US embassy cable - 04BOGOTA4278

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 004278 
 
SIPDIS 
 
GENEVA FOR POLITICAL COUNSELOR JEFF DELAURENTIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2014 
TAGS: PTER, PHUM, PGOV, PINR, PINS, SNAR, ASEC, CO, ELN Peace Process, FARC 
SUBJECT: URIBE GIVES PUBLIC ULTIMATUM TO PARAMILITARIES 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d). 
 
1. (C) On April 27, President Uribe issued an ultimatum to 
the country's illegal paramilitaries, warning that if they do 
not accept the GOC's conditions for peace talks -- including 
a verifiable cease-fire and a concentration of troops -- 
Government security forces will combat them until they are 
destroyed.  He made it crystal clear he will not negotiate 
his commitment to extradite criminals to the U.S.  He also 
rejected a so-called "humanitarian accord" with the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  The 
President's ultimatum, contained in an official communique 
issued by his office, reflected remarks he made at a regional 
security meeting in Casanare department.  Uribe's communique 
also accused some paramilitaries and narcotics traffickers of 
threatening his life.  Presidential security staff 
subsequently told us they have recently gathered intelligence 
pointing to possible paramilitary plots against his life.  We 
will seek more detailed information on new security threats 
against President Uribe. 
 
3. (C) Uribe's comments echo earlier ultimatums he sent the 
paramilitaries through Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos 
Restrepo.  Until now, paramilitary leaders appeared to 
believe that Restrepo's ultimatums were his own and that he 
was not a trustworthy intermediary with the President. 
 
4. (U) Text of official April 27 communique from the 
Presidency: 
 
-- To the well-knonw and repeated threats against the 
President from the ELN and FARC must now be added threats 
over the past few weeks from elements of the illegal 
self-defense groups and narcotraffickers. 
 
-- The Government offered a peace process to all illegal 
armed groups on condition of a cessation of hostilities. 
 
-- The peace process with the illegal self-defense groups 
cannot advance in a climate of cease-fire violations, 
vendettas, narcotrafficking, and violent confrontations among 
criminal organizations. 
 
-- If the self-defense forces want to advance in a serious 
peace process, they must demonstrate their will to peace by 
accepting a concentration zone, with clear rules and under 
the verification of the OAS.  They must move toward 
demobilization.  If this does not happen, the Government will 
continue combating them until they are eliminated. 
 
-- The Government has submitted to Congress a bill for 
"Justice and Reparations" which is generous in its benefits 
and rigorous in regard to the Constitution and international 
law, preventing amnesty or pardon for those responsible for 
atrocious crimes. 
 
-- Extradition should not be understood as an internal legal 
norm that generates nationalist opposition.  It is an 
international legal norm that allows another country to 
punish those who commit crimes against its nationals.  If 
extradition is prohibited, Colombia will be discredited 
internationally. 
 
-- Extradition is not negotiable.  Those who wish to avoid it 
must demonstrate to the international community their good 
faith and intent to reform. 
 
-- The Government understands the pain of those kidnapped by 
the FARC, as well as the pain of their families.  The 
Government will press on with its democratic security policy, 
one of the principal results of which was a 25 percent 
reduction in kidnappings last year and a 65 percent reduction 
so far in 2004. 
 
-- The Government will not allow the FARC, through threats, 
to impose a Humanitarian Accord with conditions that weaken 
the democratic security policy. 
End text. 
WOOD