US embassy cable - 05ASUNCION403

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 000403 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR A/S NORIEGA AND PDAS DERHAM 
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA 
JOINT STAFF FOR J5 LTC SCOTT DAVIS 
NSC FOR KIMBERLY BREIER 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, PTER, MOPS, SNAR, KCRM, PA, CO 
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY-COLOMBIA AGREEMENT ON SECURITY 
COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE (CORRECTED COPY - DELETED TEXT 
PARA 2 ADDED CLASSIFYED BY) 
 
REF: A. ASUNCION 364 
 
     B. ASUNCION 307 
     C. ASUNCION 246 
     D. ASUNCION 232 
     E. ASUNCION 200 
 
Classified By: Classified by DCM Kevin M. Johnson for reasons 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d) 
 
1. (U) Summary: During President Duarte's March 7 visit to 
Bogota, he and Colombian President Uribe issued a Joint 
Declaration committing their respective countries to assist 
each other in the fight against organized crime, 
particularly kidnapping but also arms trafficking, drug 
trafficking, money laundering, and trafficking in persons. 
The Joint Declaration also acknowledges that organized crime 
is increasingly linked to terrorism financing.  A proposed 
Action Plan that accompanied the Joint Declaration lays out a 
general framework for strengthening cooperation and 
assistance between the two countries' prosecutors and law 
enforcement personnel. 
 
2. (C) According to the Colombian Embassy, the likely next 
step will be a GOC assessment of the situation on the ground 
in Paraguay, with a primary focus on San Pedro Department, 
where some observers claim there exist "liberated zones" 
controlled by radical leftists.  Although a recent military 
deployment to San Pedro led to the discovery of 63 hectares 
of marijuana fields and 20,000 kilos of harvested marijuana 
ready for pressing, there is no solid evidence connecting the 
marijuana to leftists such as the Patria Libre party members 
involved in the Cubas kidnapping, or the FARC.  End Summary. 
 
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Joint Declaration 
----------------- 
3. (U) On March 7, in the wake of the Cecilia Cubas 
kidnap/murder (ref C) and revelations that the FARC was 
involved in the crime (refs D and E), President Duarte flew 
to Bogota to discuss increased cooperation and assistance 
between Paraguayan and Colombian prosecutors and law 
enforcement personnel.  At the conclusion of the visit, he 
and Colombian President Uribe issued a Joint Declaration 
committing their respective countries to assist each other in 
the fight against organized crime, particularly kidnapping 
but also arms trafficking, drug trafficking, money 
laundering, and trafficking in persons.  In the Joint 
Declaration, the two Presidents: 
 
-- acknowledge that organized crime is increasingly linked to 
terrorism financing; 
 
-- charge their respective Vice Presidents with leading 
efforts to strengthen cooperation, communication and 
intelligence, with special emphasis on training and exchanges 
of information and experience; 
 
-- agree to hold an inaugural meeting of a Joint Commission 
on Drugs during the second half of 2005; and 
 
-- agree to include Paraguay in a Financial Intelligence Unit 
"open house" scheduled for 16-18 May in Bogota. 
 
-------------------- 
Proposed Action Plan 
-------------------- 
4. (U) Duarte and Uribe also published a proposal for an 
Action Plan for implementing the agreement.  It lays out a 
general framework for strengthening cooperation and 
assistance, with the details to be fleshed out later.  The 
proposed Action Plan: 
 
-- suggests a number of "strategies" for strengthening links, 
commitments and mechanisms between the two countries' 
Attorney General Offices and between their National Police 
forces; 
 
-- identifies basic, preliminary activities in pursuit of 
those strategies, such as identifying respective points of 
contact, creating a directory of contacts, establishing a 
permanent board and working group, conducting needs 
assessments, establishing performance indicators, and 
developing training plans; 
 
-- envisions that Colombian trainers, advisers and experts 
would provide Paraguayan prosecutors and law enforcement 
personnel instruction on anti-kidnapping, anti-money 
laundering and anti-drug trafficking operations, including 
"train the trainer" instruction; 
 
-- and refers to the creation of a bi-national military 
intelligence "mechanism" that would facilitate the rapid, 
timely exchange of information to neutralize threats. 
 
5. (U) Comment: Neither the Joint Declaration nor the 
proposed Action Plan mentions FBI training for GOP personnel. 
 However, according to local press, on March 18 Attorney 
General Oscar Latorre repeated an earlier announcement that 
the GOC had invited GOP personnel to attend such training in 
Bogota, this time specifying that the training would take 
place in April.  End Comment. 
 
----------------------------- 
Focus on San Pedro Department 
----------------------------- 
6. (U) Colombian PolCouns told PolOff that the likely next 
step will be a GOC assessment of the situation on the ground 
in Paraguay, with a primary focus on San Pedro Department. 
Some observers claim there exist so-called "liberated zones," 
controlled by radical leftists, within San Pedro and two 
neighboring departments (refs B and E).  The GOP recently 
deployed the military to the area in search of such zones. 
The deployment was limited in size and scope, reportedly 
involving as few as 40 military personnel.  The most notable 
result was the discovery and destruction of approximately 63 
hectares of marijuana fields on land the GOP recently bought 
and transferred to campesino farmers, along with 20,000 kilos 
of harvested marijuana ready for pressing. 
 
7. (C) Comment: On March 16, Vice President Castiglioni told 
the press that, among other things, the GOP's new internal 
security plan (ref A) would restore law and order to the 
areas in question in San Pedro and the neighboring 
departments.  Elements of the security plan, such as the call 
for legislation permitting the use of the armed forces in 
public security functions during peacetime, reflect Duarte's 
new conviction that leftists here and abroad seek to 
undermine his government through subversive means.  However, 
on the whole, the security plan constitutes a hurried 
response to public calls for greater security in the wake of 
the Cubas case and fails to address serious internal 
problems, such as corruption within the ranks of the police. 
Additionally, there is no solid evidence connecting the 
marijuana discovered in San Pedro to leftists such as the 
Patria Libre party members involved in the Cubas kidnapping, 
or the FARC.  Rather, it appears that the marijuana was 
planted at the behest of Brazilian drug traffickers, with the 
likely complicity of corrupt local police officials.  End 
Comment. 
 
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Chilean Assistance and Cooperation 
---------------------------------- 
8. (U) Note: The GOP has also discussed cooperation and 
assistance with the Government of Chile, the details of which 
Post will investigate and report via septel. 
KEANE