Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BOGOTA4050
2005-04-28 21:34:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bogota
Cable title:  

SCENESETTER FOR UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR

Tags:  PREL MOPS ASEC PTER PHUM ECON CO 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 004050 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015
TAGS: PREL MOPS ASEC PTER PHUM ECON CO
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR
POLICY DOUGLAS J. FEITH

Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons
1.5 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 004050

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C O R R E C T E D COPY //CHANGED SUBJECT LINE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015
TAGS: PREL MOPS ASEC PTER PHUM ECON CO
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR
POLICY DOUGLAS J. FEITH

Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons
1.5 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) The GOC and embassy welcome Under Secretary Feith's
visit with enthusiasm. The Bilateral Working Group (BWG)
will hold defense policy discussions on policy,
modernization, and narcoterrorism. Colombia faces a four
front war -- narcos, FARC, ELN, paramilitaries -- and a
growing concern about Venezuela. With U.S. assistance, it is
fighting each of the fronts with a slightly different mix of
political, military, and police measures, all of which are
expensive and at times controversial. A multi-phased
offensive by the security forces has re-taken key territory
from the FARC. The paramilitary peace process has led to the
demobilization of almost 5,000 with several thousand more
expected. Three U.S. citizens have been held hostage by the
FARC for two years now; their safe recovery continues to be
one of our top priorities. Colombia's human rights record,
although imperfect, is improving. A bill to allow
presidential re-election is pending Constitutional Court
review. The economy is improving slowly. Five U.S. military
personnel, who had immunity, were arrested in late March for
transporting drugs. End Summary.

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Bilateral Working Group
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2. (C) The Ministry of Defense has expressed interest in a
special bilateral security agreement. The BWG general
session will provide an opportunity to explore this
opportunity. We hope it will also provide a mechanism to
obtain a SOFA/SFA agreement.

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U.S. Assistance Key to Security Improvements
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3. (C) USG Assistance to Colombia is premised on combating
the interrelated issues of drug trafficking and terrorism and
includes training, material aid, and guidance to the security
forces and other institutions. President Uribe and Colombian

Minister of Defense (MOD) Jorge Uribe (not related) have
characterized the United States as Colombia's most important
ally. Since taking office, President Uribe has focused on
establishing a state presence throughout national territory.

-- Plan Patriota: The military's multi-phased campaign plan
to re-take areas dominated by the FARC is entering its third
year and focused on traditional FARC strongholds in
southeastern Colombia. The logistical strain of keeping
15,500 troops in the dense, hostile jungle, hundreds of miles
from their supply bases, is a huge challenge. The priority
for DOD funding is to provide assistance for forces involved
in Plan Patriota. Infectious diseases -) especially
leishmaniasis, a parasitic skin and intestinal infection --
and landmines are the leading causes of military casualties.
The GOC is seeking U.S. assistance for the high cost of
leishmaniasis treatment.

-- FARC violence in the first quarter of 2005, although
tactically aggressive, remained localized and below 2004
levels. The FARC attacked at least four indigenous towns in
Cauca Department in mid April. The attacks were partially
directed at local police stations, but civilians were
indiscriminately killed.

-- Joint Caribbean Command: The military recently created a
joint command for the Caribbean coastal region. The
commander will have operational command of over 40,000 Army
troops, 10,000 sailors and marines, and elements of the Air
Force. The new command could lead to additional joint
commands in other key areas.

-- The Uribe administration and Armed Forces Commander
General Ospina have pushed the security forces to change
out-dated thinking and focus on modernization and jointness.
On April 27, four senior Army officers -- the Deputy Army
Commander, Inspector General, Operations Chief, and Personnel
Chief -- were dismissed in part because of their
unwillingness to cooperate with joint command structures.

-- Center for Coordinated Integral Action: With support from
the U.S. MILGRP, the GOC formed an interagency center to
facilitate social services in seven areas that have
traditionally suffered from little state presence and
pressure from illegal armed groups. Approximately 40,000
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individuals have been enrolled in state health care, and
judges, investigators, and public defenders have been placed
in all 16 municipalities of the Plan Patriota area.

-- Drug Eradication: cooperation remains excellent,
complicated at times by competition for scarce helicopters
between the counter-terror and counter-drug priorities.
Eradication and interdiction are at record levels. Some
60,500 hectares of coca and 900 hectares of opium poppy had
been sprayed since the beginning of the year and 1,300
hectares of coca and poppy were manually eradicated. In
2004, over 136,000 hectares of coca and 3,000 hectares of
poppy were sprayed, and almost 200 metric tons of cocaine and
cocaine base were seized inside Colombia. Ground fire
against spray planes is below 2003 levels but remains
problematic.

-- Deserters: Since Uribe took office, almost 7,000 illegal
armed group members have deserted and entered the
government's reinsertion program. The program has limited
funding and weak management, but is slowly improving.

-- Military Justice Reforms: The Colombian military justice
system has traditionally been plagued with impunity and
inefficiency. We continually press the Defense Ministry to
create a system that delivers credible findings to ensure
expeditious justice for both the innocent and the guilty.
Director of Military Justice Brigadier General Puentes has
proposed a two-phase reform strategy to address these
problems.

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Growing Concern About Venezuela
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4. (C) Colombia-Venezuela relations deteriorated further
after FARC international spokesman Rodrigo Granda was
captured in Caracas. We have stressed the importance of
regional counter-terror and counter-drug cooperation, a major
theme of last month's summit among Presidents Chavez, Lula,
Zapatero, and Uribe. Colombia remains concerned about
Venezuela's arms build-up, and is tempted to divert needed
resources away from counter-drug and counter-terror
priorities. Colombia has proposed a closer bilateral defense
relationship as a partial solution

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Peace Process
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5. (C) The GOC has been holding negotiations with the AUC
since 2002. Almost 5,000 paramilitaries have demobilized and
several thousand more are expected. Congress is debating a
law that would give alternative sentences to members of
illegal armed groups who are implicated in major crimes and
demobilize. The GOC has repeatedly assured us that the peace
process will not damage the excellent U.S.-Colombia
extradition relationship. Despite limited resources, the GOC
has made an effort to prevent the FARC from taking over
former AUC territory. We have not seen evidence of a
concerted FARC effort to target demobilized paramilitaries or
former AUC territory. Nevertheless, local communities and
the GOC continue to express concern about their capacity to
secure areas if more AUC groups demobilize.


6. (C) In a related peace process, the ELN rejected Mexican
facilitation on April 18, ostensibly over the GOM's vote
against Cuba at the UN Commission on Human Rights. The ELN
has only about 2,000 members and is no longer a military
threat, although it can execute terrorist attacks. The FARC
has shown no willingness to have peace talks or hold a
"humanitarian exchange."

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U.S. Hostages
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7. (C) The three U.S. contractors captured by the FARC in
February 2003 are now the longest U.S. terror captives in the
world. Their safe release continues to be one of our top
priorities. The Colombians are providing full assistance.
Plan Patriota operations have increased the likelihood that
we will receive more information about the hostages, but also
that an unintended encounter between Colombian forces and the
hostage holders will result in their execution. Uribe has
assured us that the U.S. hostages will be included in any
possible &humanitarian exchange.8

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Human Rights Record Improving
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8. (C) The Uribe Administration continues to make progress in
human rights, but needs to do more to ensure accountability,
strengthen the military justice system, break military ties
to paramilitary groups, and end corruption. The government
has a difficult but active dialogue with NGOs, the United
Nations, and foreign governments. Human rights training is
mandatory for all members of the military and police. The
GOC claims to have trained 100,000 officials in the past year
and a half. Less than two percent of human rights violations
are attributable to government security forces, according to
GOC statistics. Homicides fell by 16 percent, kidnappings by
42 percent, and forced displacements by 37 percent in 2004,
building on 2003's trends.

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Internal Politics
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9. (C) Constitutional reform to permit Presidential
re-election was approved by Congress and is facing a review
by the Constitutional Court. Executive-legislative relations
have been tense over the last two years. In addition to the
demobilization law, major issues before Congress include
pension and tax reform, both controversial proposals that
face tough sledding. Elections for Congress and President
will be held in March and May 2006, respectively. The
current Congressional session began March 16 and runs until
June 20.

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Positive Economic Outlook
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10. (U) While the tremendous gains in security have helped
the economy, many analysts are concerned that fiscal and
pension reforms have not yet passed through Congress.
Without these important structural changes, the long-term
outlook is less clear. In 2004, Colombia's gross domestic
product (GDP) increased by 4 percent to nearly USD 90.8
billion. Colombian exports grew 26 percent in 200 to USD 16
billion. Exports to the U.S. grew by USD 1 billion.
Unemployment remains high at 12.1 percent, but the rate has
been declining since the beginning of the Uribe
administration.


11. (U) The ninth round of free trade talks was in Lima, Peru
on April 18 to 22. President Uribe remains a strong
proponent. The Colombians are concerned that their
congressional and national elections in 2006 will block
approval if agreement waits too long. Agriculture continues
to be a major issue. Our goal of conclusion by early summer
2005 is uncertain.

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Five Americans Arrested
--------------


12. (C) On March 30, 35 pounds of cocaine were found on a
U.S. military plane that left Colombia for Fort Bliss. Three
U.S. military personnel temporarily stationed in Colombia,
who had immunity, and two in the U.S. were arrested for
transporting drugs to the U.S. on military aircraft. One has
been released, while the investigation continues on the
others. We are working closely with Colombian authorities to
ensure that the case is fully investigated and that those
guilty are held accountable.


WOOD