US embassy cable - 05QUITO1643

UNCLAS QUITO 001643 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, CO, EC, Regional 
SUBJECT: SUSPECTED FARC MILITANTS DEPORTED 
 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  Three suspected FARC militants, captured in 
a Quito clinic on July 11, were deported to Colombia on July 
12.  President Palacio telephoned a grateful President Uribe 
on July 12 to inform him of the capture.  One of the suspects 
is believed to have led the FARC attack on the Teteye 
military base on June 25, near the Ecuadorian border, which 
resulted in numerous casualties.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) The Ecuadorian police captured three suspected FARC 
militants on July 11 at DAME, a Quito clinic, where one of 
the suspects, Juan Carlos Vera Cedeno, was being treated for 
bullet wounds.  The others were identified as Delio Tobar 
Ortiz and Ana Anton Canchingue; all three claimed to be 
agriculturists.  Two Ecuadorians, Cristobal Colon Vera 
Calderon and Efren Argemiro Barret Vera, were also detained 
and are believed to have helped transport the Colombians to 
Quito from Lago Agrio, near the Colombian border.  The 
Ecuadorian police continue to attempt to confirm the 
detainees' actual identities.  Police spokesman Juan Zapata 
said the arrest was the result of an anonymous phone tip. 
 
3.  (U) President Palacio telephoned President Uribe in Spain 
on July 12 to inform him of the detention of the suspected 
FARC militants.  Uribe, pleased by the news, claimed the 
three participated in the June 25 attack on the Teteye 
military base in Puerto Asis, Putumayo, on Ecuador's border. 
This attack caused the largest loss of GOC troops in 2005; 19 
soldiers and 3 civilians were reportedly killed. 
 
4.  (U) The director of the clinic, Narcisa Valdivieso, said 
Vera arrived at the clinic on July 2 in a Lago Agrio Hospital 
ambulance.  Vera was admitted with bullet wounds to his leg 
and arm.  According to police, the clinic did not report 
Vera's admission, in spite of Ecuadorian law stating that all 
bullet wound victims must be reported to the judicial police. 
 
5.  (U) The three Colombians were deported on July 12 for not 
having proper documents, violating migration laws.  Police 
took the detainees to Tulcan, on the Colombian border, in a 
police helicopter the evening of July 12, and later 
transferred them to the Ipiales airport, then to Bogota. 
 
Comment 
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6.  (SBU) The GOE action and Palacio's telephone conversation 
with Uribe is the strongest signal yet of the Palacio 
government's resolve to oppose actively a FARC combatant 
presence here. 
HERBERT