable water, intermittent electricity and a dearth of health services. They say they have also been rocked by the reemergence of paramilitary groups, just as violent as before but more focused on controlling the drug trade.

"Here, they don't give us anything," said Amparo Ruales, 40. "No housing subsidies, no education, no health care, nothing. Look at the road there, we did that ourselves, out of our own pocket."

In San Vicente del Caguan and the surrounding cattle fields, there are also plenty of signs of guerrilla influence.

Town officials say that many of the shopkeepers in the region have to pay extortion to the rebels.. Authorities here fear being marked for assassination; four town officials have been slain since 2004, the most recent one earlier this year.

Rafael Rodriguez was forced from his farm by Marxist guerrillas. He now lives in San Vicente and is charged with ensuring that the Antonio Narino School is not broken into. (Juan Forero)

Rafael Rodríguez, who was displaced from his farm by rebels in 2004, said that the FARC forms a parallel government. The rebels, he said, seize livestock and forcibly recruit children.

"Every six months, they do a census, asking how many cows do you have, how many chickens, how many pigs, how many children, what ages and what shape are they in," he said.

Still, San Vicente appears to have undergone an important shift from the early part of the decade. The wails of babies can be heard in a new wing at the local hospital for mothers and their children. A youth orchestra has new instruments, and the government has set up nutritional programs for poor families. The curvy roads connecting San Vicente to the outside world are being paved.

And all across the community, residents say they are optimistic in ways they had never been before.

Carmen Yustres, the owner of one of San Vicente's biggest general stores, says store was expanded because they felt more confident about security and the economy. (Juan Forero)

Carmen Yustres said she and her husband felt confident enough to open a general store, with shelves climbing 20 feet along the back wall, requiring nimble young men to climb up and fetch cereal boxes, toilet paper or toothpaste.

On a recent day, the store was packed, with customers buying fruit and chicken feed, fertilizer and tools.

"Things are very good, tranquil," Yustres said with a proud smile. "Maybe people from the rest of the country will get enthused and come here to invest."