Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04BOGOTA12736
2004-12-15 17:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bogota
Cable title:  

AUC COMMANDER MANCUSO DEMOBILIZES WITH CATATUMBO

Tags:  PTER PHUM PGOV CO AUC 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 012736 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2014
TAGS: PTER PHUM PGOV CO AUC
SUBJECT: AUC COMMANDER MANCUSO DEMOBILIZES WITH CATATUMBO
BLOC

REF: BOGOTA 12188

Classified By: DCM Milton K. Drucker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

-------
Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 012736

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2014
TAGS: PTER PHUM PGOV CO AUC
SUBJECT: AUC COMMANDER MANCUSO DEMOBILIZES WITH CATATUMBO
BLOC

REF: BOGOTA 12188

Classified By: DCM Milton K. Drucker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) Over 1400 members of the AUC's Catatumbo Bloc --
including AUC military commander Salvatore Mancuso --
demobilized in a public ceremony in Norte de Santander
Department on December 10. The Bloc surrendered over 1500
quality weapons, as well as over 150 pieces of real estate in
the region. In his address, Mancuso asked for forgiveness
from the Colombian people, foreign nations -- particularly
the U.S. -- and "every mother whose pain (he) had caused or
permitted." Most of the demobilizing fighters were young men
from the departments of Norte de Santander, Cordoba, or
Antioquia, and the GOC will set up reinsertion centers for
the demobilized fighters in these three departments.
Residents of the Catatumbo region -- and demobilized
Catatumbo Bloc fighters -- have reasonable concerns about a
FARC resurgence in the region, and the GOC has responded by
permanently transferring an entire counterguerrilla battalion
from Arauca to Catatumbo. Peace Commissioner Restrepo has
asked the Embassy to support GOC efforts to secure the region
by conducting an aggressive aerial eradication campaign
northwest of the Catatumbo River and providing the COLMIL
presence in the zone with riverine patrol boats and military
helicopters. End Summary.

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Demobilization: Guns and Grenades, Homes and Haciendas
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) On December 10, in what GOC High Commissioner for
Peace Luis Carlos Restrepo characterized as the largest
demobilization in Colombian history, 1,423 members of the
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia's (AUC) Catatumbo Bloc
-- including AUC military commander Salvatore Mancuso --
demobilized in a formal ceremony in a rural zone of Tibu
municipality, Norte de Santander Department. The
paramilitary fighters, divided into field troops dressed in
fatigues and urban operatives in specially ordered
tee-shirts, turned in over 1500 weapons that OAS Verification
Mission inspectors confirmed were in excellent condition.
According to official OAS figures, the GOC collected over 950

AK-47 (some with Colombian military (COLMIL) markings),50
side arms, 600 grenades, 20 mortars, and 10 RPGs. The
weapons were transported that evening via armed convoy to the
departmental capital of Cucuta, where they will be stored
until the GOC passes a regulation authorizing their
destruction.


3. (SBU) The Catatumbo Bloc provided the GOC with a list of
local assets it was surrendering as part of the
demobilization, including 105 rural properties, 58 urban
homes and businesses, 10 boats, and 45 mules. The Bloc also
turned over several vehicles and 15 dogs trained to detect
explosives. According to Restrepo, the GOC will attempt to
return illegally seized real estate to its rightful owners,
although many properties originally seized from Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or National Liberation Army
(ELN) sympathizers are likely to go unclaimed. Funds from
the sale of unclaimed buildings and lands will be invested in
a compensation fund for victims of paramilitary violence.

-------------- --------------
The Guests: A High-Powered Crowd in a Neglected Region
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Restrepo presided over the demobilization ceremony,
where he was joined at the head table by Mancuso, Monsignor
Jorge Vidal, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Monteria, Cordoba
Department, Sergio Caramanga, director of the OAS
Verification Mission in Colombia, Ivan Roberto Duque, aka
"Ernesto Baez," the rhetorically-gifted commander of the
paramilitary Central Bolivar Bloc (BCB),the governor of
Norte de Santander, and the mayors of Cucuta and Tibu. Also
present at the event were members of congress sympathetic to
the AUC, including representatives Eleonora Pineda and Rocio
Arias and Senator Carlos Moreno.

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Belated Repentance
--------------


5. (U) Under a withering tropical sun, Mancuso addressed
paramilitary troops assembled on a muddy field that passed
for an improvised parade ground. In a speech punctuated more
than once with what appeared to be heartfelt emotion, he
asked for "the forgiveness of the people of Colombia. "I
ask," he said, "for the forgiveness of the nations of the
world, among them the United States of America, if by action
or omission I have offended them. I beg for the forgiveness
of every mother whose pain we have caused or permitted. I
assume my responsibility for the leadership I have exercised,
for what I could have done better, and for what I could have
done and did not do." Catatumbo Bloc commander alias
"Camilo," a former Colombian Army captain, also asked for
forgiveness for his errors, particularly his decision to
desert and join the AUC.

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Profile of the Troops
--------------


6. (C) "Camilo" was not the only ex-member of the Colombian
military among the demobilizing troops. An Embassy official
present at the event spoke to a young fighter who admitted to
deserting the Army and joining the AUC after he was accused
of killing civilians in southern Bolivar department. Nearly
all the former fighters -- only about 30 of whom were women
-- appeared to be in their late teens to mid twenties.
According to a survey of the demobilizing fighters conducted
on site by the International Organization for Migration
(IOM),less than a third were from Norte de Santander
Department. Nearly a third were from Cordoba, birthplace of
the AUC, and almost 20 percent from the department of
Antioquia, most from its lowland Uraba region. As a result
of the survey, the GOC will establish reinsertion centers for
former Catatumbo Bloc members in Cucuta, Monteria, and Turbo,
in Uraba, where the AUC's Bananero Bloc demobilized on
November 25 (reftel).


7. (U) Although most members of the Catatumbo Bloc were from
outside the region, hundreds of family members of local
recruits were present at the event. As demobilized fighters
wandered among the spectators after laying down their
weapons, mothers slogged through the mud to embrace their
prodigal sons, most of whom will have to depart the region
out of fear of FARC reprisals.

--------------
Security Concerns and Pleas for Assistance
--------------


8. (SBU) Concerns about a guerrilla -- and particularly a
FARC -- resurgence in the coca-rich Catatumbo region was
palpable among both local residents and former fighters.
Residents of many Catatumbo communities have noted an
increase in FARC presence since the demobilization was
announced, some claim the FARC has summoned "cocalero"
community leaders to discuss the new organization of the drug
trade, and the current managers of most formerly AUC-owned
businesses have fled the region. According to local OAS
officials, the most common concern they heard in their
mandatory interviews with demobilizing fighters was that the
FARC would take advantage of their absence to retake former
paramilitary zones in Catatumbo, negating the sacrifices they
made to secure the region.


9. (C) To address residents' legitimate security concerns,
the Army's Second Division has transferred -- permanently --
an entire counterguerrilla battalion from Arauca Department
to Catatumbo. Restrepo told the Embassy that the USG could
support GOC efforts to consolidate Government control of the
region by conducting an aggressive aerial eradication
campaign northwest of the Catatumbo River, where most of
Catatumbo's coca is grown. He emphasized that this campaign
should include the nearly 2000 acres of coca controlled by
the FARC in Bari National Park, in northern Norte de
Santander along the border with Venezuela. (Note: The GOC
has so far not permitted spraying in national parks, so
Restrepo's request is probably merely personal.) Restrepo
also asked for USG assistance in providing the COLMIL with
patrol boats to use on the navigable Catatumbo River, which
was previously controlled by the AUC, as well as two military
helicopters. According to Restrepo, the COLMIL currently has
no air assets in the Catatumbo region.
WOOD