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Since 1989, an estimated 35,000 Colombians have died from the violence, more than died in the 15 years that Shining Path waged its terrorist war in neighboring Peru. Virtually every Colombian has felt the economic impact. Gross Domestic Product is shrinking by 5 percent per year; unemployment is at 20 percent and rising. Some 60 percent of the population has dropped below the poverty line, and the poorest have reduced their food consumption by half.

Unlike other insurgencies in Latin America, the one in Colombia did not pass into history with the fall of the Iron Curtain.

In fact, FARC has experienced remarkable growth, expanding from 8 to 65 "fronts"—local guerrilla organizations—in the past 15 years. ELN grew from 3 to 35 fronts.

Colombia's political establishment attributes the guerrillas' success to drug trafficking. Yet increasing numbers of Colombians are convinced that their government cannot stop the war without addressing injustice and inequality between largely affluent city dwellers and poor farmers.

"It is becoming increasingly clear where the war comes from," the Putumayo pastor said. "It comes from a lack of social investment, accompanied by administrative corruption and state immorality. The state is present in some places, deploying the military, sending helicopters, weapons, and war materiel. But it needs to have a presence in terms of social investment, with assistance programs, hospitals, and roads."

Plan Colombia will only increase violence, many say (some because they fear reprisals from FARC). In June, rioting farmers destroyed herbicide stockpiles in Tibu, a remote community near the Venezuelan border.

"The churches in Colombia are trying to bring peace to our country," says BogotÁ pastor Peter Stucky. "We don't think the way to do it is by the U.S. government sending Black Hawk helicopters, equipping more army units, fumigating. … and bringing about more displaced people to add to the 2 million displaced we already have."

"We don't think that's the way to bring peace to Colombia. We think we have to de-escalate and sit down and talk. That's a hard and tedious process," Stucky says.

Not everyone is convinced a negotiated solution is possible. Some Colombian leaders are convinced that the guerrillas are stalling negotiations as they expand their military operations, particularly in a demilitarized zone created in 1998.

Evangelicals, who make up around 3 percent of Colombia's population (which is 90 percent Roman Catholic), saw that Christian pacifism could become an effective strategy. In 1995 the Evangelical Confederation of Colombia (CEDECOL) created a Commission on Human Rights and Peace, naming Esquivia as director. The organization quickly mobilized evangelicals to promote peace so that they can save some of their neighbors' lives and alleviate suffering.

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September 3 2001, Vol. 45, No. 11