US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA8513

UNCLAS  BOGOTA 008513 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PTER, CO 
SUBJECT: FARC INTRANSIGENT, ELN IN POSSIBLE RESPONSE TO NEW 
GOC PEACE OVERTURES 
 
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Summary 
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1. (U) On September 4, Episcopal Conference President Castro 
suggested that the FARC consider new peace options to restart 
negotiations with the GOC but noted that he disapproved of 
former President Turbay's notion of trading eleven FARC 
hostages for one imprisoned FARC guerrilla.  FARC Spokesman 
Raul Reyes rehashed the group's demands and claimed only a 
concerted effort could overcome the negotiation impasse.  The 
ELN cited five barriers to peace in an August 25 communique, 
indicating that both guerrilla groups remain focused on 
well-established barriers to negotiation.  On September 7, 
the GOC announced it would permit ELN leader Francisco Galan 
to leave prison for three months to further possible ELN-GOC 
peace talks. End summary. 
 
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Church's Call for New Ideas 
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2. (U) Episcopal (Bishop's) Conference President Archbishop 
Luis Castro asked the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(FARC) to consider a "change in course" to restart talks with 
the GOC during his September 4 mass.  The remarks inaugurated 
the annual NGO and Catholic Church-sponsored "Week of Peace" 
to discuss new avenues towards a negotiated settlement 
between the GOC and insurgent groups.  On September 5, Castro 
told leading daily "El Tiempo" that President Uribe had made 
repeated overtures, which the FARC ignored, thus blocking 
negotiation.  Castro urged the guerrillas to approve a 
ceasefire and reopen negotiations with the GOC.  Castro 
rejected Former President Julio Turbay's September 3 idea of 
a "pro-rated exchange" in which the FARC would release ten 
extortive kidnap victims and one political hostage in 
exchange for the release of one imprisoned FARC member, 
commenting it would prove too complicated to implement. 
 
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FARC Rehashes Demands 
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3. (U) FARC Spokesman Luis Edgar Devia AKA "Raul Reyes" also 
declined Turbay's suggestion in an interview posted on 
ANNCOL's website on September 4.  He stressed that FARC 
hostages, whether held for political or economic reasons, 
could only be exchanged as a group.  In a separate FARC 
Secretariat communique on September 5, they (1) refused the 
Catholic Church's August 23 "pre-dialogue" offer; (2) thanked 
the Church and other facilitators for their efforts; and (3) 
stated that only a concerted effort to unite Colombians could 
successfully establish a prisoner exchange and open a path to 
future negotiations.  During the ANNCOL interview, Reyes 
added the recently arrested FARC "representative in Brazil" 
Francisco Antonio Cadenas AKA  "El Cura" to the list of FARC 
leaders required for an exchange.  The FARC insisted that 
"Sonia," Simon Trinidad, extradited to the United States; 
Rodrigo Granda, currently in Colombia; and Francisco Cadenas 
in Brazil all be released. 
 
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ELN Names Five Barriers to Peace 
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4. (U) The National Liberation Army (ELN) replied to the 
Church's August 23 "pre-dialogue" proposal with an ambiguous 
communique; the message neither approved nor rejected 
Castro's proposal.  However, the group's August 25 communique 
accused the GOC of creating five barriers to peace: (1) the 
GOC failure to recognize the social, economic and political 
causes of Colombia's conflict; (2) the GOC's notion that 
peace talks are strictly a government-insurgency dialogue; 
(3) its refusal to acknowledge the humanitarian crisis faced 
by poorer Colombians victimized by the conflict; (4) the 
government's denial that an internal conflict exists; and (5) 
its "peace process" with paramilitaries and the Law of 
Justice and Peace which benefited criminals.  On September 7, 
President Uribe offered to recognize Colombia's violence as 
an internal conflict in exchange for the ELN agreeing to a 
ceasefire and peace talks. 
 
5. (U) In a late development on September 7, the GOC 
announced its willingness to release imprisoned ELN leader 
Gerardo Antonio Bermudez Sanchez AKA "Francisco Galan" for 
three months to help establish peace talks.  The GOC 
communique noted the ELN leadership's interest in beginning 
an exploratory dialogue with civil society and eventually 
with the GOC.  The GOC based Galan's temporary release on 
Colombian Law 782, which allows a pardon for political crimes 
like sedition if the combatant demonstrates his willingness 
to advance a peace process.  So far, Galan has served 
thirteen years of a 30 year sentence for terrorism, 
kidnapping, treason, and other miscellaneous crimes.  Local 
press reports rightly indicate that Galan's release is still 
awaiting ELN agreement to allow him to serve as a bridge to 
peace talks. 
 
 
WOOD