COUNTERNARCOTICS PROGRAMS UNDER PUBLIC ATTACK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 010377

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INL/LP
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/AND
DEPARTMENT FOR USMISSION OAS WASHDC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2013
TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR CO
SUBJECT: COUNTERNARCOTICS PROGRAMS UNDER PUBLIC ATTACK


Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood, Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Over the last few months our
counternarcotics programs, particularly aerial eradication,
have received substantial negative publicity and public
comment. The discussion risks making the spray program even
more of an issue in the upcoming Colombian elections than
would normally be the case. This comes at a time when we are
being asked to cut our budget, even though our programs are
still producing record results and the GOC is looking for
even more assistance. On November 2, President Uribe called
the Ambassador to express his concerns. END SUMMARY

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LEADING WEEKLY SAYS WAR IS LOST
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2. (SBU) On October 12, "Semana," the leading Colombian
weekly, ran a story entitled, "The War is Lost." The opening
of the story stated, "For some renowned experts, the war
against drugs is lost, and we have to go back to the drawing
board and start again." The article was largely the result
of a seminar held in the Los Andes University. Panelists
were billed as experts from the United States, Europe, and
Latin America. While the nations of Europe came under
criticism, much of the seminar was devoted to well-worn
comments abut U.S. drug policy, such as the U.S. should worry
more about demand; the U.S. is militarizing the battle
against drugs in Colombia; U.S. counternarcotics efforts are
contributing to human rights abuses and corruption; and
aerial spraying is not effective in reducing supply. These
types of articles and comments about our programs are
commonplace in Colombia, but the fact that the seminar that
generated these was at a prestigious conservative university
and the article was carried by "Semana" magazine, the
Colombian equivalent of Newsweek, is of some concern.

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CONTROLLER GENERAL ASKS FOR REEVALUATION OF DRUG POLICY
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3. (SBU) The leading daily "El Tiempo" ran an editorial on
October 30 entitled, "A Failed Strategy." While much of the
article was based on the seminar described in the preceding
paragraph, the Colombian Controller General, Antonio
Hernandez Gamarra, was reported to have said that Colombia
was long overdue in putting national interests ahead of the
drug war. The article also reported that he said there
should be a cost-benefit analysis of a policy that has not
managed to reduce supply. "El Tiempo" also reported that he
said maybe it was time to see if prevention would be better
than repression, and he suggested that dealing with this as a
public health issue, instead of a police one, might be the
way to go. These sorts of comments from a high-level GOC
official are unusual and do not reflect the policy of
President Uribe, but they do resonate with the public and our
critics.

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ECUADOR CONDEMNING SPRAY PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL COURT
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4. (SBU) Ecuador's Ombudsman for the People has recently
presented a case against Colombia and the aerial eradication
program at the International Court of Human Rights (ICHR) in
Costa Rica. The suit makes many false allegations regarding
damage to human health and the environment as a result of
aerial eradication efforts on the Colombian side of the
Colombia-Ecuador border. The GOC has presented their defense
based on sound science, including a recent study from CICAD,
the OAS entity that deals with illicit narcotics. This study
found no significant ill effects to human health or the
environment. Whatever the outcome, this case has generated
significant negative publicity for the spray program. As
with all negative publicity, the Embassy makes an effort to
counter it, but it is often an uphill battle. If the case
were found to have merit, then there could perhaps be a
court-ordered cessation of spraying along the
Colombia-Ecuador border, or, worst case, a cessation of all
spraying. Post believes that if evaluated on the facts, the
case will be found not to have merit, but the court's past
decisions have not always been predictable.

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PRESIDENT URIBE CALLS TO EXPRESS CONCERN
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5. (C) President Uribe called the Ambassador early on
November 2 to express concern about reports of renewed coca
and opium poppy cultivation in Narino department and, more
generally, along the Pacific coast. He cited the seminar and
articles mentioned above as evidence of the pressure that the
spray program is under and urged maximum U.S. effort in the
short and medium term. He again raised the hope that we
could fund a fourth spray package. Ambassador assured him
that we were making a maximum effort and that we were focused
on the Pacific coast, but again reiterated that funding
levels would not permit a fourth spray package. The
Ambassador noted that we were meeting that day with police,
military, and other GOC officials in order to find ways to
improve targeting of cultivation, while improving security
for spray pilots from ground fire
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EMBASSY COMMENT: CRITICISM COULD IMPEDE PROGRAM
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6. (C) COMMENT: The recent criticism of our spray program
may have an element of election-year posturing, but if it
gains support, it nonetheless will impede the program. To
date this year, we are still setting records for fumigation,
seizures, money laundering arrests, and extraditions. END
COMMENT
WOOD