A/S BURNS' OCTOBER 24 MEETING WITH REINTEGRATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 010112 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2016 TAGS: KJUS PGOV PINR PREL PTER CO SUBJECT: A/S BURNS' OCTOBER 24 MEETING WITH REINTEGRATION CZAR FRANK PEARL Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Milton K. Drucker Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) October 24, 2006; 8:45PM. ¶2. (U) Participants: U.S. Under Secretary Burns Ambassador William Wood USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Mark Silverman USAID Director Liliana Ayalde Political Officer Liliana Gabriel (notetaker) COLOMBIA Reinsertion Commissioner Frank Pearl National Planning Advisor Maria Eugenia Pinto Advisor Juliana Correa -------------- Summary -------------- ¶3. (C) Reintegration Commissioner Frank Pearl told U/S Burns one of the biggest challenges in his first month has been to reorient the program to ensure effective long term reintegration of 43,000 demobilized illegal armed group members. Pearl said he wanted to change the program's "one-size-fits-all" approach to a more tailored process for each demobilized person. He highlighted his efforts to seek additional encourage donors, such as Microsoft Corporation and European countries. U/S Burns said he respected the GOC's accomplishments thus far, and encouraged stronger implementation to counter skepticism of the process from civil society groups and some in the U.S. Congress. U/S Burns suggested the U.S. and Colombia needed to do a better job of defending the demobilization and reintegration process. End summary. -------------- Reintegration Challenges -------------- ¶4. (C) Pearl told U/S Burns his initial efforts involved reorienting the reintegration process to ensure the effective reintegration of 43,000 demobilized illegal armed group (IAG) members. The 43,000 included over 31,000 collectively demobilized paramilitaries and more than 11,000 individual deserters from other IAGs, 50 percent of whom were FARC. Pearl predicted reintegration would take longer than anticipated and said communities to which the demobilized were returning must be involved. ¶5. (C) Pearl said the GOC had devoted unprecedented financial resources to the reintegration effort. Still, until his recent appointment, divided and overlapping responsibilities within the GOC had made coordination and policy implementation difficult. The Ambassador emphasized the US had pressed for such a position for almost a year ;before the GOC created it. Pearl said more than 80 percent of the reintegration program's budget went for the monthly stipend and administrative costs. As a result, little of the budget went to psychosocial, educational, and occupational assistance, limiting access to those services. -------------- Pearl's Strategy -------------- ¶6. (C) Pearl said he wanted to change the program's "one-size-fits-all" approach to a more tailored process for each demobilized. He is considering building psychological, educational, and occupational profiles on each individual. He said a bloc commander cannot be treated the same as an ex-paramilitary rank and file member, since their backgrounds vary considerably. The Ambassador noted he had met both leaders and regular foot soldiers during his visit to Medellin. Some of the paramilitary leaders were former lawyers, and their educational background separated them from the rank and file. Pearl suggested differentiating each demobilized according to their different skills could more effectively dismantle their structures. In addition, Pearl wanted to condition eligibility for benefits (including stipend) on participation in the program. ¶7. (C) Pearl noted the success of Medellin's reintegration program, which he hoped to adapt in other regions. The first step was to transfer the majority of the program's officers in Bogota to other regions. The second step was to work closely with local authorities and communities, which for the most part had been reluctant to work with the national government. Lastly, the GOC needed to create better reconciliation programs in areas where the demobilized have returned. -------------- Reaching Out to Donors, Microsoft on Board -------------- ¶8. (C) Pearl highlighted his efforts to hire top talent and encourage donors to participate in the process. Microsoft Corporation had agreed to further develop systems to track and manage the demobilized, which would build on the USAID funded SAME and would help assess the impact of each dollar invested. The European Union recently donated 5 million euros to help communities on reconciliation-related efforts and has expressed an interest in working with child soldiers. Still, the GOC will be primarily responsible of supporting the program. He was also organizing a team to develop their long-term strategy. The team is composed of experts from Harvard, Princeton and Columbia Universities, EU officials, a Belgian who has worked on 70 different similar processes worldwide, and a Briton who just came back from Afghanistan. The strategy will be completed in December. -------------- Burns Encourages Stronger Implementation -------------- ¶9. (C) U/S Burns said he respected demobilization accomplishments but urged stronger reintegration implementation to counter skepticism from civil society groups and some in the U.S. Congress. He noted the U.S. plans to maintain current aid levels to Colombia, ratify the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and to seek extension of the Andean Trade Preference Drug Eradication Act. He warned, however, that sustaining U.S. congressional support for continued U.S. assistance would require GOC progress on human right cases and effective implementation of the Justice and Peace Law (JPL). The Ambassador noted that while it is not Pearl's responsibility, it would be useful if he pressed the Prosecutor General to begin to apply the JPL. ¶11. (C) Burns said U.S. and GOC should do a better job of communicating the progress made on demobilization and reintegration. Pearl said one must compromise some justice in a peace process and "you simply cannot have a stick without a carrot." The challenge was to prevent the demobilized from returning to crime or joining the FARC. Burns said it would be useful for Pearl to visit Washington and brief Congressional representatives. After the meeting, Pearl said he was ready to go to Washington to discuss the reinsertion program. ¶12. (U) This cable has been cleared by U/S Burns. DRUCKER =======================CABLE ENDS============================