CODEL TAYLOR MEETS PANAMANIAN PRESIDENT MARTIN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PANAMA 000437

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
VANCOUVER FOR CG ARREAGA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PM POL CHIEF
SUBJECT: CODEL TAYLOR MEETS PANAMANIAN PRESIDENT MARTIN
TORRIJOS, INSPECTS DARIEN BORDER REGION, VIEWS JCET AT
FORMER FT. SHERMAN

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (SBU) In a 48-hour visit during February 20-22, Codel
Taylor toured the Darien border region by helicopter, met
with senior Panamanian officials (including President Martin
Torrijos) and viewed a joint combined training exercise
(JCET) in Chagres National Park (former Ft. Sherman) that
included U.S. Navy SEALS and members of the Panamanian Public
Forces (PPF). Rep. Taylor told Torrijos that he is very
favorably impressed by the stronger border police presence
and improved scope of its mission, compared with several
years ago. He also was impressed by Canal maintenance and
modernization plans, commenting separately to Canal
Administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta on the "symbiotic"
economic relationship between Canal expansion and U.S. Gulf
states (such as Taylor's home state of Mississippi). End
Summary.

GOP Goes All Out
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2. (SBU) The Panamanian government (GOP) worked hard to make
Codel Taylor a success. Vice Foreign Minister Ricardo Duran,
Panama Canal Administrator (ACP) Alberto Aleman Zubieta, and
Ambassador to the U.S. Federico Humbert briefed the Codel
shortly after its Feb. 20 arrival. Minister of Government
and Justice (MOGJ) Hector Aleman accompanied the Codel during
its Feb. 21-22 tour of the Darien border province, where
Panama City Mayor (and presidential hopeful) Juan Carlos
Navarro joined the group. Panamanian National Police (PNP)
and National Maritime Service (SMN) Director Generals Gustavo
Perez and Ricardo Traad escorted the Codel during its trip to
Ft. Sherman. Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis attended the
impromptu Feb. 22 courtesy call with President Torrijos. And
Torrijos lent the Codel the Presidential helicopter for
Taylor's trip to the Darien.

Codel Taylor
--------------

3. (U) (Note: The four-member Codel comprised Rep. Gene
Taylor (D-Mississippi); House Armed Services Committee (HASC)
counsel Jim Schweiter; U.S. Special Operations Command
(SOCOM) legislative director Col. Chris Perkins; and U.S.
Army legislative liaison LtCol Mike Legg. Charge and POL
Counselor accompanied Codel on its visit to Darien. End
note.)

In the Darien
--------------

4. (SBU) Codel Taylor's objective in Panama was to monitor
conditions in Panama's Darien border region with Colombia, a
sparsely populated (circa 50,000 inhabitants) but
ecologically rich province, which has suffered from
instability in recent years due to spillover from Colombia's
civil war and from environmental degradation. The GOP's
presence in the region, aside from security forces, is weak.
Codel (accompanied by MOGJ Aleman and PNP Commissioner
Modesto Sauri) flew Feb. 21 in two rotary wing aircraft
(including the presidential Sikorsky) to Meteti (Darien's
largest town) to refuel, Puerto Obaldia (on the Caribbean
coast at the Colombian border),the riverside interior
village of Boca de Cupe, and Darien administrative capital La
Palma on the Tuira River. Codel visited PNP police garrisons
at each location and received briefings on the local security
situation.


5. (SBU) Small contingents of Colombian FARC (and also AUC)
guerrillas have used Darien province over the years as a
resupply and rest area, PNP officials told the Codel. In
recent years, reinforced militarized police border
contingents in population centers, such as Puerto Obaldia
(with around 80 police) and Boca de Cupe (around 140 police),
have countered the FARC and pushed it into unpopulated areas.
The PNP (with U.S. training and equipment) has brought
greater stability to the border region, although it is not
strong enough to drive the FARC out of Panama altogether. In
a place without roads, travel on foot in difficult and time
consuming. PNP officials said that they often apprehend
Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Chinese, and other migrants who try
pass through the border region on their way to the United
States. Also, narcotraffickers use the Atlantic and Pacific
coastal seas to move narcotics. PNP officials said they had
seized hundreds of kilograms of cocaine recently and that
interrogations of suspects had aided the PNP to seize arms
shipments in other parts of Panama.

From Nature Lodge To Ft. Sherman
--------------

6. (SBU) After meeting with Darien governor Juana Lopez and
La Palma Mayor Benigno Ivarguen, Codel proceeded from La
Palma via the Tuira River by NAS-donated 29-foot patrol craft
to an isolated nature lodge at Punta Patino to spend the
night, where Panama Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro joined the
group. On Feb. 22 Codel returned to Panama City where it
boarded a UH-60 U.S. military (Blackhawk) helicopter for the
30-minute flight to former Ft. Sherman to view the Ft.
Sherman JCET in Chagres National Park. The exhibition
consisted of simulated firing and the extraction of troops
via motor launch from the far bank of the Chagres as the
Codel watched from Fort San Lorenzo, a 17th century Spanish
fort and tourist site. After returning to Panama, Codel met
with President Torrijos.

Meeting With Torrijos
--------------

7. (SBU) Rep. Taylor told Torrijos that he had followed the
Colombian civil war closely and was interested in border
conditions in Colombia's neighbors, including Panama. Taylor
praised the PNP's substantially greater numbers, especially
compared with what he saw during his previous visit to the
Darien several years before, and said the caliber of the PNP
forces was "outstanding." Taylor also praised Panama Canal
maintenance and modernization plans, adding that the
"naysayers" on the subject of the Canal transfer had been
proven wrong. Taylor urged the GOP to make known its
specific construction plans so that U.S. ports can make
adjustments. For instance, ACP Administrator Aleman had
mentioned plans to increase lock depth to 50 feet (from 36
feet),which will have implications for Gulf ports, Taylor
said. FM Lewis told Taylor of GOP plans to send teams to
U.S. ports to explain the Canal plans once they are made
public and approved by Panamanian voters in a referendum that
is expected to take place in late 2005 or early 2006.


8. (SBU) Mentioning fiscal and social security reforms and a
planned late-2005 Canal referendum, Torrijos said his
government is engaged in making structural changes for the
benefits of the population. Panama could become a key
anti-terrorism partner of the United States, he added. On
the Free Trade Agreement, Panama wants treatment at least
equal to CAFTA. FM Lewis argued that Panama is hardly a
trade threat to the United States, adding that the GOP's
biggest preoccupation at the FTA talks is how to protect its
key sectors of rice, poultry, pork, and sugar. Torrijos
asked for Taylor's vote on the FTA when it comes to the U.S.
Congress.


9. (U) Codel Taylor did not have the opportunity to clear
this message.

Watt