URIBE GIVES PUBLIC ULTIMATUM TO PARAMILITARIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 004278

SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR POLITICAL COUNSELOR JEFF DELAURENTIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2014
TAGS: PTER PHUM PGOV PINR PINS SNAR ASEC CO ELN FARC
SUBJECT: URIBE GIVES PUBLIC ULTIMATUM TO PARAMILITARIES

Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).


1. (C) On April 27, President Uribe issued an ultimatum to
the country's illegal paramilitaries, warning that if they do
not accept the GOC's conditions for peace talks -- including
a verifiable cease-fire and a concentration of troops --
Government security forces will combat them until they are
destroyed. He made it crystal clear he will not negotiate
his commitment to extradite criminals to the U.S. He also
rejected a so-called "humanitarian accord" with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The
President's ultimatum, contained in an official communique
issued by his office, reflected remarks he made at a regional
security meeting in Casanare department. Uribe's communique
also accused some paramilitaries and narcotics traffickers of
threatening his life. Presidential security staff
subsequently told us they have recently gathered intelligence
pointing to possible paramilitary plots against his life. We
will seek more detailed information on new security threats
against President Uribe.


3. (C) Uribe's comments echo earlier ultimatums he sent the
paramilitaries through Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos
Restrepo. Until now, paramilitary leaders appeared to
believe that Restrepo's ultimatums were his own and that he
was not a trustworthy intermediary with the President.


4. (U) Text of official April 27 communique from the
Presidency:

-- To the well-knonw and repeated threats against the
President from the ELN and FARC must now be added threats
over the past few weeks from elements of the illegal
self-defense groups and narcotraffickers.

-- The Government offered a peace process to all illegal
armed groups on condition of a cessation of hostilities.

-- The peace process with the illegal self-defense groups
cannot advance in a climate of cease-fire violations,
vendettas, narcotrafficking, and violent confrontations among
criminal organizations.

-- If the self-defense forces want to advance in a serious
peace process, they must demonstrate their will to peace by
accepting a concentration zone, with clear rules and under
the verification of the OAS. They must move toward
demobilization. If this does not happen, the Government will
continue combating them until they are eliminated.

-- The Government has submitted to Congress a bill for
"Justice and Reparations" which is generous in its benefits
and rigorous in regard to the Constitution and international
law, preventing amnesty or pardon for those responsible for
atrocious crimes.

-- Extradition should not be understood as an internal legal
norm that generates nationalist opposition. It is an
international legal norm that allows another country to
punish those who commit crimes against its nationals. If
extradition is prohibited, Colombia will be discredited
internationally.

-- Extradition is not negotiable. Those who wish to avoid it
must demonstrate to the international community their good
faith and intent to reform.

-- The Government understands the pain of those kidnapped by
the FARC, as well as the pain of their families. The
Government will press on with its democratic security policy,
one of the principal results of which was a 25 percent
reduction in kidnappings last year and a 65 percent reduction
so far in 2004.

-- The Government will not allow the FARC, through threats,
to impose a Humanitarian Accord with conditions that weaken
the democratic security policy.
End text.
WOOD