Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04BOGOTA1388
2004-02-11 13:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bogota
Cable title:  

MAYOR GARZON'S UNEVENTFUL FIRST MONTH IN OFFICE

Tags:  PGOV PINR CO CU 
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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 BOGOTA 001388 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2014
TAGS: PGOV PINR CO CU
SUBJECT: MAYOR GARZON'S UNEVENTFUL FIRST MONTH IN OFFICE

Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood, Reasons: 1.5 B & D.

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001388

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2014
TAGS: PGOV PINR CO CUBA'>CU
SUBJECT: MAYOR GARZON'S UNEVENTFUL FIRST MONTH IN OFFICE

Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood, Reasons: 1.5 B & D.


1. (C) Summary: Leftist Bogota mayor Luis Eduardo "Lucho"
Garzon's first month in office was largely uneventful.
Garzon has not attempted to steal President Uribe's
limelight, and has been virtually silent on security issues.
Instead, Garzon has talked up social issues. Thus far,
however, he has not implemented any new programs. Garzon is
acting in a far more responsible and measured fashion than
many pundits would have predicted. His pre-inauguration
visit to CUBA, however, did make headlines. End Summary.


2. (U) Garzon's January 1 acceptance speech was conciliatory
and measured. While recognizing his roots in the political
left, Garzon described himself as all-inclusive and stressed
"I do not polarize." Garzon offered to work with President
Uribe on public security and promotion of rule of law. He
explicitly stated that Bogota was not an independent
"republic" and that Uribe was the nation's president. He
promised new avenues for citizen participation and enhanced
efforts to combat corruption. Garzon also welcomed foreign
investment. Garzon criticized, however, Colombia's
antiquated system of fiscal federalism, and promised to do
more on the social side, in spite of tight finances. He
reiterated his campaign pledge to de-emphasize the "day
without a vehicle" policy (established by law in an effort to
reduce pollution) in favor of a "day without hunger" policy.


3. (C) In a February 4 meeting with poloffs, Garzon's
private secretary (chief of staff equivalent),Edgar Ruiz,
welcomed the recent formation of a pro-Garzon majority
coalition in the city council and said it demonstrated the
breadth of support for Garzon's socioeconomic agenda. Ruiz
noted that Bogota's finances are sound (with a very small
deficit),a fact that would permit Garzon to offer additional
spending on education and programs for the needy such as
promised soup kitchens. Ruiz added that Garzon's plan is to
levy additional consumption taxes on the upper strata
(telephone and electricity usage, for example) to provide
extra resources. Ruiz stressed that Garzon ceded public
security issues to President Uribe and planned to focus on
improving social conditions in Bogota.


4. (C) Garzon's pre-inauguration (late December) trip to
Havana did garner headlines locally and internationally.
Garzon advisor Daniel Garcia-Pena told PolCouns last month
that Garzon's encounter with Fidel Castro was hastily
arranged by the latter once Garzon was already on the island.
However, we have also heard the opposite. Since taking
office, Garzon has traveled only to Brazil to attend a
municipal forum. While there he also met with President De
Silva. According to Ruiz, Garzon hopes to visit the U.S.
(most likely Miami) and Europe in either March or April.


5. (C) Comment: Garzon's first month was a smooth ride.
Garzon is a savvy politician, and is cognizant of President
Uribe's 80 percent approval rating and excellent marks on
public security. He is unlikely to make waves on that front.
While he is prohibited from running for president in 2006,
Garzon certainly is interested in Colombia's highest office,
and needs to have a strong record of accomplishment in
Bogota, a generally conservative city. He is fortunate to
have inherited a city that benefited from a decade (two terms
of Antanas Mockus and one of Enrique Penalosa) of efficient
management. He has also inherited some ongoing public
infrastructure projects which he will be able to inaugurate
while in office. We expect him to put his nose to the
grindstone, attempting to improve infrastructure as well as
socioeconomic conditions for the impoverished masses on
Bogota's periphery. He will have his work cut out for him,
considering Bogota's high unemployment rate and public
education deficit (an estimated 100,000 local children are
not in school).
WOOD