US embassy cable - 04BOGOTA12736

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 012736 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2014 
TAGS: PTER, PHUM, PGOV, CO, AUC 
SUBJECT: AUC COMMANDER MANCUSO DEMOBILIZES WITH CATATUMBO 
BLOC 
 
REF: BOGOTA 12188 
 
Classified By: DCM Milton K. Drucker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Over 1400 members of the AUC's Catatumbo Bloc -- 
including AUC military commander Salvatore Mancuso -- 
demobilized in a public ceremony in Norte de Santander 
Department on December 10.  The Bloc surrendered over 1500 
quality weapons, as well as over 150 pieces of real estate in 
the region.  In his address, Mancuso asked for forgiveness 
from the Colombian people, foreign nations -- particularly 
the U.S. -- and "every mother whose pain (he) had caused or 
permitted."  Most of the demobilizing fighters were young men 
from the departments of Norte de Santander, Cordoba, or 
Antioquia, and the GOC will set up reinsertion centers for 
the demobilized fighters in these three departments. 
Residents of the Catatumbo region -- and demobilized 
Catatumbo Bloc fighters -- have reasonable concerns about a 
FARC resurgence in the region, and the GOC has responded by 
permanently transferring an entire counterguerrilla battalion 
from Arauca to Catatumbo.  Peace Commissioner Restrepo has 
asked the Embassy to support GOC efforts to secure the region 
by conducting an aggressive aerial eradication campaign 
northwest of the Catatumbo River and providing the COLMIL 
presence in the zone with riverine patrol boats and military 
helicopters.  End Summary. 
 
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Demobilization: Guns and Grenades, Homes and Haciendas 
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2. (SBU) On December 10, in what GOC High Commissioner for 
Peace Luis Carlos Restrepo characterized as the largest 
demobilization in Colombian history, 1,423 members of the 
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia's (AUC) Catatumbo Bloc 
-- including AUC military commander Salvatore Mancuso -- 
demobilized in a formal ceremony in a rural zone of Tibu 
municipality, Norte de Santander Department.  The 
paramilitary fighters, divided into field troops dressed in 
fatigues and urban operatives in specially ordered 
tee-shirts, turned in over 1500 weapons that OAS Verification 
Mission inspectors confirmed were in excellent condition. 
According to official OAS figures, the GOC collected over 950 
AK-47 (some with Colombian military (COLMIL) markings), 50 
side arms, 600 grenades, 20 mortars, and 10 RPGs.  The 
weapons were transported that evening via armed convoy to the 
departmental capital of Cucuta, where they will be stored 
until the GOC passes a regulation authorizing their 
destruction. 
 
3. (SBU) The Catatumbo Bloc provided the GOC with a list of 
local assets it was surrendering as part of the 
demobilization, including 105 rural properties, 58 urban 
homes and businesses, 10 boats, and 45 mules.  The Bloc also 
turned over several vehicles and 15 dogs trained to detect 
explosives.  According to Restrepo, the GOC will attempt to 
return illegally seized real estate to its rightful owners, 
although many properties originally seized from Revolutionary 
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or National Liberation Army 
(ELN) sympathizers are likely to go unclaimed.  Funds from 
the sale of unclaimed buildings and lands will be invested in 
a compensation fund for victims of paramilitary violence. 
 
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The Guests: A High-Powered Crowd in a Neglected Region 
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4. (SBU) Restrepo presided over the demobilization ceremony, 
where he was joined at the head table by Mancuso, Monsignor 
Jorge Vidal, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Monteria, Cordoba 
Department, Sergio Caramanga, director of the OAS 
Verification Mission in Colombia, Ivan Roberto Duque, aka 
"Ernesto Baez," the rhetorically-gifted commander of the 
paramilitary Central Bolivar Bloc (BCB), the governor of 
Norte de Santander, and the mayors of Cucuta and Tibu.  Also 
present at the event were members of congress sympathetic to 
the AUC, including representatives Eleonora Pineda and Rocio 
Arias and Senator Carlos Moreno. 
 
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Belated Repentance 
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5. (U) Under a withering tropical sun, Mancuso addressed 
paramilitary troops assembled on a muddy field that passed 
for an improvised parade ground.  In a speech punctuated more 
than once with what appeared to be heartfelt emotion, he 
asked for "the forgiveness of the people of Colombia.  "I 
ask," he said, "for the forgiveness of the nations of the 
world, among them the United States of America, if by action 
or omission I have offended them.  I beg for the forgiveness 
of every mother whose pain we have caused or permitted.  I 
assume my responsibility for the leadership I have exercised, 
for what I could have done better, and for what I could have 
done and did not do."  Catatumbo Bloc commander alias 
"Camilo," a former Colombian Army captain, also asked for 
forgiveness for his errors, particularly his decision to 
desert and join the AUC. 
 
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Profile of the Troops 
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6. (C) "Camilo" was not the only ex-member of the Colombian 
military among the demobilizing troops.  An Embassy official 
present at the event spoke to a young fighter who admitted to 
deserting the Army and joining the AUC after he was accused 
of killing civilians in southern Bolivar department.  Nearly 
all the former fighters -- only about 30 of whom were women 
-- appeared to be in their late teens to mid twenties. 
According to a survey of the demobilizing fighters conducted 
on site by the International Organization for Migration 
(IOM), less than a third were from Norte de Santander 
Department.  Nearly a third were from Cordoba, birthplace of 
the AUC, and almost 20 percent from the department of 
Antioquia, most from its lowland Uraba region.  As a result 
of the survey, the GOC will establish reinsertion centers for 
former Catatumbo Bloc members in Cucuta, Monteria, and Turbo, 
in Uraba, where the AUC's Bananero Bloc demobilized on 
November 25 (reftel). 
 
7. (U) Although most members of the Catatumbo Bloc were from 
outside the region, hundreds of family members of local 
recruits were present at the event.  As demobilized fighters 
wandered among the spectators after laying down their 
weapons, mothers slogged through the mud to embrace their 
prodigal sons, most of whom will have to depart the region 
out of fear of FARC reprisals. 
 
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Security Concerns and Pleas for Assistance 
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8. (SBU) Concerns about a guerrilla -- and particularly a 
FARC -- resurgence in the coca-rich Catatumbo region was 
palpable among both local residents and former fighters. 
Residents of many Catatumbo communities have noted an 
increase in FARC presence since the demobilization was 
announced, some claim the FARC has summoned "cocalero" 
community leaders to discuss the new organization of the drug 
trade, and the current managers of most formerly AUC-owned 
businesses have fled the region.  According to local OAS 
officials, the most common concern they heard in their 
mandatory interviews with demobilizing fighters was that the 
FARC would take advantage of their absence to retake former 
paramilitary zones in Catatumbo, negating the sacrifices they 
made to secure the region. 
 
9. (C) To address residents' legitimate security concerns, 
the Army's Second Division has transferred -- permanently -- 
an entire counterguerrilla battalion from Arauca Department 
to Catatumbo.  Restrepo told the Embassy that the USG could 
support GOC efforts to consolidate Government control of the 
region by conducting an aggressive aerial eradication 
campaign northwest of the Catatumbo River, where most of 
Catatumbo's coca is grown.  He emphasized that this campaign 
should include the nearly 2000 acres of coca controlled by 
the FARC in Bari National Park, in northern Norte de 
Santander along the border with Venezuela.  (Note: The GOC 
has so far not permitted spraying in national parks, so 
Restrepo's request is probably merely personal.)  Restrepo 
also asked for USG assistance in providing the COLMIL with 
patrol boats to use on the navigable Catatumbo River, which 
was previously controlled by the AUC, as well as two military 
helicopters.  According to Restrepo, the COLMIL currently has 
no air assets in the Catatumbo region. 
WOOD