> Friday March 3 8:22 PM ET
>
> AOL Leader Meets Colombia Rebels
>
> By JARED KOTLER Associated Press Writer
>
> BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Leftist guerrillas continued
> a running dialogue on the workings of international
> capitalism Friday - this time with the
> chairman emeritus of America Online.
>
> In meeting that took observers by surprise, Jim Kimsey
> met in the rebel-held southern village of Los Pozos with
> Manuel Marulanda, the founder and chief of the powerful
> Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC,
> Colombian officials said.
>
> It was the latest in a series of unusual contacts between
> business leaders and rebels who maintain 1960s-era
> socialist rhetoric. The sessions are part of a government
> effort to boost fledgling peace talks by exposing the FARC
> - which earn huge profits off the drug trade and kidnappings
> - to the outside world.
>
> Marulanda said ``he is very much interested in achieving peace,''
> the AOL chief told reporters after the meeting, which was also
> attended by Colombian government officials and Joseph E.
> Robert, who runs a Virgina-based investment firm.
>
> ``He understands, I think, that foreign investment is critical
> to the prosperity of this country and I think is willing to negotiate
> and to discuss possible solutions that will move this country into
> the 21st century,'' Kimsey added.
>
> The two even exhanged baseball caps. Marulanda gave Kimsey
> one in rebel camouflage. Kimsey gave Marulanda one emblazoned
> with the AOL logo.
>
> He said he would urge other American businessmen to visit
> Colombia, but doubts sagging foreign investment will rebound
> until there is peace.
>
> Although the peasant-based FARC is seen as isolated from the
> modern world, it hasn't shied away from the kind of technology
> Kimsey helped develop.
>
> >From deep in the jungle, the 15,000-member rebel group post
> communiques on the Internet, sends e-mails to journalists, and
> uses computers to record finances and intelligence about potential
> kidnapping victims.
>
> Increased private networking with the guerrillas is occurring despite
> a U.S. government boycott on such contacts.
>
> The State Department cut off diplomatic contacts with the FARC
> last year after a rebel unit abducted and killed three American
> pro-Indian activists in Colombia.
>
> No new meetings are likely until the guilty rebels are brought to
> justice, State Department spokesman James Rubin said Friday
> in Washington.
>
> Asked why he met this time with the FARC, Kimsey said he
> considered it a ``wonderful opportunity'' to support the peace process.
>
> Last July, New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso
> met with senior FARC leaders in Colombia. And last month, rebel
> leaders accompanied by government peace delegates conducted
> a 23-day European tour also designed to expand the FARC's horizons.
>
> The delegation toured Scandinavia, Spain, Italy and Switzerland,
> meeting with unions and business leaders to explore ways Colombia's
> rich-poor gap could be bridged short of implementing socialism. The
> rebels' nearly 36-year insurgency feeds off grinding rural poverty.