PROSECUTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATES DAS ALLEGATIONS;

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003764 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER CO SUBJECT: PROSECUTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATES DAS ALLEGATIONS; DAS DIRECTOR SEES POLITICAL MOTIVATION FOR CHARGES Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood Reason: 1.4 (b,d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Accusations of criminal conduct and electoral fraud continue to swirl around the FBI-equivalent Department of Administrative Security (DAS). President Uribe said the Fiscalia (Prosecutor General) was investigating recent allegations of corruption and paramilitary influence in the DAS and should be allowed to do its work. He criticized media coverage of the issue, characterizing it as frivolous and worse. Uribe was responding to public reports of accusations made by Rafael Garcia, a former senior DAS official currently jailed on corruption, asset laundering, and paramilitary collusion allegations. According to the reports, Garcia claims the DAS, with the knowledge and/or participation of its then-Director Jorge Noguera, was associated with electoral fraud in the 2002 presidential election that brought Uribe to office, planned to assassinate Venezuelan President Chavez and in fact murdered a Venezuelan prosecutor, and was involved in plots to kill labor leaders. Garcia's motives for making the allegations are unclear, but could be to reduce his sentence, affect Uribe's reelection campaign, or simply tell the truth. Noguera denied the allegations and said he would sue Garcia and the media outlets that published them. DAS Director Penate leans towards the view that opposition figures are using Garcia to damage Uribe's reelection campaign, and that Garcia himself is looking to secure political refugee status in a third country, likely Argentina or Venezuela. End summary. -------------- --- DAS Official Garcia Jailed on Corruption Charges -------------- --- ¶2. (C) On June 25, 2005 prosecutors arrested former DAS Director of Information Systems Rafael Garcia Torres on charges of aiding and abetting narcotics traffickers and paramilitaries. According to the Fiscalia, Garcia assisted Colombians to escape extradition, was involved in money laundering and "illicit enrichment," and was a member of a group of DAS officials that helped criminals enter Colombia illegally. Garcia also faces fraud and conspiracy charges related to the offenses. -------------- Garcia Claims DAS is Corrupt -------------- ¶3. (C) In early April, weekly magazines Semana and Cambio published interviews with Garcia from his prison cell, in which he accused former DAS Director Jorge Noguera (now Colombia's Consul in Milan),two DAS officials and six other GOC officials of involvement in a plot to assassinate Venezuelan President Chavez. According to Garcia, Noguera is linked to the 2004 murder of Venezuelan prosecutor Danilo Anderson. Garcia claimed that the 2002 Uribe presidential campaign had links to drug traffickers and paramilitaries, including "Jorge 40," and asserted that as DAS director of information systems he helped commit electoral fraud in 2002 in Magdalena Department (but said he had no information that Uribe, who was not the President or in control of the DAS, knew about the fraud). Garcia asserted that Noguera (who resigned as DAS Director on October 25, 2005) and then-DAS Secretary General Giancarlo Auque personally received hundreds of millions of pesos from contracts for arms and equipment. ¶4. (C) Garcia also made allegations of corruption against Uribe. However, he failed to provide detail to the magazines when asked, saying that without protection he feared to give further information. Garcia claims the electoral fraud that he helped to engineer in Magdalena may have secured Uribe's 2002 presidential win. He said he provided electoral census information to paramilitary sympathizers that allowed them to manipulate the vote in certain areas. He also asserted that the 2002 Uribe campaign had ties to drug traffickers and paramilitaries. ¶5. (C) Other charges Garcia has made less clearly involve Noguera or Uribe but took place during Noguera's tenure at the DAS. Garcia said high ranking DAS officials removed information on paramilitaries and drug traffickers from DAS files and that DAS provided paramilitaries with a list of academics and labor leaders thought to be leftist sympathizers that may have been used to threaten or kill them. He noted that the alleged killings were done by paramilitaries, not DAS officers. -------------- Garcia's Motivation Unclear -------------- ¶6. (C) Garcia's motivation for making the charges is unclear. According to legal contacts, Garcia could receive up to a one-third reduction of any sentence imposed on him if he cooperates with the Fiscalia. Other possible motivations include Garcia's involvement (witting or not) in a campaign to damage Uribe's reelection prospects. Or, he may in fact be telling the truth despite the dangers to his safety from disgruntled paramilitaries (he has apparently asked to be placed in a witness protection program). ¶7. (C) DAS Director Andres Penate told us recently DAS information (from another imprisoned DAS official in the same jail as Garcia) suggests that Garcia's target was not Noguera.Penate said opposition figures such as Gustavo Petro (Polo Democratico Alternativo) and Piedad Cordoba (Liberal Party),both strong critics of President Uribe, are supplying Garcia with his information to harm Uribe's campaign, and help him secure political refugee status in a third country, most likely Argentina or Venezuela. -------------- Former DAS Chief Noguera Denies Accusations -------------- ¶8. (C) Noguera, who returned from Milan at the request of the President, publicly denied Garcia's charges, calling him a liar. He asserted that the only meetings he had with paramilitary leader "Jorge 40" were related to the AUC demobilization negotiations and were performed in his capacity as DAS Director, with the knowledge of Peace Commissioner Restrepo. According to Noguera, Garcia's allegations that the DAS was part of plots against Chavez were based on information from a witness whom the Fiscalia office considers unreliable. -------------- Recent Background: DAS Internal Problems -------------- ¶9. (C) Allegations of DAS corruption first aired in October 2005 when Noguera and then-deputy DAS director Jose Miguel Narvaez engaged in mutual accusations of connections to paramilitaries. Rumors began circulating mid-October of efforts by Narvaez to secure evidence of wrongdoing against a Noguera insider, DAS's Chief of Intelligence Enrique Ariza. Narvaez claimed that Ariza was trying to create a special office within DAS to sell information to paramilitary sources. Meanwhile, Narvaez was himself being accused of having links to paramilitary leader Hector Buitrago, AKA "Martin Llanos." According to press reports, Noguera claimed that Narvaez was orchestrating a smear campaign against him to force his exit from DAS. Narvaez claimed that he, in turn, is a victim of a plot to discredit him and that Noguera was trying to protect Ariza. Uribe diffused the situation by acceptingNoguera's resignation, dismissing Narvaez and creating a special commission to investigate the DAS. -------------- Alleged Paramilitary Links in State Agencies -------------- ¶10. (C) Press reports raised allegations of corruption and collusion with paramilitaries in three other government agencies in the past few weeks. In the office of the Superintendent for Oversight (the entity that oversees and licenses private security),former superintendent Fernando Segura resigned after a police report said that as deputy superintendent in 2004, he aided Enlice Lopez (known as La Gata, now jailed for asset laundering and being investigated for supporting paramilitary forces),by restoring her family's licenses for their security services. On April 7 the manager of INCODER (Colombian Institute for Rural Development) resigned after revelations of corruption in the program to deliver lands to displaced Colombians. On April 8 the manager of FINAGRO (the government entity that provides rural credit) resigned amid an investigation by the Fiscalia and the Financial Superintendent into credit authorizations for businesses that had poor financial indicators and use of FINAGRO by paramilitaries to launder assets. -------------- Uribe Responds -------------- ¶11. (C) Uribe defended his administration in four recent media interviews and implied that the revelations were made to damage his candidacy. He cited his good reputation and long record of integrity as a political figure and noted his administration's strong record of killing, capturing, or demobilizing paramilitaries. Uribe repeatedly asserted that he knew no paramilitary leader personally nor had he ever met privately with one. He also criticized the press for publishing the stories, characterizing Semana magazine's coverage as frivolous and worse. -------------- Media and Human Rights Watch -------------- ¶12. (C) The media appeared stung by Uribe's criticisms but soon responded, saying the President should address the serious charges instead of attacking the messenger. For its part, Human Rights Watch issued a statement accusing Uribe of intimidating the media. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶13. (C) Embassy continues to work with the DAS on specific operational issues. We have no information to confirm Garcia's assertions but agree that over the years, as different presidents have used the DAS in different ways, it has become a problem. Uribe appointed a Commission of Inquiry into the DAS after Noguera resigned in October (though some prominent analysts have described it as fourth rate),and there is cross party agreement that new DAS Director Penate is cleaning house (he fired a number of regional DAS officials after instituting polygraph tests). Some wonder, though, why Uribe gave Noguera a cushy job in Milan. We are cooperating discreetly with Penate to support a cleaner, tighter mandate for the DAS, with improved management and operational controls. Noguera is now in Colombia to address the charges against him. WOOD