| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JULY 26, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- LATIN AMERICA
The President's Mission: Pacifying the Rebels, Calming the Economy (int'l edition) Colombian President Andres Pastrana Arango, 44, hopes to begin a second round of peace talks July 20 with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest and oldest guerrilla movement. He recently discussed his worries and hopes about the country's future with correspondents Elisabeth Malkin and Suzanne Timmons. Q: Do the latest rebel attacks endanger the peace process in Colombia? A: The country has lived with [violence] for 40 years. I think that we've got to give peace a chance.... We have been open in the peace process without playing our cards under the table. The country is waiting--and also the international community--for peace gestures on the part of Colombia's guerrillas. In El Salvador, the worst guerrilla assault occurred four or five days before negotiations started. But I prefer to make peace in peace than peace in war. Q: Is FARC willing to make peace? A: Yes, because they want to occupy a political space. Q: Why did you invite New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard A. Grasso to meet the rebels? A: It is part of a strategy to show the world the truth about the demilitarized zone. [It] clearly demonstrated that the state is a presence there. We wouldn't have put the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange in a place where his life would have been at risk. Seventy ambassadors have been there. American lawmakers have been there. I think it's important that the president of capitalism and the insurgency met. We have to understand that the guerrillas are removed from that world, from globalization. They've been in the mountains for 40 years. Q: How are you dealing with the economic crisis? A: We had to implement a severe adjustment. First, we had to reduce the nation's fiscal deficit, which will be falling to 4.8% this year from 5.2%. And we've reduced interest rates. The biggest concern facing us now is how to reactivate Colombia's economy. We have to work on a pension-reform program and an additional cut in spending. We're going to move forward, seek international credit, and bring calm to the economy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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RELATED ITEMS Colombia: A Very Bizarre ``Peace Laboratory'' (int'l edition) The President's Mission: Pacifying the Rebels, Calming the Economy (int'l edition) INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
