US embassy cable - 04BOGOTA9093

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 009093 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SNAR, MASS, PREF, EAID, KJUS, CO, KPRM 
SUBJECT: PLAN COLOMBIA IMPLEMENTATION MEETING ROUND-UP, 
AUGUST, 2004 
 
 
1. The following is an update of some Plan Colombia-related 
activities reported during the Embassy Plan Colombia 
Implementation Meetings of August, 2004. 
 
--- 
RSO 
--- 
 
2. Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) Program Managers Ed Lee 
and Jim Schnaible visited post from August 16-21.  The 
purpose of their visit was to renew the tactical training 
program and the AKI database.  They met with the Ambassador, 
Vice President Francisco Santos and Minister of Defense Jorge 
Uribe and briefed them on plans to recommence training for 
FY2005 and problems/issues surrounding the database program. 
The ATA team also met with the in-country contractors for 
both programs to establish training schedules and address 
coordination and administration issues on both the U.S. and 
GOC sides.  ATA will advise Post, the VP, and MoD (through 
RSO) regarding issues requiring action and outline its plan 
for CRT training to include the number of GAULA units to be 
trained during FY2005.  A separate report on the database 
design and needs will also be provided.  The report will 
outline the contents of the database, the designated GOC 
users, and the projected timeline for delivery of the 
database in phases. 
 
--- 
DOJ 
--- 
 
3. From August 1-13, DOJ conducted two Expert Witness 
Training Courses for 20 forensic examiners per course in 
Bogota and Pereira.  The course is designed to train crime 
lab forensic examiners in the skills required to testify and 
present evidence in an accusatory (oral trial) system.  Each 
student gets realistic experience by testifying as a witness 
in a simulated "mock trial." 
 
4. From August 9-13, DOJ conducted a Money Laundering Course 
for Judicial Police training in Bogota.  Twenty-five officers 
from the National Police (CNP), Fiscalia, the Technical 
Investigative Corps of the Office of the Prosecutor General 
(CTI), and Department of Administrative Security (DAS) 
attended the course.  They received specialized instruction 
in current money laundering trends, financial analysis, 
banking compliance operations, money exchange house 
regulations, and general legal aspects of money laundering. 
 
5. From August 23-25, DOJ conducted the first of eight Police 
Ethics/Anti-Corruption Seminars in Bogota.  Forty CNP 
Commanders and supervisors attended.  The seminar focused on 
leadership, discipline, and transparency within the police 
ranks.  Through December 2004, this seminar will be conducted 
on seven more occasions at police training sites throughout 
Colombia. 
 
----- 
USAID 
----- 
 
6. USAID's efficiency and accountability program presented 
its recommendations on accounting and internal control 
practices to the Colombian National Council for Internal 
Control (NCIC).  The recommendations were based on a 
USAID-designed internal control model that was tested in 26 
national entities. On the basis of this presentation, the 
NCIC established a committee that will draft a framework to 
standardize and implement new internal control principles in 
other public entities.  It is highly likely that the NCIC 
committee will follow USAID's proposed parameters and 
eventually make the standards mandatory for all public 
entities, both national and sub-national.  The implementation 
of these standards will be key to improving efficiency and 
transparency in Colombia's public management system. 
 
7. Ambassador Wood and Colombia's first lady Lina Moreno de 
Uribe dedicated the first Handicraft Fair in support of 
alternative development programs.  The event, organized under 
USAID's Colombian Artisan Enterprise Initiative, generated 
nearly US $15,000 in sales.  The Colombian Artisan Enterprise 
Initiative is a five-year, US $4.26 million project that 
promotes licit employment and income opportunities for 
artisans by strengthening their capacity to produce and 
market crafts.  Activities are primarily focused in 
departments (similar to a U.S. state) with strong potential 
for artesanal development.  Since September 2002, the project 
has benefited over 350 artisan households and generated 
roughly US $190,000 in sales.  It is estimated that the 
project will produce roughly US $1.75 million in sales over 
its five-year time frame. 
 
8. Ambassador Wood and President Uribe launched the joint 
USAID/Plan Colombia "Convocatoria Conjunta" rubber projects 
in Cimitarra, Santander.  The "Convocatoria Conjunta" is an 
agro-industrial development program implemented in 
partnership with the private sector.  Under the project, 
USAID funding of roughly US $16 million is leveraging over US 
$78 million in private sector resources.  The projects -- 
which will benefit 4,520 families -- will support the 
cultivation of crops such as coffee, rubber, cocoa and palm 
oil.  Activities will be implemented in the Departments of 
Antioquia, Bolivar, Caldas, Cauca, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, 
Huila, Narino, Norte de Santander, Santander, and Tolima. The 
projects will expand alternative and sustainable economic 
options for small producers and will increase private sector 
investment in targeted growth corridors vulnerable to illicit 
crop production. 
 
9. USAID financed a regional workshop to support the 
establishment and management of plant quarantine and 
inspection activities in accordance with international 
standards.  The workshop provided key plant health and 
inspection officials from the Andean countries with technical 
information and training sampling methodologies for 
phytosanitary inspections and quarantine treatments.  It also 
addressed new international phytosanitary norms regarding 
wood packaging in international trade, emergency programs for 
quarantine pest outbreaks, and technical aspects of 
developing manuals for plant quarantine and treatment 
activities. 
 
--- 
NAS 
--- 
 
10. On August 13, NAS Director accompanied Victoria Restrepo, 
the GOC's Plan Colombia Alternative Development Coordinator, 
on an inspection of manual coca eradication operations in 
Pauna, Boyaca Department.  NAS has provided technical support 
and equipment to various Colombian National Police units who 
are undertaking manual eradication operations, while the 
Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) has provided training 
in equipment operation and the manual application of 
herbicides. 
 
--- 
DEA 
--- 
 
11. Related activities reported in septels. 
DRUCKER