US embassy cable - 02BOGOTA6886

UNCLAS BOGOTA 006886 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PHUM, PREF, CO 
SUBJECT: FARC THREATS CAUSE ENTIRE TOWN TO FLEE 
 
1.  VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE INHABITANTS OF PUERTO ALVIRA, META 
DEPARTMENT, HAVE FLED BECAUSE OF THREATENED GUERRILLA 
ACTIONS.  PUERTO ALVIRA IS ON THE BORDER BETWEEN META AND 
GUAVIARE DEPARTMENTS, IN SOUTHEASTERN COLOMBIA, NEAR THE 
EASTERN BORDER OF THE FORMER DEMILITARIZED ZONE.  IN 
MID-JULY, AND AGAIN AT THE END OF LAST WEEK, THE 44TH FRONT 
OF THE FARC TOLD PUERTO ALVIRA RESIDENTS THAT PARAMILITARIES 
WERE MOVING INTO THE AREA, AND THAT FIGHTING IN PUERTO ALVIRA 
BETWEEN THE FARC AND PARAMILITARIES WAS IMMINENT.  THE FARC 
THEN ORDERED THE INHABITANTS TO LEAVE OR BE KILLED, ACCORDING 
TO A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED 
CROSS (ICRC), WHICH IS SENDING PERSONNEL TO THE AREA TO 
INVESTIGATE.  WHEN COLOMBIAN ARMY TROOPS ARRIVED ON MONDAY, 
THEY DISCOVERED THAT ALL BUT FIVE FAMILIES HAD ABANDONED 
PUERTO ALVIRA.  BOTH THE 39TH AND 44TH FRONTS OF THE FARC 
OPERATE IN THE AREA. 
 
2.  MEDIA REPORTS VARY WIDELY AS TO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE 
AFFECTED, FROM A LOW OF 500 TO A HIGH OF 5,000.  THE ICRC 
REPRESENTATIVE TOLD POLOFF THAT 5,000 IS DEFINITELY AN 
EXAGGERATION.  BASED ON INFORMATION FROM CHURCH AND LOCAL 
OFFICIALS, THE REPRESENTIVE ESTIMATES THAT ROUGHLY 2,000 
PEOPLE FLED.  THE LOCAL OFFICE OF COLOMBIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS 
OMBUDSMAN AGREED, TELLING POLOFF THE NUMBER CANNOT BE HIGHER 
THAN 2,500 AT MOST.  APPROXIMATELY HALF WENT TO 
VILLAVICENCIO, CAPITAL OF META DEPARTMENT, WHILE ANOTHER 500 
OR SO FLED EAST TO MOCUARE, A NEIGHBORING TOWN THAT -- LIKE 
PUERTO ALVIRA -- HAS NO POLICE PRESENCE.  THE WHEREABOUTS OF 
THE OTHER 500 OR SO PEOPLE IS A MYSTERY.  NEWSPAPER EL TIEMPO 
REPORTS THAT THE FARC KIDNAPPED AT LEAST 35 YOUTH, STATING 
THE YOUTH ARE NOW GUERRILLAS.  AN INFORMED GOVERNMENT 
OFFICIAL TOLD POLOFF THAT HE BELIEVES THE FARC ARE HOLDING 
CAPTIVE MANY MORE PEOPLE.  AID AGENCIES ARE RUSHING TO 
PROVIDE FOOD AND WARM CLOTHING TO THE DISPLACED. 
 
3.  PUERTO ALVIRA LIES ALONG A KEY DRUG TRANSIT ROUTE, IN A 
REGION WITH A LONG HISTORY OF FARC-PARAMILITARY CONFLICT.  ON 
MAY 4, 1998, PARAMILITARIES MASSACRED 19 PEOPLE IN PUERTO 
ALVIRA.  SIMILARLY, NEARBY MAPIRIPAN WAS THE SITE OF AN AUC 
MASSACRE IN 1997.  ALSO, IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR, THE FARC 
DEMANDED THAT THE PEOPLE OF MAPIRIPAN ABANDON THE TOWN.  WITH 
THE HELP OF GOVERNMENT AND CHURCH OFFICIALS, THE CITIZENS OF 
MAPIRIPAN TOOK SHELTER FOR FOUR DAYS ON NEARBY RANCHES, UNTIL 
ARMY TROOPS ARRIVED IN MAPIRIPAN. 
 
 
PATTERSON 
 
>