EX-GUERRILLA AND PARAMILITARY DESCRIBE THEIR LIVES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 006495

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER MOPS CO ELN AUC
SUBJECT: EX-GUERRILLA AND PARAMILITARY DESCRIBE THEIR LIVES
AS TERRORISTS

REF: BOGOTA 5616

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Summary
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1. (U) Colombia's Ministry of Defense (MOD),the agency in
charge of the first phase of the individual desertion program
for guerrillas and paramilitaries, began recording deserter
testimonies on June 24 and invited Emboffs to observe. The
MOD interviewed a former paramilitary and former ELN bloc
commander. Ex-paramilitary "David" described his group's
clashes with guerrillas over drug trafficking and his
decision to desert because of poor pay. "Eduard," the ex-ELN
member who deserted with 29 members of his front, admitted he
had lost faith in the purpose of an armed revolution and that
the ELN had suffered heavy losses. Both deserters said they
wanted to return to civilian life and expressed satisfaction
with the MOD's phase of the reinsertion program. End summary.

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Paramilitary Group Underpaid
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2. (SBU) On June 24, the MOD's camera crew did the first
interview with "David," (no real name given,) a former Self
Defense Forces of Casanare (ACC) member at the military-owned
Tequendama Hotel in Bogota. David said he was recruited by
the paramilitary group because he had lived in an area where
the ACC patrolled. He joined at age 14 and deserted at 18.
When asked about his unit's activities, he responded that
they operated in Boyaca on the border with Meta Department.
David commented that the ACC was losing the war, especially
in logistics and finances. He claimed that the ACC clashed
with guerrilla groups and other paramilitaries in the area,
almost always over drugs. He described the armed conflict as
"all about drugs."


3. (SBU) Although David joined the ACC as a regular fighter,
he was soon trained and named as a squadron commander. He
did not indicate that being a commander at his age was
unusual. The ACC promised him a salary of 500,000 pesos per
month (USD 220) but then paid him less and refused to grant
him leave. He told interviewers that he had discovered the
GOC's reinsertion program by finding pamphlets dropped into
the area where he was operating. He deserted primarily
because he never saw his family and felt betrayed by the
ACC's failure to pay him his promised salary. He shrugged
off the question on how he felt about participating in
illegal activities. He told interviewers that he hoped to
return to school and finish his basic education.

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ELN Revolution Rings Hollow
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4. (SBU) Once David left the room, MOD officials began the
second interview with former National Liberation Army (ELN)
Commander Ramiro Alberto Ruiz, ("Eduard") who coordinated the
first ELN mass desertion (reftel) after twenty years with the
group. According to Eduard, most youth in his neighborhood
joined the ELN in the mid-80s because there was little else
to do. After, he attended the ELN's combat school. By his
account, he was a regular fighter until 1993, when he
traveled to Cauca Department with 20 others to form part of a
new ELN Front.


5. (SBU) Eduard noted that the ELN had suffered losses in
ongoing clashes with the FARC. He commented that he had lost
many of his colleagues between 1999 and 2001 in the Ituango
and Peca municipalities, Antioquia Department. During that
high-conflict time, several ELN members left ELN ranks and
returned home or joined the United Self Defense Forces of
Colombia (AUC). He stressed that the violence fed his
disenchantment with the ELN, which ultimately led to his
desertion. By 2002, his ELN front had been reduced to only
17 men, so the ELN Central Command (COCE) merged them with
another band and renamed the fighters the "Heroes of Anori,"
after a historically significant battle and an ELN policy
conference in 1983. The Heroes were based in northeastern
Antioquia Department.


6. (SBU) Eduard stated that he left the ELN to return to his
family and because he stopped believing that a revolution
would be successful. He said many ELN troops did not
understand the supposed ideology of the conflict and the ELN
has become plagued by widespread inequality. He noted that
his bloc, like the rest of the ELN, was in a dormant phase
and pitted against heavy GOC and FARC military forces. In
contrast to David's testimony that focused on his individual
situation, Eduard recounted that he had looked at other
revolutions throughout history and decided they were only
successful if the guerrillas caught governments off-guard.
He noted that the ELN had started out as a popular group but
had lost steam by 1990 to 1991 and had no chance of
surprising the government. He also cited various Latin
American revolutions that had failed and asserted that
revolution in Colombia would not be viable. Furthermore, he
admitted that he wanted to live with his children and
common-law wife, Nadia, rather than miss out on his
children's upbringing.


7. (SBU) He deserted in late May by feigning illness and
traveling to Medellin for several days. On May 19, he
arrived at his family's house and discussed it with his
father and Nadia, who had herself been in the ELN for nine
years until she left to raise their family. Although his
father was reportedly concerned about possible Armed Forces
mistreatment of demobilizing guerrillas, Eduard went to the
demobilization center in Medellin on May 24 and surrendered.
Once there, Defense officials told him that he could return
to the ELN camp for three days and bring back as many of his
front as possible for demobilization. He told his fellow
fighters that they had no hope of winning and would not
suffer if they surrendered. Twenty-nine fighters joined him,
including his second-in-command.

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Deserters Prepare to Return Home
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8. (SBU) Both David and Eduard said the Defense Ministry's
reinsertion program had fulfilled its promises. They added
that they had not suffered any mistreated by the military, as
had been predicted by both of their illegal armed groups.
During the first phase of individual reinsertion, deserters
are offered housing by the Ministry of Defense, given basic
humanitarian assistance, and debriefed for intelligence
purposes. Deserters subsequently move to the Ministry of
Interior and Justice's reinsertion program, where they are
also provided housing, humanitarian assistance, and are
enrolled in training and/or employment projects. Since Uribe
took office there have been over 7,000 desertions, roughly 50
percent of those from the FARC.
WOOD