HAVANA (Reuters) -- Colombian President Andres Pastrana, eager to
                  advance his war-torn nation's fledgling peace process, flew into Havana on
                  Thursday for talks with Cuba's veteran revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro.

                  On arrival, Pastrana did not say whether he would ask Castro for direct
                  intervention in negotiations with Colombia's leftist rebels, but stressed the
                  communist leader's "presence and collaboration ...in this peace process is
                  fundamental."

                  Castro, who once sought to export Cuban-style revolution across South
                  America, has been touted by many as a possible mediator in the long-running
                  Colombian conflict that has cost 35,000 lives in the last decade alone.

                  Pastrana has made peace the priority of his five-month-old government and
                  opened preliminary talks with the country's main Marxist rebel group, the
                  Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), last week.

                  The Colombian leader was met at Havana's Jose Marti international airport
                  by Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina, and was scheduled to meet
                  Castro later on Thursday at his Revolution Palace in Havana.

                  "President Castro and foreign minister Robaina have demonstrated clearly
                  their aim and interest in doing what they can to support the achievement of
                  peace in Colombia," Pastrana added in brief comments to reporters at the
                  airport.

                  He said, however, that he hoped other nations would also participate as
                  "facilitators" in Bogota's negotiations with the guerrillas.

                  One country he probably had in mind was Colombia's neighbour,
                  Venezuela, whose President-elect, Hugo Chavez, will join Pastrana and
                  Castro in Havana over the weekend for what is shaping up to be an
                  important regional summit.

                  Chavez, a former military coup leader swept to power in a December
                  presidential election that saw a backlash against Venezuela's traditional
                  parties, has pledged his backing for Colombia's peace efforts.

                  Chavez draws inspiration from South America's 19th century independence
                  leader and proponent of regional unity, Simon Bolivar, and would clearly like
                  to play a role in a future pacification of Colombia.

                  Pastrana, however, sought to play down expectations around the three
                  leaders' scheduled lunch together in Havana on Sunday, describing it as a
                  "social meeting."

                  The Colombian leader stressed to reporters that his visit to Cuba was also
                  intended to promote cooperation in other fields between the two Latin
                  American countries.

                  Pastrana's delegation, which includes seven ministers, will sign a series of
                  bilateral accords, including one on cooperation in the fight on
                  drug-trafficking. Cuba has emerged in recent years as a transit point, and
                  local authorities have jailed around 50 Colombians here on drug charges.

                  Pastrana and Castro met twice last year at the Nonaligned Movement
                  summit in South Africa and the Iberoamerican Summit in Oporto, Portugal.
                  The 72-year-old Cuban leader has offered Pastrana his "total collaboration"
                  in the peace process, but stressed the need for "patience."

                  Castro is believed to wield considerable influence over both of Colombia's
                  leading guerrilla groups-- the largest and oldest in Latin America-- even
                  though he has gone on record as saying history has closed the book on the
                  days when leftist insurgencies could seize power through armed struggle.

                  In addition to intense media and diplomatic speculation, Colombian Nobel
                  laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a close friend of Castro's, has said the
                  Cuban leader may be swayed to play an active behind-the-scenes role in
                  brokering a possible negotiated settlement of the conflict.

                  As well as Pastrana and Chavez, the Cuban leader has also hosted
                  Surinamese President Jules Wijdenbosch and Belgian Foreign Minister Eric
                  Derycke this week.

                  Since Pope John Paul II's landmark trip to Cuba last January and his call on
                  the world to "open up" to Cuba, a long list of high-ranking officials and
                  personalities from Latin America and around the world have been coming to
                  Havana.

                   Copyright 1999 Reuters.