US embassy cable - 05LIMA4985

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LIMA 004985 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC, PE, PGOV, PTER, SNAR, AID 
SUBJECT: SENDERO THREATENS ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT PARTNER 
COMMUNITIES 
 
REF: LIMA 4784 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified, Please Protect Accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Sendero Luminoso (SL) remnants in the 
Upper Huallaga have threatened five communities either to 
reject Alternative Development (AD) or suffer the 
consequences. This follows the kidnapping of AD USG 
contractors on 11/6 (reftel).  Post is curtailing AD 
operations in the immediate area due to security concerns. 
End Summary. 
 
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SL Threats to AD Communities 
---------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) According to reliable field sources of USG 
contractor Chemonics, on 11/9 approximately 15 Sendero 
Luminoso (SL) members dressed in black and armed with short 
and medium range weapons entered the village of Hidayacu in 
the Shambillo-Boqueon Valley in the Province of Padre Abad of 
the Ucayali Department.  Though no direct contact was 
reported, residents saw them and were intimidated by the 
armed presence.  Subsequently, the SL column traveled to the 
town of Hormiga in the same valley where they told residents 
that any local or government leaders supporting the 
Alternative Development (AD) personnel in eradication would 
be punished.  Both Hidayacu and Hormiga are graduates of the 
AD Program having voluntarily eradicated their coca and 
received development benefits. 
 
3. (SBU) On 11/11, according to the Chemonics sources, 
approximately 15 members of the same SL column deployed to 
the villages of Rio Blanco, Rio Negro, and Shambillo Alto in 
the Shambillo Valley and made similar threats to residents 
regarding their support for the AD Program.  Rio Blanco had 
historically rejected AD, however recently welcomed the 
program due to the viability of palm oil as an alternative 
crop.  A notorious cocalero with sizable plots in the 
village, "Negro John", had even come around to accept the AD 
Program. 
 
4. (SBU) The threats in the Shambillo Valley are believed to 
be by the same SL column that was involved in the Santa Rosa 
de Yanajanca kidnapping of AD contractors (reftel).  The 
recent threats indicate that the SL members are now operating 
on both sides of the Huallaga River and crossing between the 
Huanuco and Ucayali departments.  According to cocalero 
expert Jaime Antesana, SL freely travels this corridor from 
the Shambillo Valley to the Tingo Maria area. 
 
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Changing SL Tactics 
------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) In the Upper Huallaga, evidence indicates SL is 
working with cocaleros to grow coca and infiltrate and co-opt 
communities.  In the 11/6 Santa Rosa de Yanajanca kidnapping 
incident (reftel), members of the community were involved 
with SL in the abductions and questioning.  The kidnapped 
workers had previously made an AD presentation to the 
community without incident.  The community members had 
invited the AD workers back to the community only to ambush 
them with SL members, specifically targeting the AD Program. 
 
6. (SBU) According to Antesana, in the Apurimac and Ene 
Rivers Valley (VRAE), SL are even more integrated in 
communities and into the narcotrafficking chain.  (Note: 
Septel will detail the situation in the VRAE, the region in 
South-central Peru, separate from the Upper Huallaga, which 
is the other primary area of Sendero and cocalero activity. 
It is an area of intense coca cultivation where AD is 
operating in 66 communities, but has had little success 
beyond two districts. End Note.)  Antesana said the SL 
temporarily lay down their arms to work the coca fields with 
the cocaleros.  According to Antesana, in the VRAE SL has 
moved beyond growing coca and protecting transporters, to now 
processing coca paste and transporting coca and coca paste 
themselves. 
 
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GOP Response to Threats against AD Partners 
------------------------------------------- 
7. (SBU) The victims filed a complaint with the Peruvian 
National Police (PNP) for robbery and assault, but were too 
frightened to report the incident as a kidnapping by armed SL 
members.  Therefore, the PNP can take no action in the 
kidnapping case.  The 11/6 kidnapping received very little 
press coverage initially and little public response from the 
GOP.   Only on 11/18 when Congressman Luis Iberico Nunez 
President of the Defense, Internal Order, Alternative 
Development, and Counternarcotics Commission expressed 
concern to the press did multiple papers pick up the story. 
Iberico told the press he was concerned about the muted 
response by the GOP and said he would summon the Ministers of 
Interior and Defense to discuss the SL activities. 
 
8. (SBU) Unlike the forced eradication team, which is 
protected by a contingent of DIRANDRO police, the 
cooperative, voluntary nature of AD work precludes the AD 
field team from traveling with police.  Without a special 
escort, a permanent, authoritative state presence is 
necessary to ensure safety and order - this currently does 
not exist in the area in question.  (Note: When USG AD 
employees travel to this area, they have a security escort. 
End Note.) 
 
---------------- 
What We're Doing 
---------------- 
 
9. (SBU) Given the threats to Chemonics employees, Post has 
decided to curtail operations in the disputed areas. USAID 
has prohibited Chemonics staff from entering the Rio Blanco 
area until further notice.  Chemonics is focusing on 
achieving the 2005 voluntary eradication target, 
concentrating its efforts in non-conflictive areas of Ucayali 
and San Martin.  Chemonics has taken the following near term 
security precautions: ceased all socializing and voluntary 
eradication activities in the Department of Huanuco north of 
Tingo Maria; halted all travel to communities in the disputed 
area; restricted use of project vehicles outside of Tingo 
Maria; and begun rotating staff involved in the kidnapping 
incident to other offices.  Chemonics is no longer looking 
for AD opportunities in the disputed area. 
 
10. (SBU) When Rio Blanco representatives heard that the AD 
Program was planning to halt operations there, they contacted 
CADA, the agency responsible for measuring and documenting 
coca and its eradication, and assured them of their safety. 
The community has decided not/not to heed the threats of the 
SL and to voluntarily eradicate their coca.  Over the weekend 
of 11/19-20, the community voluntarily eradicated 70 hectares 
and expects to eradicate 80 more hectares by 11/24.  The AD 
Program plans to eventually provide assistance to develop the 
palm oil sector and fix a road to assist in transport of 
their licit products to market. 
 
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Comment 
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11. (SBU) The kidnapping followed by the threats to important 
AD community partners significantly ups the ante for 
implementing our AD strategy in the area.  Given the nature 
of the work and the lack of police presence in the areas, 
Post has little option other than to retreat our cooperative, 
voluntary AD Program from these disputed areas for the time 
being.  These threats to the AD Program will be considered as 
we finalize the 2006 AD Strategy.   Post plans to follow-up 
with forced eradication in the vicinity of the kidnapping 
next year. 
 
12. (SBU) At the root of the problem is a lack of state 
presence in these areas creating a space for subversives to 
fill.  The SL remnants with a relatively weak military 
presence (an estimated 150 members in the Upper Huallaga) are 
making the areas unsafe.  Even in areas where the SL is not 
active (e.g., Polvora) the lack of a police presence permits 
a general unruliness where citizens on the street are armed 
and wild-west-style justice is accepted.  This problem is 
compounded by the lack of vocal allies other than Iberico in 
defense of the AD program. 
 
13. (SBU) The kidnapping and threats provide troubling 
evidence of the intensifying links between SL and cocaleros. 
Post will continue to closely monitor SL's activities to 
determine if the kidnapping was a defining moment in SL's 
strategy and if we can expect an escalation of the threats. 
End Comment. 
STRUBLE