FARC INAUGURATES CLANDESTINE POLITICAL PARTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 003734

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/26/10
TAGS: PINS PTER MASS PINR PHUM CO
SUBJECT: FARC INAUGURATES CLANDESTINE POLITICAL PARTY

REFS: A) BOGOTA 3560 B) BOGOTA 3610

CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR CURTIS W. KAMMAN, REASON 1.5(B).

SUMMARY
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1. (C) AMIDST GREAT FANFARE AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
ONLOOKERS, THE FARC ANNOUNCED APRIL 29 ITS "CLANDESTINE
POLITICAL PARTY," THE "BOLIVARIAN MOVEMENT." FARC CHIEF
MARULANDA SAID THE CLANDESTINE CHARACTER OF THE PARTY WAS
INTENDED TO PROTECT ITS MEMBERS FROM A SYSTEMATIC MURDER
CAMPAIGN SUCH AS THAT WHICH BEFELL THE U.P. IN THE
1980'S. ALL WHO SHARE THE FARC'S THINKING, WHETHER OR
NOT THEY APPROVE OF ITS ARMED STRUGGLE, ARE WELCOME TO
JOIN, SAID PARTY DIRECTOR AND FARC SECRETARIAT MEMBER
ALFONSO CANO. THE PARTY'S PLATFORM IS RURAL
POPULIST/COMMUNIST. THE INAUGURATION OF THE PARTY MAY BE
INTENDED TO GATHER POLITICAL SUPPORT FOR THE UNPOPULAR
GUERRILLA MOVEMENT; COULD BE PART OF AN EFFORT TO
INSTITUTIONALIZE FARC CONTROL OF AREAS UNDER ITS
INFLUENCE; OR MAY BE A DIVERSION TO UNDERMINE SUPPORT FOR
THE MILITARY COMPONENT OF PLAN COLOMBIA. AT ABOUT THE
SAME TIME CANO INAUGURATED THE PARTY, FARC MILITARY
COMMANDER BRICENO REPORTEDLY ORDERED HIS TROOPS TO STEP
UP WAR ACTIONS. END SUMMARY.


MARULANDA ANNOUNCES COMMUNIST, CLANDESTINE PARTY
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2. (U) ACCORDING TO PRESS REPORTS, THE FARC TRUCKED IN
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM AROUND PUTUMAYO,
CAQUETA, AND HUILA DEPARTMENTS TO WITNESS THE APRIL 29
INAUGURATION OF ITS POLITICAL PARTY, THE BOLIVARIAN
MOVEMENT ("MOVIMIENTO BOLIVARIANO"),AT SAN VICENTE DEL
CAGUAN, IN ITS DESPEJE (DEMILITARIZED ZONE). A PARADE OF
FARC COMBATANTS, THE LAUNCHING OF 50,000 BALLOONS, A
BARBECUE OF 400 HEAD OF CATTLE, AND A "VALLENATO" MUSIC
CONCERT ROUNDED OUT THE DAY'S ACTIVITIES. BEFORE AN
ENTHUSIASTIC, ASSAULT RIFLE-TOTING CROWD OF THOUSANDS,
FARC LEADER MANUEL MARULANDA ("TIROFIJO") ANNOUNCED THAT
THE PARTY WOULD, FOR THE TIME BEING, REMAIN CLANDESTINE.
SPEAKING BEFORE A LARGE, PUBLIC CROWD, MARULANDA SAID THE
ANONYMITY OF THE MOVEMENT'S MEMBERS WAS NECESSARY TO
AVOID THE FATE OF THE "UNION PATRIOTICA." (NOTE: 2,000 -
3,000 MEMBERS OF THE PATRIOTIC UNION, A LEGAL, LEFTIST
POLITICAL PARTY PRINCIPALLY CONSTITUTED BY THE FARC AND
THE COLOMBIAN COMMUNIST PARTY, WERE MURDERED IN THE MID-
AND LATE-1980'S. AS A SURVIVAL TACTIC, THE UP FORMALLY
SEVERED ITS LINKS TO THE FARC IN THE LATE 1980'S. MUCH
DEBILITATED, IT STILL EXISTS TODAY. END NOTE.)


CANO PRESENTS PARTY PLATFORM
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3. (C) MARULANDA INTRODUCED FARC SECRETARIAT MEMBER
ALFONSO CANO AS THE PARTY'S DIRECTOR. (NOTE: CANO IS THE
FARC'S PREMIER POLITICO, AND RECENTLY HAS HAD LITTLE
INVOLVEMENT IN EITHER THE PEACE PROCESS OR THE FARC'S
MILITARY OFFENSIVES. HE WAS THE FARC'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR
FOR THE UNSUCCESSFUL PEACE TALKS WITH THE GAVIRIA
GOVERNMENT, 1990-1993. END NOTE.) CANO SAID THE PARTY
ASPIRED TO NATIONAL POLITICAL POWER, AND THAT SOME OF ITS
MEMBERS WOULD COMPETE CLANDESTINELY IN THE OCTOBER
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. THE PARTY WOULD PROVIDE "AN
ALTERNATIVE TO COLOMBIA'S CORRUPT, TRADITIONAL POLITICAL
ELITES, AND WOULD BE OPEN TO ALL PERSONS WHO IDENTIFY
WITH THE FARC'S THINKING, IF NOT WITH ITS ARMED STRUGGLE
. . . AND WHO ARE NOT ENEMIES OF THE STATE (I.E.,
PARAMILITARIES, CORRUPT POLITICIANS)."


4. (U) CANO OUTLINED A RURAL POPULIST/COMMUNIST
PLATFORM, WHICH FOCUSSED ON EXTENDING BASIC SERVICES TO
RURAL AREAS. HE PROPOSED STRONG STATE INTERVENTION IN
THE ECONOMY, AGRARIAN REFORM, AND AN AUTARKIC ECONOMY
WHICH WOULD REMAIN CLOSED TO "THE EMPIRE" (I.E., THE
UNITED STATES). CANO CALLED FOR SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND
TREATMENT OF BLACK AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES. HE
CHARACTERIZED THE PARTY AS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE
FARC'S PREFERENCE FOR POLITICAL, RATHER THAN ARMED,
STRUGGLE. HOWEVER, SHOULD THE USG AND THE GOC CONTINUE
CURRENT POLICIES, CANO SAID THE FARC WOULD BE LEFT NO
CHOICE BUT TO GIVE PRIORITY TO ARMED STRUGGLE.


NOT A NEW INITIATIVE
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5. (U) CANO SAID THE FARC FOUNDED THE BOLIVARIAN
MOVEMENT IN 1996, WHEN IT BEGAN FORMING CELLS IN HIGH
SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, FACTORIES AND ELSEWHERE. THE
ELECTION OF THE PARTY'S GOVERNING BOARD, THE "BOLIVARIAN
PATRIOTIC COUNCIL, COMPOSED OF 100 WELL-KNOWN
COLOMBIANS," WOULD SOON FOLLOW. (NOTE: THE FARC HAS
PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED THE EXISTENCE OF THE BOLIVARIAN
MOVEMENT ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, BUT NEVER WITH SO MUCH
FANFARE. THE MOVEMENT HAS ALTERNATIVELY BEEN DESCRIBED
AS AN "INTELLECTUAL CADRE" FOR THE FARC. ITS FORMATION
WAS FIRST CALLED FOR AT THE FARC'S EIGHTH PLENARY
CONGRESS IN 1993. COLOMBIAN LAW PROSCRIBES MEMBERSHIP IN
THE FARC AND SEVERAL OTHER ORGANIZATIONS; THE LEGALITY OF
MEMBERSHIP IN THE BOLIVARIAN MOVEMENT IS SO FAR UNCLEAR.
END NOTE.)


(C) DID THE NINTH PLENARY OCCUR?
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6. (C) THE LAUNCHING OF THE BOLIVARIAN MOVEMENT MAY NOT
HAVE BEEN THE ONLY BIG FARC GATHERING IN THE DESPEJE IN
RECENT WEEKS: THE FARC'S NINTH PLENARY MEETING WAS
SCHEDULED FOR MARCH OR APRIL 2000. AT THESE RARE, MAJOR
GATHERINGS OF FARC FRONT COMMANDERS, PLANS AND POLICIES
FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS ARE SET. HOWEVER, EMBASSY HAS
BEEN UNABLE TO CONFIRM WHETHER THE NINTH PLENARY
MEETING IN FACT OCCURRED.


WHILE CANO TALKS POLITICS, JOJOY TALKS WAR
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7. (U) BOGOTA PRESS PUBLISHED APRIL 29 A RADIO ADDRESS
BY FARC MILITARY LEADER JORGE BRICENO (AKA, "MONO JOJOY")
TO HIS TROOPS. THE ADDRESS WAS REPORTEDLY INTERCEPTED BY
ARMY INTELLIGENCE. BRICENO SAID, "THIS IS OUR BASIC
TENET: WE MUST ATTACK, KIDNAP, FLAY; THAT IS, STRIP THE
ENEMIES OF THE REVOLUTION OF THEIR MONEY." HE CALLED FOR
USING THE RESPITE PROVIDED BY THE PEACE TALKS TO DOUBLE
THE NUMBER OF FARC COMBATANTS, "FROM 16,000 TO 32,000."
HE CALLED ON FARC MEMBERS TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT: "SOME OF
OUR PEOPLE WILL DO SO IN KEEPING WITH THE CONSTITUTION BY
ACTING IN AN OPEN FASHION AND OTHERS WILL WORK ON THE
FRINGES OF THE LAW BY USING WEAPONS." REGARDING THE
BOLIVARIAN MOVEMENT, BRICENO REPORTEDLY SAID IT WOULD BE
WELCOMED "SO LONG AS THEY CONSTRUCT A PARTY FOR WAR."
REGARDING THE OCTOBER ELECTIONS, BRICENO SAID, "BALLOT
BOXES MUST BE BURNED AND EVERYTHING DESTROYED . . . AND
WHEN THE GOVERNMENT POLITICIANS COME, WHETHER LIBERAL OR
CONSERVATIVE, WE WILL TAKE THEM PRISONER." WHEN
CONFRONTED BY A JOURNALIST WITH BRICENO'S UNTIMELY
REMARKS, CANO SAID HE WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THEM, AND
ATTRIBUTED THEM TO ARMY DISINFORMATION.


COMMENT
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8. (C) BY FORMALLY LAUNCHING THE BOLIVARIAN MOVEMENT,
THE FARC IS MAKING ITS FIRST FORAY INTO PARTY POLITICS IN
15 YEARS. THE CLANDESTINE CHARACTER OF THE PARTY IS, AS
MARULANDA SAID, A REACTION TO THE 1980'S MURDERS OF UP
MEMBERS. SO WHY THIS, AND WHY NOW? DOUBTLESS, THE FARC
IS TRYING TO STEAL BACK THE SPOTLIGHT FROM THE ELN, WHICH
HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF MUCH ATTENTION LATELY (REF A).
GIVEN THE CONGRESSIONAL CRISIS AND WIDESPREAD
DISENCHANTMENT WITH TRADITIONAL PARTIES, THE TIME SEEMS
RIPE TO LAUNCH (OR RE-LAUNCH) A POLITICAL PARTY -- FORMER
BOGOTA MAYOR ANTANAS MOCKUS JUST DID IT, AND SO DID THE
LABOR UNIONS. THE FARC KNOWS LACK OF REAL POLITICAL
SUPPORT IS ITS ACHILLES' HEEL, AND IS TRYING TO RECRUIT
SOME. ALSO, SEVERAL DEVELOPMENTS -- THE FARC'S RECENT
ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW "TAXES" NATIONWIDE AND A SEPARATE,
REVOLUTIONARY JUSTICE SYSTEM FOR THE DESPEJE, AS WELL AS
THE INAUGURATION OF THE BOLIVARIAN MOVEMENT -- LEAD US TO
BELIEVE THE FARC IS TRYING TO INSTITUTIONALIZE CONTROL
OVER THE MUNICIPALITIES UNDER ITS SWAY. FINALLY, THE
FARC FEARS USG MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO THE GOC. BY
ENGAGING IN CEASE-FIRE TALKS (BEGUN APRIL 27, REF B) AND
SUPPOSEDLY PURSUING POWER VIA ITS NEW POLITICAL PARTY,
THE FARC MAY BE TRYING TO UNDERMINE POLITICAL SUPPORT FOR
THE MILITARY COMPONENT OF PLAN COLOMBIA.

KAMMAN


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