US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA4050

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 004050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY //CHANGED SUBJECT LINE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, MOPS, ASEC, PTER, PHUM, ECON, CO 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR 
POLICY DOUGLAS J. FEITH 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons 
1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) The GOC and embassy welcome Under Secretary Feith's 
visit with enthusiasm.  The Bilateral Working Group (BWG) 
will hold defense policy discussions on policy, 
modernization, and narcoterrorism.  Colombia faces a four 
front war -- narcos, FARC, ELN, paramilitaries -- and a 
growing concern about Venezuela.  With U.S. assistance, it is 
fighting each of the fronts with a slightly different mix of 
political, military, and police measures, all of which are 
expensive and at times controversial.  A multi-phased 
offensive by the security forces has re-taken key territory 
from the FARC.  The paramilitary peace process has led to the 
demobilization of almost 5,000 with several thousand more 
expected.  Three U.S. citizens have been held hostage by the 
FARC for two years now; their safe recovery continues to be 
one of our top priorities.  Colombia's human rights record, 
although imperfect, is improving.  A bill to allow 
presidential re-election is pending Constitutional Court 
review.  The economy is improving slowly.  Five U.S. military 
personnel, who had immunity, were arrested in late March for 
transporting drugs.  End Summary. 
 
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Bilateral Working Group 
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2. (C) The Ministry of Defense has expressed interest in a 
special bilateral security agreement.  The BWG general 
session will provide an opportunity to explore this 
opportunity.  We hope it will also provide a mechanism to 
obtain a SOFA/SFA agreement. 
 
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U.S. Assistance Key to Security Improvements 
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3. (C) USG Assistance to Colombia is premised on combating 
the interrelated issues of drug trafficking and terrorism and 
includes training, material aid, and guidance to the security 
forces and other institutions.  President Uribe and Colombian 
Minister of Defense (MOD) Jorge Uribe (not related) have 
characterized the United States as Colombia's most important 
ally.  Since taking office, President Uribe has focused on 
establishing a state presence throughout national territory. 
 
-- Plan Patriota: The military's multi-phased campaign plan 
to re-take areas dominated by the FARC is entering its third 
year and focused on traditional FARC strongholds in 
southeastern Colombia.  The logistical strain of keeping 
15,500 troops in the dense, hostile jungle, hundreds of miles 
from their supply bases, is a huge challenge.  The priority 
for DOD funding is to provide assistance for forces involved 
in Plan Patriota.  Infectious diseases -) especially 
leishmaniasis, a parasitic skin and intestinal infection -- 
and landmines are the leading causes of military casualties. 
The GOC is seeking U.S. assistance for the high cost of 
leishmaniasis treatment. 
 
-- FARC violence in the first quarter of 2005, although 
tactically aggressive, remained localized and below 2004 
levels.  The FARC attacked at least four indigenous towns in 
Cauca Department in mid April.  The attacks were partially 
directed at local police stations, but civilians were 
indiscriminately killed. 
 
-- Joint Caribbean Command: The military recently created a 
joint command for the Caribbean coastal region.  The 
commander will have operational command of over 40,000 Army 
troops, 10,000 sailors and marines, and elements of the Air 
Force.  The new command could lead to additional joint 
commands in other key areas. 
 
-- The Uribe administration and Armed Forces Commander 
General Ospina have pushed the security forces to change 
out-dated thinking and focus on modernization and jointness. 
On April 27, four senior Army officers -- the Deputy Army 
Commander, Inspector General, Operations Chief, and Personnel 
Chief -- were dismissed in part because of their 
unwillingness to cooperate with joint command structures. 
 
-- Center for Coordinated Integral Action: With support from 
the U.S. MILGRP, the GOC formed an interagency center to 
facilitate social services in seven areas that have 
traditionally suffered from little state presence and 
pressure from illegal armed groups.  Approximately 40,000 
C O R R E C T E D COPY // CHANGED SUBJECT LINE 
individuals have been enrolled in state health care, and 
judges, investigators, and public defenders have been placed 
in all 16 municipalities of the Plan Patriota area. 
 
-- Drug Eradication: cooperation remains excellent, 
complicated at times by competition for scarce helicopters 
between the counter-terror and counter-drug priorities. 
Eradication and interdiction are at record levels.  Some 
60,500 hectares of coca and 900 hectares of opium poppy had 
been sprayed since the beginning of the year and 1,300 
hectares of coca and poppy were manually eradicated.  In 
2004, over 136,000 hectares of coca and 3,000 hectares of 
poppy were sprayed, and almost 200 metric tons of cocaine and 
cocaine base were seized inside Colombia.  Ground fire 
against spray planes is below 2003 levels but remains 
problematic. 
 
-- Deserters: Since Uribe took office, almost 7,000 illegal 
armed group members have deserted and entered the 
government's reinsertion program.  The program has limited 
funding and weak management, but is slowly improving. 
 
-- Military Justice Reforms: The Colombian military justice 
system has traditionally been plagued with impunity and 
inefficiency.  We continually press the Defense Ministry to 
create a system that delivers credible findings to ensure 
expeditious justice for both the innocent and the guilty. 
Director of Military Justice Brigadier General Puentes has 
proposed a two-phase reform strategy to address these 
problems. 
 
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Growing Concern About Venezuela 
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4. (C) Colombia-Venezuela relations deteriorated further 
after FARC international spokesman Rodrigo Granda was 
captured in Caracas.  We have stressed the importance of 
regional counter-terror and counter-drug cooperation, a major 
theme of last month's summit among Presidents Chavez, Lula, 
Zapatero, and Uribe.  Colombia remains concerned about 
Venezuela's arms build-up, and is tempted to divert needed 
resources away from counter-drug and counter-terror 
priorities.  Colombia has proposed a closer bilateral defense 
relationship as a partial solution 
 
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Peace Process 
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5. (C) The GOC has been holding negotiations with the AUC 
since 2002.  Almost 5,000 paramilitaries have demobilized and 
several thousand more are expected.  Congress is debating a 
law that would give alternative sentences to members of 
illegal armed groups who are implicated in major crimes and 
demobilize.  The GOC has repeatedly assured us that the peace 
process will not damage the excellent U.S.-Colombia 
extradition relationship.  Despite limited resources, the GOC 
has made an effort to prevent the FARC from taking over 
former AUC territory.  We have not seen evidence of a 
concerted FARC effort to target demobilized paramilitaries or 
former AUC territory.  Nevertheless, local communities and 
the GOC continue to express concern about their capacity to 
secure areas if more AUC groups demobilize. 
 
6. (C) In a related peace process, the ELN rejected Mexican 
facilitation on April 18, ostensibly over the GOM's vote 
against Cuba at the UN Commission on Human Rights.  The ELN 
has only about 2,000 members and is no longer a military 
threat, although it can execute terrorist attacks.  The FARC 
has shown no willingness to have peace talks or hold a 
"humanitarian exchange." 
 
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U.S. Hostages 
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7. (C) The three U.S. contractors captured by the FARC in 
February 2003 are now the longest U.S. terror captives in the 
world.  Their safe release continues to be one of our top 
priorities.  The Colombians are providing full assistance. 
Plan Patriota operations have increased the likelihood that 
we will receive more information about the hostages, but also 
that an unintended encounter between Colombian forces and the 
hostage holders will result in their execution.  Uribe has 
assured us that the U.S. hostages will be included in any 
possible &humanitarian exchange.8 
 
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Human Rights Record Improving 
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8. (C) The Uribe Administration continues to make progress in 
human rights, but needs to do more to ensure accountability, 
strengthen the military justice system, break military ties 
to paramilitary groups, and end corruption.  The government 
has a difficult but active dialogue with NGOs, the United 
Nations, and foreign governments.  Human rights training is 
mandatory for all members of the military and police.  The 
GOC claims to have trained 100,000 officials in the past year 
and a half.  Less than two percent of human rights violations 
are attributable to government security forces, according to 
GOC statistics.  Homicides fell by 16 percent, kidnappings by 
42 percent, and forced displacements by 37 percent in 2004, 
building on 2003's trends. 
 
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Internal Politics 
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9. (C) Constitutional reform to permit Presidential 
re-election was approved by Congress and is facing a review 
by the Constitutional Court.  Executive-legislative relations 
have been tense over the last two years.  In addition to the 
demobilization law, major issues before Congress include 
pension and tax reform, both controversial proposals that 
face tough sledding.  Elections for Congress and President 
will be held in March and May 2006, respectively.  The 
current Congressional session began March 16 and runs until 
June 20. 
 
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Positive Economic Outlook 
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10. (U) While the tremendous gains in security have helped 
the economy, many analysts are concerned that fiscal and 
pension reforms have not yet passed through Congress. 
Without these important structural changes, the long-term 
outlook is less clear.  In 2004, Colombia's gross domestic 
product (GDP) increased by 4 percent to nearly USD 90.8 
billion.  Colombian exports grew 26 percent in 200 to USD 16 
billion.  Exports to the U.S. grew by USD 1 billion. 
Unemployment remains high at 12.1 percent, but the rate has 
been declining since the beginning of the Uribe 
administration. 
 
11. (U) The ninth round of free trade talks was in Lima, Peru 
on April 18 to 22.  President Uribe remains a strong 
proponent.  The Colombians are concerned that their 
congressional and national elections in 2006 will block 
approval if agreement waits too long.  Agriculture continues 
to be a major issue.  Our goal of conclusion by early summer 
2005 is uncertain. 
 
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Five Americans Arrested 
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12. (C) On March 30, 35 pounds of cocaine were found on a 
U.S. military plane that left Colombia for Fort Bliss.  Three 
U.S. military personnel temporarily stationed in Colombia, 
who had immunity, and two in the U.S. were arrested for 
transporting drugs to the U.S. on military aircraft.  One has 
been released, while the investigation continues on the 
others.  We are working closely with Colombian authorities to 
ensure that the case is fully investigated and that those 
guilty are held accountable. 
 
 
WOOD