In a Conflict that Crosses Borders, Ecuadorans Track an Elusive Foe

Effectively alone, enclosed in endless shades of green and often unable to see the sky, the men were connected to the outside world only by a bulky military radio. And all around them, they believed, maybe even watching them, were the guerrillas. "The jungle is beautiful," one soldier remarked. "But everything bites."

Shortly after 1 p.m. on the second day, they had made a breakthrough. A nearby patrol heard the sound of an electric generator through the trees. As that patrol crept closer, soldiers recounted later, gunfire rang out. The patrol fired back, but the guerrillas vanished. Between the trees, two miles inside Ecuador, an elaborate FARC hideout came into view.

A series of split-log paths led from a kitchen area to rough sleeping quarters and a dug-out mud room where the guerrillas had made uniforms, backpacks and belts on sewing machines powered by a gas generator. The soldiers found sacks of food and tools to grind grain and coffee. They found the diary of a female commander named Marlene, three hand grenades and piles of bullets. A satellite dish and cables indicated that the guerrillas could go online.

"Here they have Internet," said Lt. Richard Revelo, looking incredulously around him at the jungle. "Here."

At the Political Level

Online transmissions have intensified the international crisis over the guerrillas. Computers collected at the scene of Colombian forces' March 1 bombing included e-mails allegedly from Reyes and other guerrillas discussing apparent plans by the Venezuelan government to supply arms to the FARC, as well as meetings with and potential support from Ecuadoran officials. Ecuador and Venezuela have denied they support the FARC, but Colombian government officials say such links persist.

"Unlike the case of Venezuela, in Ecuador it's individuals in the government who support the FARC, it's not the policy of the armed forces," one senior Colombian government official said. At lower levels of the military, the fight against the FARC is pursued very seriously, the official said: "It's when you get to the political level it's very difficult."

One e-mail provided by Colombian officials, dated Jan. 18 and signed "Raúl," describes a meeting with Ecuador's security minister, Gustavo Larrea, and indicates that Larrea had expressed support for working and sharing information with guerrillas.

In an interview in Quito, the capital, Larrea acknowledged meeting Raúl Reyes but said he had merely outlined Ecuador's position toward the rebels: "That we do not want them to enter our national territory, that that is a Colombian conflict. Our call is for peace, dialogue, for them to abandon arms and the liberation of the kidnapped," Larrea said.

Ecuadoran officials said they are holding 68 FARC guerrillas in prison and have destroyed 108 guerrilla bases and 41 clandestine cocaine labs in their territory in a little over a year. "The Colombian conflict is moving toward the south and hence toward northern Ecuador," Larrea said. "The Colombian state does not control its border, and so drug trafficking and the guerrillas pass over."

In the Enemy's Home

At the front of the patrol was Cpl. Robert Tanguila, 33, who grew up in an indigenous Quechua community in the rain forest. On this mission, his skills were invaluable. He knew which swamps to avoid and which vines, when cut, pour out drinkable water. He could distinguish between the sounds of a machete on wood and a falling branch in the distance. He knew to burn termites' nests to ward off mosquitoes and where to find "dragon's blood" -- the red tree sap that, when rubbed, turns into a white paste that can heal bites and wounds.

"The guerrillas know all this as well," Tanguila said. "They have people from the forest, also, that know the jungle. They are experts. It's difficult to capture them."

In Ecuador, the guerrillas often run rather than fight. The brief exchange of gunfire on the second day of patrol was a rarity, soldiers said. Given the guerrillas' network of lookouts and civilian informants, it takes luck to successfully sneak up on them.