PARAGUAY-COLOMBIA SECURITY COOPERATION AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 000596

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA, S/CT, INL
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA
NSC FOR KIM BREIER
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON
JOINT STAFF FOR J5 LTC SCOTT DAVIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER MARR SNAR KCRM CO PA
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY-COLOMBIA SECURITY COOPERATION AND
ASSISTANCE ACTION PLAN

REF: A. ASUNCION 00403


B. IIR 6 875 0005 05 (29 OCT 04)

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


1. (U) In furtherance of the Joint Declaration on security
cooperation and assistance that Presidents Duarte and Uribe
signed in Bogota on March 7 (ref A),Vice-Presidents
Castiglioni and Santos signed an Action Plan on security, in
Bogota, on April 19. In the Action Plan, the GOP and GOC
agree to do the following:

-- Establish an Executive Committee comprising the
Vice-Presidents, Attorneys General, Ministers of Interior and
Defense, Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs),and National
Security organizations of the two countries, with
responsibility for oversight, strategic planning, monitoring,
and evaluation of activities realized under the Action Plan.

-- Form a bilateral Working Group, within 30 days, to be
responsible for identifying respective points of contact and
creating a directory of contact information in the areas of
kidnapping, narcotics trafficking, terrorism, cyber crimes,
money laundering, arms trafficking, trafficking in persons,
and other transnational crimes, as well as security-related
training.

-- Arrange for Paraguayan prosecutors and police officers to
attend kidnap crime scene management training provided by the
FBI in Bogota. (Note: Two Paraguayan prosecutors and two
Paraguayan National Police officers that Post vetted are
attending an ongoing two-week FBI course on crime scene
management in Bogota. The Action Plan indicates that
additional personnel will attend a future course in Bogota.
End Note.)

-- Select a Paraguayan delegation to attend an FIU "open
house" in Bogota May 16-18.

-- Organize training on kidnap investigation techniques,
prevention, intelligence gathering, operations, and rescue
for Paraguayan prosecutors and police officers, to be
conducted in Asuncion in May.

-- Dispatch a group of Colombian experts to Paraguay to
assist with the assessment and development of recommendations
for the structural reform of the Paraguayan National Police.

-- Organize a visit by Paraguayan officials to Colombia to
learn about Colombia's Judicial Police and "GAULA"
anti-kidnapping units.

-- Exchange information regarding terrorist activities,
criminal organizations, and the operational methods and
funding of such organizations.

-- Share the experiences of Colombia's Inter-institutional
Anti-terrorism Group ("GIAT") with respect to procedures used
to combat the trafficking of illicit arms, munitions, and
explosives.

-- Designate experts to exchange information on the
experiences and organizational structures of the countries'
respective counter-narcotics organizations.

-- Establish measures for preventing the diversion of
precursor chemicals.

-- Create a bilateral intelligence and operations mechanism
that will facilitate the rapid, timely exchange of
information to neutralize threats.

-- Dispatch a group of Colombian experts to Paraguay to
identify ways in which Colombia can help Paraguay realize its
potential to produce war materiel at its existing munitions
factory. (Note: See comment in paragraph 3, below. End
Note.)

-- Invite the Paraguayan National Police intelligence agency
to join the Latin American and Caribbean Police Intelligence
Community.

-- Convene the Executive Committee, during the second half of
2005, to follow up and evaluate the commitments entered into,
and to plan future actions.


2. (C) Comment: Following the visit, Colombian PolCouns Raul
Sanchez was skeptical of the prospects for implementing the
Action Plan. He told PolOff that the Paraguayan police and
military representatives who accompanied Castiglioni to
Bogota did not arrive prepared to contribute to the
discussions. He also commented that the GOP "is good at
signing documents, but not big on action or follow-up." On
the other hand, Sanchez said the GOC is pleased with the
constructive working relationship that has developed between
Paraguayan AG Oscar Latorre and Colombian AG Luis Osorio, in
large part because of a strong personal bond between the two
men. Sanchez said the GOC would view Latorre's possible
departure from the AG job this summer as a set-back for the
bilateral security project.


3. (C) Comment Continued: Paraguay's munitions factory
currently is not in use, but has been kept in good condition
(ref B). In October 2004, a South Korean technical
delegation visited the factory to see if it could help get it
up and running (ref B),but the factory remains idle. Senior
military officers told EmbOffs this week that, other than the
experts who will assist with the assessment of the munitions
factory, the only assistance the Paraguayan military will
receive pursuant to the GOP-GOC Action Plan is the return of
a small number of weapons that were stolen from the
Paraguayan military and resurfaced in Colombia. The rest of
the assistance is directed at prosecutors and the police.
KEANE