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. -------------- header ends -------------- 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 =======================CABLE ENDS============================