PARAGUAY AND COLOMBIA DISCUSS COUNTER-DRUG ISSUES

id: 45823
date: 11/22/2005 13:39
refid: 05ASUNCION1435
origin: Embassy Asuncion
classification: SECRET
destination: 05ASUNCION1119|05ASUNCION403|05ASUNCION596
header:
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.



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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 001435

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA, INL, S/CT
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA
NSC FOR SUE CRONIN
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD BARBARA MOORE
JOINT STAFF FOR J5 LTC SCOTT DAVIS
NAIROBI FOR MICHAEL FITZPATRICK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER MARR SNAR PA CO
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY AND COLOMBIA DISCUSS COUNTER-DRUG ISSUES
AND ESTABLISH BILATERAL COMMISSION

REF: A. ASUNCION 1119

B. ASUNCION 596

C. ASUNCION 403

Classified By: PolOff Mark A. Stamilio, reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: An official Colombian counter-drug (CD)
delegation traveled to Asuncion November 2-4 to hold
bilateral CD discussions with the GOP. As a result of those
discussions, the GOP and GOC established a bilateral,
interagency CD commission and three working groups. Upon
their arrival, the GOC delegation first met with US Embassy
representatives for a frank discussion of the GOP's CD
capabilities and level of commitment. During the two days
that followed, the delegation met with members of the
National Anti-Narcotics Directorate (SENAD),former Attorney
General, now Presidential National Security Advisor, Oscar
Latorre, and the military services' Deputy Directors of
Intelligence. The GOC delegation left pleased with the
formation of the bilateral commission and working groups, but
somewhat disappointed with substantive discussions on CD
cooperation. End Summary.


2. (U) An official Colombian counter-drug (CD) delegation
traveled to Asuncion November 2-4 to hold bilateral CD
discussions with the GOP. The delegation visited under the
auspices of continuing discussions of bilateral security
cooperation that began in the wake of the Cecilia Cubas
kidnap/murder (refs B and C). The GOC delegation comprised
the following military and police officials:

-- General Luis Paredes, Commander of the Colombian Army's
Special CD Brigade
-- Colonel Oscar Artehortua, the Colombian National Police
officer in charge of CD operations in Colombia's northern zone
-- Lieutenant Colonel Juan Carlos Rico, the Colombian Army's
Deputy Director of Intelligence
-- Major Edwin Reyes, Director of the Colombian Air Force's
Drug Interdiction Unit


3. (U) As a result of those discussions, the GOP and GOC
established a bilateral, interagency CD commission and three
working groups. The bilateral commission fulfills a
requirement established in an accord the two countries signed
in 1997. The commission comprises representatives from the
two countries' law enforcement communities, public security
agencies, and health and education officials, among others.
The three working groups will focus on the following:

-- reducing the supply of illicit drugs, fighting
organized/transnational crime, urban and rural CD operations,
and the identification and destruction of drug labs
-- demand reduction (primarily through education programs in
schools)
-- combating money laundering and related crimes


4. (C) At the GOC's request, the delegation met with
representatives from the Embassy's POL section, DEA, ORA, and
DAO prior to meeting with the GOP. EmbOffs provided the
delegation a frank assessment of the political situation in
Paraguay and the GOP's CD capabilities and level of
commitment in the war on drugs. EmbOffs highlighted SENAD
and others within the GOP who have proven to be reliable
interlocutors, but stressed the debilitating effects of the
country's pervasive corruption. The delegation appeared
somewhat surprised to learn of the degree and extent of that
corruption.


5. (C) Comment: The delegation noted that FARC activity
within Paraguayan territory is a matter of significant
concern to the GOC. Colombian Ambassador Bernal, on the
other hand, has repeatedly downplayed FARC activity in
Paraguay, for example by complaining about Embassy MIST radio
advertisements that begin, "The FARC is in Paraguay, the FARC
is in Paraguay!" The fact that Bernal and the delegation
from Bogota are at odds on this matter raises questions about
his support for the Uribe administration's policy on the
matter. Colombian Political Counselor Raul Sanchez confided
in PolOff on 11/15 that he has advised Bernal to avoid
appearing to differ with GOC policy on this and other
matters, but that Bernal has resisted. End Comment.

6. (C) The GOC delegation met with SENAD to discuss CD
cooperation, but neither side felt that the meeting was
productive. According to Sanchez, SENAD was unprepared for
substantive discussions. Sanchez also complained that SENAD
Director Hugo Ibarra did not attend the meeting. According
to SENAD, they found out about the meeting at the last minute
from the MFA and Vice President's office, and therefore did
not have time to prepare for it. SENAD, in turn, complained
to DEA that the GOC delegation did not offer substantive
recommendations during the meeting.


7. (C) The GOC delegation also met with former Attorney
Latorre and the military services' Deputy Directors of
Intelligence, to discuss intelligence capabilities.
According to Sanchez, the GOC views Latorre as their most
reliable interlocutor with respect to bilateral security
cooperation. Sanchez told PolOff on 11/15 that the GOC is
underwhelmed with the cooperation they have gotten from
current Attorney General Ruben Candia, and that the GOC plans
to invite Latorre to Bogota for two weeks to learn more about
Colombia's Administrative Security Department (DAS),National
Customs and Tax Directorate (DIAN),and other aspects of the
Colombia's national security apparatus.


8. (C) Comment: Latorre is battling cancer, and it remains
unclear what roles and responsibilities will fall within his
newly created portfolio as National Security Advisor.
Latorre built a solid relationship with the Colombians during
the Cubas investigation.


9. (S) Comment continued: Candia and Latorre are at odds with
each other. When Latorre stepped down as Attorney General,
he took with him all of the electronic listening equipment
the Attorney General's Office (Fiscalia) had obtained from
third-country governments. Also, upon taking office, Candia
tried to fire Javier Cazal, the head of the Fiscalia's
Judicial Investigations Unit and a personal friend of Latorre
(ref A),for hoarding information. Ultimately, Cazal
resigned, and went to work for Latorre in his new capacity as
National Security Advisor. Cazal was a subject in the
investigation of the alleged torture of Juan Arrom and
Anuncio Marti, the suspected masterminds of the 2001
kidnapping of Maria Edith Bordon de Debernardi. Latorre's
last official act as Attorney General was to reassign two
prosecutors who reportedly kept Cazal on the sidelines during
the investigation of the 2004 kidnapping of Cecilia Cubas,
which was perpetrated by a radical faction of Arrom and
Marti's leftist Free Fatherland Party (Partido Patria Libre,
or PPL).


10. (S) Comment continued: Sensitive reporting indicates
Latorre failed to share with appropriate GOP law enforcement
officials information that GOC sources passed to him
regarding assistance the PPL received from the FARC in
planning and executing the Cubas kidnapping. Additionally,
Latorre, who is a lawyer by trade, recently affiliated
himself with the law offices of Dionisia Martinez de Seidhom,
in Ciudad del Este (CDE). Martinez's husband, Yahya Seidhom,
has used his CDE businesses to funnel money to Hezbollah.
While Latorre asserts that he merely intends to provide legal
advice to CDE businesses, his association with Martinez is
troubling, at best. End comment.
JOHNSON

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