US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA7359

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 007359 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, MARR, MOPS, PHUM, SNAR, CO 
SUBJECT: U/S BURNS MEETING WITH COLOMBIAN MOD OSPINA 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood; reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d) 
 
1. (U) July 27, 2005, 10:00-11:00 am, Ministry of Defense, 
Bogota 
 
2. (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
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Nicholas Burns, U/S for Political Affairs 
Ambassador William B. Wood 
Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Political Counselor 
Cynthia Echeverria, P Special Assistant 
Peter Husta, Acting MilGroup Commander 
L. Scott Gage, Deputy Defense Attache 
Dana Brown, notetaker 
Luis Guio, Interpreter 
 
Colombia 
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Camilo Ospina Bernal, Minister of Defense 
Jorge Eastman, Vice Minister of Defense 
Vicente Echandia, International Defense Office 
 
 
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Summary 
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3. (C) Defense Minister Camilo Ospina briefed U/S Burns on 
his priorities during his tenure: fighting terrorism, 
locating hostages and guerrilla leaders, reforming military 
justice, strengthening U.S.-Colombian defense relations, and 
proceeding with paramilitary demobilization.  Under Secretary 
Burns emphasized our support for those initiatives but warned 
that the GOC needed to continue improving human rights 
efforts to secure future U.S. assistance.  Ospina agreed to 
work further with the Afghani government on their 
counternarcotics strategy.  He agreed to confirm the GOC's 
interest in moving ahead with bilateral military agreement 
talks and promised to respond by July 28.  Burns recommended 
that the GOC consider future areas of cooperation in advance 
of President Uribe's visit to Crawford.  End summary. 
 
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Counterterrorism Priorities 
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4. (C) Minister Camilo Ospina stressed his interest in 
defeating the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) 
and noted progress made during the Uribe Administration. 
Vice Minister Eastman added that by "defeating," Ospina meant 
forcing the FARC to the negotiating table under the GOC's 
terms rather than actually eliminating each member. 
Nevertheless, Ospina said one of his highest priorities as 
minister was to locate and capture FARC leaders.  He hoped 
high-level captures would help drive the FARC to the table. 
Another key mission, he noted, was locating the hostages and 
returning them safely.  Ospina said he was intent on 
including American citizens in any hostage release program 
and/or freeing them separately. 
 
5. (C) Ospina discussed the problem of guerrillas using 
Venezuela and Ecuador as refuges and supply sources.  He said 
the guerrillas had been displaced into the jungles and across 
the borders by the Colombian military offensive, Plan 
Patriota.  Displacement into Venezuela was a threat because 
the majority of Venezuela's military reservists used 
ammunition compatible with the FARC's weapons.  Ecuador had a 
more cooperative relationship with Colombia, but that their 
dollarized economy lent itself to money laundering. 
Venezuela was the more volatile of the two neighbors, and 
more likely to generate a border crisis as a way of diverting 
attention away from internal problems.  At the same time, he 
recognized Venezuela's recent cooperation and extradition of 
FARC leader Chiguiro. 
 
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Military Justice Remains a Vulnerability 
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6. (U) U/S Burns asked Ospina about the status of military 
justice reforms and human rights cases against the military. 
Ospina briefed on the status of the Cajamarca, Arauca, San 
Jose de Apartado, and Mapiripan cases involving the military 
and stressed that all four were pending resolution in the 
civilian justice system.  He added that the number of 
civilian complaints against the military had fallen almost 50 
percent since 2004 and credited human rights training for the 
improvement.  Burns advised Ospina that military justice 
flaws could be a serious impediment to continuing U.S. 
assistance to the Colombian public forces.  He urged that the 
military respond to charges in high-profile cases involving 
the military even as it waits for the final verdict.  The 
United States would not be providing assistance to the 17th 
Army Brigade because of human rights issues, and a failure to 
improve military justice in the near future could create 
other difficulties.  Ospina responded that he hoped to have 
the military justice reform package approved by the end of 
the year and believed the accusatorial system would help the 
military evaluate future cases much more efficiently. 
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Colombia Seeks to Strengthen Defense Relations 
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7. (S) U/S Burns raised the issue of an enhanced defense 
relationship.  Ospina requested the United States consider 
negotiating some formal military bilateral agreement in the 
near future.  A Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) or other 
enhanced defense relationship would not only improve our 
defense cooperation but also enhance regional stability. 
Neighboring nations might be concerned initially with such an 
agreement, but an agreement would be helpful in the 
long-term.  Burns responded that the United States had put 
plans to discuss these options on hold per Colombia's 
request, but would be happy to advance them if the Colombians 
were ready.  Ospina promised to consult President Uribe and 
confirm the GOC's interest before Crawford. 
 
8. (S) Ospina requested additional intelligence assistance 
and technical capabilities to allow observation of guerrillas 
under triple canopy jungle cover.  He said such information, 
and any intelligence on the whereabouts of high value 
targets, would be used to locate and defeat guerrilla forces. 
 
 
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Colombian Role Abroad 
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9. (C) Burns thanked Ospina for Colombia's efforts to share 
aerial eradication techniques with Afghanistan.  He 
congratulated Ospina on Colombia's aerial eradication 
missions that have already eradicated more than 100,000 
hectares this year, which is ahead of last year.  He 
contrasted Colombia's efforts with efforts in Afghanistan, 
which only eradicated 200 hectares.  He noted the Afghan 
government's refusal to consider aerial eradication missions. 
 Burns encouraged Colombia to continue its role as mentor to 
Afghanistan.  Ospina said Colombia would be willing to send a 
counternarcotics team there to assess the situation and offer 
advice.  Burns inquired informally whether Colombia would be 
willing to send troops to Iraq, and Ospina said he would look 
in to the possibility. 
 
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Demobilization and Peace 
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10. (C) Ospina reported that the Colombian government had 
demobilized over 13,000 illegal fighters during the Uribe 
Administration, and hoped to demobilize another 8,000 this 
year.  The GOC had three tasks involved in the demobilization 
process: (1) reduce the presence of illegal armed groups 
active, (2) protect civilians' rights while dismantling drug 
structures, and (3) prosecute terrorist leaders under the 
appropriate demobilization law.   Burns recognized that 
balancing peace with justice was difficult, but warned Ospina 
that the GOC had to rigorously and energetically implement 
the law so that the guilty were punished in Colombia or 
extradited as appropriate.  He stressed that all those who 
violate U.S. laws should be tried in the United States and 
underscored the importance of maintaining our extradition 
relationship under the new Justice and Peace law. 
 
11. (U) This message has been cleared by Under Secretary 
Burns. 
DRUCKER