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