MIAMI HERALD

Friday, 24 July 1998


                Fleeing peasants reported halted
                --------------------------------

BOGOTA -- The army has detained a dozen boats carrying more than 600
peasants who abandoned their lands due to paramilitary threats, leaders of
the displaced peasants said.

The peasants were headed to Barrancabermeja, an oil port on the Magdalena
River. Leaders of the displaced people told Bogota radio reporters that
army troops set up a blockade on the river which prevented the boats from
passing.

The exodus was precipitated by the harassment by extreme right groups that
have increased their activity in rural regions of the river port and the
surrounding towns in the provinces of Santander -- where Barrancabermeja
is located -- Antioquia and Bolivar, in northern Colombia.

        Copyright 1998 The Miami Herald