US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA1297

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001297 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2015 
TAGS: SNAR, PTER, PREL, PINR, CO 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH UNODC DIRECTOR 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d). 
 
1. (SBU) On February 3, Ambassador met with Antonio Maria 
Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on 
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and local UNODC representative 
Ambassador Sandro Calvani on the margins of the international 
cooperation meeting in Cartagena.  Ambassador expressed 
concern about the recent publication on the UNODC website of 
claims that aerial eradication was only a temporary solution 
to drug cultivation in Colombia, and that it is now one-third 
less effective in terms of coca sprayed and destroyed than it 
was a year ago.  He asked Costa if this information had been 
discussed with the Colombian National Police (CNP), because 
neither the Embassy or any entity of the USG had been 
consulted regarding the content of the report.  Calvani said 
the UN had not issued a new report and had no plans to do so. 
 The information on the website was put there mistakenly when 
the UNODC office in Bogota was transferring slides -- some of 
which were incorrect -- to UNODC headquarters in Vienna. 
Regarding the website's reference to aerial eradication as a 
"temporary" solution, Calvani explained that it was caused by 
the writer's imperfect English; the author meant that coca 
farmers often replant and that areas must often be sprayed 
more than once.  Neither Calvani nor anyone at mission 
headquarters approved the incorrect slides.  He apologized 
for the error, said the slides had been removed from the 
website, and promised a full explanation in writing. 
 
2. (C) Ambassador and Costa agreed for better coordination 
and closer cooperation on issues such as data comparison and 
analysis.  Costa noted European nations' general aversion to 
aerial eradication, while  Ambassador observed that security 
concerns make manual eradication extremely difficult, leaving 
aerial eradication as the safest and most cost-effective 
means of combating the problem in most cases.  Costa said he 
personally supports aerial eradication, and since President 
Uribe is committed to it, the UN supports it as well.  He 
added that the UN is not as concerned with the method of 
eradication as it is with the bigger question of how much 
coca is actually on the ground. 
 
3. (C) Ambassador asked Costa to inform the USG and Embassy 
directly if UNODC's policy changed to one hostile to aerial 
eradication and emphasizing manual eradication.  Costa said 
UNODC has no specific reasons to oppose aerial eradication, 
saying it comprises half of the counternarcotics strategy, 
the other half being assistance to farmers.  He said European 
donations were limited in Colombia and expressed his 
gratitude for the NAS funding UNODC has received. 
WOOD