But Pastrana, who eluded his security guards to secretly meet the FARC's top commander last month, seems willing to take the rebels at their word. The potentially fatal stumbling block lies in the price for signing a peace accord and pledging to control the drug trade. The rebels are likely to demand local autonomy and control over the government budget in their regions. Although U.S. officials publicly contend they are interested in Colombia's civil conflict solely because of the drug trade, privately they admit they are also concerned about the conflict spilling over Colombia's borders and causing regional instability. Officials in Bogota and Washington balk at the notion of funding a rebel state within the state in Colombia.
War is a business in any part of the world.
There's lots of mistrust on all sides. Nevertheless people here say that the insurgents are the only actors with the presence, muscle and local respect who can put a rapid end to coca growing. They say that at one time the rebels banned commercial fishing at a local river that was being rapidly depleted, and fishermen obeyed. Another time, they forbade coca growers to cut down trees in a part of the rain forest, and again, nobody dared to defy them. But it's based in fear.