US embassy cable - 05LIMA2840

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 LIMA 002840 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINS, MARR, PE, EC 
SUBJECT: THE "U.S. DESIGNS ON THE AMAZON" MYTH RESURFACES 
IN PERU 
 
REF: A. USDAO LIMA 2808 
 
     B. 04 LIMA 5696 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Curtis Struble for Reason 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1. (S) SUMMARY.  The Ambassador and a USDAO member have 
confronted Peruvian officials concerning a Peruvian Army 
officer's briefing at a bilateral intelligence conference in 
Quito that depicted the U.S. as the principal security threat 
to Peru, and alleged that the U.S. had plans to take over the 
Amazon Basin.  The Peruvian Army's Director of Intelligence 
apologized for his subordinate's presentation, which he said 
did not reflect the views of the Peruvian Army.  The Foreign 
Ministry's Director of Security Issues responded that in 
Peru's interagency National Security Council there had never 
been even a hint that the U.S. was a potential threat.  He 
added, however, that a number of military officers had asked 
him whether there was substance to the misinformation about 
U.S. designs on the Amazon.  Defense Minister Chiabra told 
the Ambassador that this negative view of the U.S. was 
totally contrary to official institutional policy, but he 
acknowledged that there was a paranoid viewpoint among some 
officers.  Chiabra said he would use military instruction and 
other official channels to combat this disinformation.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2. (S) Ref A reports on a USDAO member's meeting with the 
Peruvian Army's Director of Intelligence, Brigadier General 
Pedro Beingolea Gutierrez, regarding a briefing given by one 
of Beingolea's subordinates, Colonel Victor Tenorio, at a 
bilateral intelligence conference in Quito.  Information had 
become available to U.S. authorities indicating that 
Tenorio's briefing:  depicted the United States as the 
principal external security threat to Peru; alleged that the 
U.S. had plans in place to take over and internationalize the 
Amazon Basin; and claimed that the U.S. intended to convert 
the armed forces of the region into police-like entities that 
would be incapable of resisting U.S. aggression.  Per Ref A, 
BG Beingolea had been unaware of the content of the briefing 
given by Col. Tenorio, but apologized profusely after 
confirming the information presented by the DAO member, 
indicating that the briefing did not reflect the position of 
the Peruvian Army. 
 
3. (S) The Ambassador discussed this incident on 6/22 with 
Foreign Ministry Director of Security and Defense Issues Daul 
Matute.  Matute said that as Security Director, he sat on the 
interagency board that assessed potential threats to Peru's 
sovereignty, and said there had never been even a whisper in 
that body that the U.S. was a potential threat.  He added, 
however, that a number of military officers had asked him at 
different times about the claim that a U.S. textbook outlines 
a plan to seize control of the Amazon on behalf of the USG, 
so he knew that this bit of misinformation had some currency. 
 He had repeatedly explained, he said, that the text story is 
fraudulent and was concocted by someone in Brazil.  He spoke 
of his own desire to promote a richer exchange between the 
U.S. and Peruvian militaries, and regretted that Article 98 
restrictions have complicated this. 
 
4. (S) At a 6/23 meeting, the Ambassador raised the issue 
with DefMin Chiabra.  The Ambassador said he had initially 
assumed that such a briefing could not have been given to 
another government unless it reflected an approved Army 
position.  The Ambassador accepted the apology and assurances 
General Biengolea gave to USDAO, but nonetheless wished to 
bring the matter to Chiabra's attention.  This theory of U.S. 
designs on the Amazon was born about 40 years ago in a 
Brazilian war college.  Considering the premise laughable, 
the U.S. did not act to counter it.  Over time the theory 
became entrenched.  The Ambassador gave Chiabra a copy taken 
from the internet of the fake "textbook" map of a 
U.S.-dominated Amazon Basin, and of the Brazilian Embassy in 
Washington's acknowledgment that it was a forgery, to 
illustrate the sort of misinformation going around. 
 
5. (S) Chiabra thanked the Ambassador for handling the issue 
by coming to him personally and quietly in this way.  He 
noted that the Defense Ministry had set up an interagency 
National Security Council to review threats, and had 
published a White Paper on Defense towards the same end. 
Those processes, which did not reflect a U.S. threat, 
represented the institution's views, not Col. Tenorio's 
briefing.  Chiabra said it was worrisome to imagine colonels 
having the prerogative of making their own policies; 
hypothetically, a briefing could assert a territorial or 
maritime boundary claim contrary to GOP policy. 
 
6. (S) Leaving aside the specific instance, Chiabra agreed 
that MinDef needed to make a low-key ("suave") effort to deal 
with what he acknowledged was a problematic viewpoint among 
some elements of the armed forces.  Chiabra said that a 
confluence of events -- the arrest of several senior 
generals, the drastic cutbacks in military budgets, Article 
98-mandated cutbacks in U.S. assistance/engagement, a 
conspiracy theory book floating around and the disinformation 
about U.S. designs on the Amazon -- were feeding a paranoid 
train of thought among some officers.  Chiabra said that he 
would discuss this issue with the Joint Command and the 
Service Chiefs.  They needed to keep an eye on military 
instruction and otherwise make enhanced low-key efforts to 
combat this disinformation.  (NOTE:  Per Ref B, the 
"conspiracy theory book" may be an allusion to Peruvian 
investigative journalist Ricardo Uceda's "Death in the Little 
Pentagon," which detailed alleged systematic, extra-judicial 
elimination of 300 subversives by Peruvian Army Intelligence 
during the 80s and 90s.  END NOTE.) 
 
7. (S) COMMENT.  The theory that the U.S is behind a covert 
plot to seize the Amazon Basin is a hydra-like myth that 
keeps coming back no matter how often it's quashed, 
especially now with internet diffusion at the push of a 
button.  The disturbing element here is the ease and temerity 
with which so patently false a supposition was aired in an 
international forum.  The incident highlights the need to 
work with our GOP contacts to convey the message at all 
levels that the U.S. seeks to work with Peru in partnership, 
not as adversaries.  END COMMENT. 
STRUBLE