US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA10377

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 010377 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INL/LP 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/AND 
DEPARTMENT FOR USMISSION OAS WASHDC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SNAR, CO 
SUBJECT: COUNTERNARCOTICS PROGRAMS UNDER PUBLIC ATTACK 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood, Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: Over the last few months our 
counternarcotics programs, particularly aerial eradication, 
have received substantial negative publicity and public 
comment.  The discussion risks making the spray program even 
more of an issue in the upcoming Colombian elections than 
would normally be the case.  This comes at a time when we are 
being asked to cut our budget, even though our programs are 
still producing record results and the GOC is looking for 
even more assistance.  On November 2, President Uribe called 
the Ambassador to express his concerns.  END SUMMARY 
 
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LEADING WEEKLY SAYS WAR IS LOST 
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2.  (SBU) On October 12, "Semana," the leading Colombian 
weekly, ran a story entitled, "The War is Lost."  The opening 
of the story stated, "For some renowned experts, the war 
against drugs is lost, and we have to go back to the drawing 
board and start again."  The article was largely the result 
of a seminar held in the Los Andes University.  Panelists 
were billed as experts from the United States, Europe, and 
Latin America.  While the nations of Europe came under 
criticism, much of the seminar was devoted to well-worn 
comments abut U.S. drug policy, such as the U.S. should worry 
more about demand; the U.S. is militarizing the battle 
against drugs in Colombia; U.S. counternarcotics efforts are 
contributing to human rights abuses and corruption; and 
aerial spraying is not effective in reducing supply.  These 
types of articles and comments about our programs are 
commonplace in Colombia, but the fact that the seminar that 
generated these was at a prestigious conservative university 
and the article was carried by "Semana" magazine, the 
Colombian equivalent of Newsweek, is of some concern. 
 
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CONTROLLER GENERAL ASKS FOR REEVALUATION OF DRUG POLICY 
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3.  (SBU) The leading daily "El Tiempo" ran an editorial on 
October 30 entitled, "A Failed Strategy."  While much of the 
article was based on the seminar described in the preceding 
paragraph, the Colombian Controller General, Antonio 
Hernandez Gamarra, was reported to have said that Colombia 
was long overdue in putting national interests ahead of the 
drug war.  The article also reported that he said there 
should be a cost-benefit analysis of a policy that has not 
managed to reduce supply.  "El Tiempo" also reported that he 
said maybe it was time to see if prevention would be better 
than repression, and he suggested that dealing with this as a 
public health issue, instead of a police one, might be the 
way to go.  These sorts of comments from a high-level GOC 
official are unusual and do not reflect the policy of 
President Uribe, but they do resonate with the public and our 
critics. 
 
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ECUADOR CONDEMNING SPRAY PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL COURT 
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4.  (SBU) Ecuador's Ombudsman for the People has recently 
presented a case against Colombia and the aerial eradication 
program at the International Court of Human Rights (ICHR) in 
Costa Rica.  The suit makes many false allegations regarding 
damage to human health and the environment as  a result of 
aerial eradication efforts on the Colombian side of the 
Colombia-Ecuador border.  The GOC has presented their defense 
based on sound science, including a recent study from CICAD, 
the OAS entity that deals with illicit narcotics.  This study 
found no significant ill effects to human health or the 
environment.  Whatever the outcome, this case has generated 
significant negative publicity for the spray program.  As 
with all negative publicity, the Embassy makes an effort to 
counter it, but it is often an uphill battle.  If the case 
were found to have merit, then there could perhaps be a 
court-ordered cessation of spraying along the 
Colombia-Ecuador border, or, worst case, a cessation of all 
spraying.  Post believes that if evaluated on the facts, the 
case will be found not to have merit, but the court's past 
decisions have not always been predictable. 
 
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PRESIDENT URIBE CALLS TO EXPRESS CONCERN 
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5. (C) President Uribe called the Ambassador early on 
November 2 to express concern about reports of renewed coca 
and opium poppy cultivation in Narino department and, more 
generally, along the Pacific coast.  He cited the seminar and 
articles mentioned above as evidence of the pressure that the 
spray program is under and urged maximum U.S. effort in the 
short and medium term.  He again raised the hope that we 
could fund a fourth spray package.  Ambassador assured him 
that we were making a maximum effort and that we were focused 
on the Pacific coast, but again reiterated that funding 
levels would not permit a fourth spray package.  The 
Ambassador noted that we were meeting that day with police, 
military, and other GOC officials in order to find ways to 
improve targeting of cultivation, while improving security 
for spray pilots from ground fire 
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EMBASSY COMMENT: CRITICISM COULD IMPEDE PROGRAM 
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6.  (C) COMMENT: The recent criticism of our spray program 
may have an element of election-year posturing, but if it 
gains support, it nonetheless will impede the program.  To 
date this year, we are still setting records for fumigation, 
seizures, money laundering arrests, and extraditions.  END 
COMMENT 
WOOD