PARTY LEADERS ON BOGUS REPORTS LINKING THEIR U.S.

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001302

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: PARTY LEADERS ON BOGUS REPORTS LINKING THEIR U.S.
VISA STATUS TO PARAMILITARY LINKS OF CANDIDATES


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

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Summary
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1. (C) Ambassador Wood met separately with three Colombian
political party leaders, at their request, to address their
concerns about a recent Cambio magazine article naming the
leaders and saying the U.S. would consider revoking their
U.S. visas if they did not remove from party lists
prospective candidates with ties to paramilitary
organizations. The leaders handled the meetings in starkly
different manners: Colombia Democratica leader Mario Uribe
appeared the most concerned, handing the ambassador a list of
his suspicious candidates and asking which he should remove.
Conservative leader Carlos Holguin outlined the procedures he
was following to ensure that his list was clean. Alas-Equipo
Colombia leader Luis Alfredo Ramos highlighted his party's
pro-U.S. stance and ties to the private sector. The
Ambassador told all three politicians the U.S. was not
involved in reviewing candidate lists, which were the
responsibility of party leaders; was implementing its visa
issuance procedures normally, with no special process
associated with Colombian elections; but could not offer
guarantees about any specific candidates if derogatory
information appeared that might affect their visa
eligibility. End summary.

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Mario Uribe: Please Review List of Suspicious Candidates
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2. (C) On February 1, Colombia Democratica leader Mario
Uribe handed the Ambassador a list of 11 candidates who hoped
to run for office under his party's banner in the March 12
elections and asked the Ambassador to tell him which
candidates he should remove. Uribe said he would remove all
candidates to which the U.S. had an objection. He said he
was seeking the Ambassador's views because of the Cambio
article, which said the U.S. was paying careful attention to
political party lists and would hold leaders accountable for
any candidates on lists who had paramilitary links. The
article said the U.S. "Sword of Damocles" was the withdrawal
of the leaders' U.S. visas. (Uribe earlier told D/Polcouns
that he could not afford to lose his U.S. visa because he had
three children in the U.S., two studying and one working; he
anticipated spending "more and more" time in the U.S. in
coming years. He added he would give up his Senate seat and
political career if that was the only way to keep his visa.
Uribe said he had talked to President Uribe, Interior and
Justice Minister Pretelt, and Ambassador Pastrana about the
matter.) Uribe said he was a friend of the U.S. and
respected U.S. law.

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Carlos Holguin: I'm Doing the Best I Can
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3. (C) On February 6, Conservative Party leader Carlos
Holguin told the Ambassador he was "worried" about the Cambio
article and wanted to inform the U.S. of the steps he was
taking to ensure his party's list was clean. He described
his extensive efforts to modernize the Conservatives and
ensure the party had a strong constitution and internal
rules. Holguin said all prospective Conservative candidates
had to present their resumes to the party leadership and
swear that they had no links with illegal armed groups or
legal accusations pending against them. Holguin said the
party had investigated its candidates to the best of its
ability and had submitted its lists to the Supreme Court and
Fiscalia (prosecutor general) for review (to date, without
response). Holguin reported his concern about one candidate
whom the media had identified as linked to paramilitaries
(Hector Alfonso Lopez, the son of Enilse Lopez, AKA "La
Gata," a Bolivar businesswoman who is widely regarded as
being in league with paramiltaries) but said he was not able
to remove candidates from lists because the party had to
follow certain due process guidelines. However, Holguin said
the party would remove any prospective candidate it he
received "firm evidence" of wrongdoing.


4. (C) Holguin said he understood the U.S. position on "no
interference" in Colombia's election campaigns. He said he
has the "greatest respect" for the U.S. and its partnership

with Colombia.

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Luis Alfredo Ramos: I'm pro-U.S.
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5. (C) On February 7, Alas-Equipo Colombia (A-EC) party
leader Luis Alfredo Ramos (a former Commerce Minister and
Ambassador to the OAS) stressed to the Ambassador that his
party was pro-U.S., closely allied with prominent Colombian
industrialists, and totally free from AUC influence. Ramos
noted that A-EC only accepted donations from leading business
members, and that he had personally taken out a large private
loan from a major bank to help finance the party's
Congressional candidates. He reaffirmed that a press report
of former General Rito Alejo del Rio joining A-EC was
unfounded. (Alejo del Rio's visa was canceled on suspicion
of drug trafficking activity.) Ramos stated he would not
tolerate any individual with questionable ties in the ranks
of A-EC. Prior to the meeting, Ramos told poloff he felt
Mario Uribe had dug himself a deep hole over time by being
excessively open to receiving any electorally viable
individual into his Colombia Democratica party.

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Ambassador States U.S. Position on Candidate Lists
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6. (C) Per guidance from the Department, the Ambassador told
Uribe, Holguin, and Ramos that the U.S. was concerned about
the possibility of illicit paramilitary involvement in
electoral campaigns through intimidation, corruption, and
violence. However, the U.S. was not involved in reviewing
party lists (and had declined suggestions from some party
leaders that it do so). Selection of candidates was the
responsibility of party leaders, who know the candidates
best. It would be prudent for leaders to act on their own
suspicions to avoid having to address accusations if
controversial candidates were elected. The Ambassador said
the U.S. visa issuance process remained the same, as set by
U.S. law; the U.S. had not, and would not, change its visa
procedures or criteria for any reason associated with the
Colombian elections. He noted that U.S. law has provided for
some time that ties to terrorism or terrorist organizations
could result in the denial of a visa. The Ambassador
emphasized that he could not offer guarantees about specific
cases; if derogatory information came to light on an
individual, the U.S. might deny a visa request. Even in such
cases, however, the U.S. would not make the matter public,
but could not guarantee that others might not do so.
WOOD

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