By Steven Dudley
                  Special to The Washington Post
                  Tuesday, December 14, 1999; Page A31

                  BOGOTA, Colombia, Dec. 13—Left-wing rebels overran a Colombian
                  naval base and police station 15 miles from the Panamanian border, killing
                  at least 45 marines, as well as one policeman, a regional official said today.

                  The attack on Sunday renewed fears of a growing guerrilla presence along
                  the Panamanian border as the United States prepares to hand over control
                  of the Panama Canal zone to the Panamanian government and withdraw its
                  remaining troops.

                  Using homemade gas cylinders, mortars and grenades, more than 600
                  rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) overran
                  the police station and the small naval post, where about 115 Colombian
                  marines were stationed in the small town of Jurado, along Colombia's
                  Pacific coast, said Choco governor Luis Gilberto Murillo.

                  The Rev. Bernardo Nino, the local Roman Catholic priest in Jurado, told
                  government radio today that he had negotiated with the rebels for the
                  release of 53 captured marines and 16 policemen, at least 25 of whom
                  were wounded in the battle. Rebels continued to hold three marines, Nino
                  said. Navy officials, who said that 23 of their personnel had died, asserted
                  that 42 guerrillas were killed in the fighting.

                  The FARC attack, one of the most successful by the rebels on the
                  Colombian military in months, came just two days before Tuesday's formal
                  ceremony in Panama marking the transfer of the Panama Canal to
                  Panamanian hands, which takes effect formally on Dec. 31.

                  The U.S. government already has transferred its regional military
                  headquarters, known as the Southern Command, from Panama to Miami
                  and established air bases in the Caribbean and Ecuador to replace
                  Howard Air Force Base in Panama. As the U.S. military has pulled out,
                  U.S. officials and politicians have expressed concern about the
                  Panamanian National Guard's ability to fight off the Colombian guerrillas,
                  who have long been active in the border region.

                  Panama's foreign minister, Jose Miguel Aleman, today played down
                  Sunday's rebel assault, saying his government would not close its border
                  with Colombia.

                  U.S. aid to Colombia ballooned to $289 million this year and could reach
                  $500 million next year largely as a result of the 15,000-member FARC's
                  alleged role in the international drug trade. U.S. officials said the rebels
                  make as much as $600 million a year by taxing drug traffickers who export
                  their product from jungle regions like Choco. U.S. legislation prohibits the
                  United States from giving Colombia aid for counterinsurgency purposes,
                  but the increased activity of rebels in drug trafficking has allowed Congress
                  to classify the aid as anti-drug assistance.

                  Colombian guerrillas have been operating along the Panamanian border for
                  years, running guns from Central America through the Darien--a dense,
                  uninhabited jungle in Panama. Recently, right-wing paramilitary
                  groups--who also have battled the Colombian military and who allegedly
                  are involved in the drug trade as well--pushed the FARC from large
                  portions of the area where Sunday's attack took place.

                  Eduardo Pizarro, a Colombian political scientist who has written several
                  books on the left-wing rebel group said it may be making a bid to retake
                  the region, known as Uraba, because its other gun-running routes through
                  Ecuador and Venezuela have been blocked. "One of their strategic goals is
                  to recapture Uraba," Pizarro said, "above all so they can launch long
                  military assaults instead of the smaller, traditional guerrilla actions that are
                  more a sign of weakness than strength."

                  According to the Colombian army, Uraba is home to eight FARC units
                  totaling about 1,600 guerrillas. To combat them, the military has two
                  battalions and three small naval posts like the one attacked in Jurado.
                  More than 1,000 right-wing militiamen are also said to be operating in the
                  area, at times with the support of the Colombian armed forces, according
                  to human rights observers.

                  After Sunday's clash, military officials sought to highlight the role played by
                  a new 5,000-man rapid deployment force inaugurated earlier this month.
                  The army sent more than 800 men from the unit to Jurado, but a marine
                  who took part in the battle said the troops did not arrive until than 24 hours
                  after the guerrillas attacked. An army representative said poor weather
                  conditions delayed the unit's arrival.

                  Since Thursday, the FARC has attacked police stations in five Colombian
                  towns, killing 16 policemen and taking another 19 captive. According to
                  the Colombian military, at least two of the attacks originated in a
                  16,000-square-mile area of southern Colombia, close to the Ecuadoran
                  border, that government troops withdrew from earlier this year to help
                  regenerate government peace talks with the rebels. No agreements have
                  been reached since the two sides began discussing the agenda for the talks
                  in October. Late tonight, there were reports of rebel attacks on three more
                  villages in eastern Colombia.

                  On two occasions, the guerrillas briefly broke off talks; more recently,
                  military officials have complained that the rebel group is using the area to
                  store weapons, set up drug-processing labs and secret airstrips, and launch
                  attacks.

                  The most recent rebel offensive came despite pleas by the government for
                  a Christmas cease-fire. Neither the FARC, the smaller National Liberation
                  Army rebel group, nor the right-wing paramilitary groups have responded
                  favorably to the call for a truce between Dec. 15 and Jan. 15.

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