GAVIRIA THINKS FARC BEHIND SISTER'S MURDER, LIKELY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 004223 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2016 TAGS: PTER KCRM PGOV CO SUBJECT: GAVIRIA THINKS FARC BEHIND SISTER'S MURDER, LIKELY TO RESIGN AS LIBERAL CHIEF, SAYS SERPA CAMPAIGN POOR REF: A. BOGOTA 4141 ¶B. BOGOTA 3773 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Milton K. Drucker Reason: 1.4 (b,d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Former President and Liberal Party chief Cesar Gaviria agreed with the GOC that the FARC appears to be responsible for the murder of his sister Liliana, although he expressed doubts about the involvement of the FARC's elite Teofilo Forero Mobile Column. Gaviria shared a recent police intelligence report that suggests the botched kidnap and murder was the result of a plan hatched between the FARC's 50th front and a corrupt lawyer. The lawyer allegedly needed substantial funds rapidly to pay off a prosecutor who had threatened to expose the lawyer's narcotics trafficking activities to the U.S. Embassy. Ironically, the report states that the original kidnap victim was to have been Gaviria's brother Luis Fernando, but his security improved and Liliana became the next target. Gaviria plans to step down as Liberal Party chief after the May 28 election, and suggested that Cambio Radical leader German Vargas Lleras would rejoin the Liberals to seek the presidency in 2010. End summary. -------------- FARC Likely Behind Sister's Murder -------------- ¶2. (C) Gaviria told D/polcouns May 11 he had "total confidence" in police intelligence (DIJIN) chief General Oscar Naranjo's investigation into the murder of Gaviria's sister Liliana (refs A,B) and regarded the FARC as the likely culprits. Gaviria expressed considerable surprise, however, at the apparent amateurish kidnapping effort and suggested that the FARC's elite Teofilo Forero Mobile Column (TFMC) might not have ordered the kidnapping. ¶3. (C) Gaviria gave D/polcouns a copy of a recent DIJIN report that presented a rather different version of FARC involvement. The report (copy shared with law enforcement agencies at post) alleges the following: a lawyer named Roberto Londono Velez, based in Armenia, Quindio Department, was associated with narcotics trafficking and, along with two other Armenia lawyers, came to the attention of the Fiscalia (Prosecutor General's office). In early 2005 investigators raided the lawyers' offices and found significant quantities of information that allegedly proved the narcotics trafficking activities, including by Londono Velez. The attorney hired by Londono Velez met with local prosecutor Juan Carlos Lopez, and was surprised to be offered a deal: pay the prosecutor off and get the case dismissed and the seized materials returned. The prosecutor wanted 1.7 billion pesos in cash (about $750,000) to dismiss the case. ¶4. (C) According to the report, Londono Velez hired attorney Clara Ines Ramirez Vallejo to continue bribe negotiations with the prosecutor after his initial attorney resigned. Ramirez Vallejo shared an Armenia office and telephone with Gaviria's brother, Luis Fernando Gaviria Trujillo. Ramirez Vallejo reached a deal with prosecutor Juan Carlos Lopez, which obligated Londono Velez to pay a substantial amount to his attorney and the prosecutor; money he did not have. ¶5. (C) The DIJIN report says Londono Velez became aware that Gaviria's brother Luis Fernando had opened an office in Pereira and traveled there frequently, always without bodyguards or armored vehicles. Londono Velez hatched a plan to kidnap Luis Fernando and sell him to the FARC. Londono Velez met with FARC 50th front leaders beginning in October 2005 and agreed on a payment of $3 million for the kidnapping. Londono Velez subsequently told the FARC that Luis Fernando had returned to Bogota and had additional security, and concluded the kidnapping would be difficult. Londono Velez told the FARC he would instead kidnap Gaviria's sister Liliana, pay prosecutor Juan Carlos Lopez with the proceeds of the FARC payment, and flee to Argentina to avoid being extradited to the U.S. Prosecutor Juan Carlos Lopez was transferred to Bogota and threatened Londono Velez with exposure of his narcotics crimes to the U.S. Embassy unless he was paid, after which Londono Velez decided to go ahead with the kidnapping of Liliana Gaviria. Londono Velez rushed the job and contracted with people who did not know the area, resulting in the botched kidnapping and murder. E ¶6. (C) Gaviria told D/polcouns he found the DIJIN report plausible but said he had no way of verifying the information, and repeated that he trusted General Naranjo to discover what really happened. (Press accounts May 12 quote Gaviria alluding to "other hypotheses," different from the culpability the GOC ascribed to the TFMC, which is consistent with Gaviria's skepticism about official TFMC involvement. Gaviria also told D/polcouns that he heard "gossip" about the possible involvement of paramilitaries but had received no law enforcement confirmation.) -------------- Uribe Friction with National Police Chief -------------- ¶7. Gaviria said in March 2005 he raised with Police Chief General Castro the Pereira police's December 2004 withdrawal of Liliana's 4 bodyguards and armored car. Castro said he would look into it, but he did not restore the security. The police subsequently gave Liliana one driver, who drove her non-armored car. This bodyguard also died in the kidnap attempt. According to Gaviria, he told President Uribe about this matter prior to Liliana's funeral in Pereira. Uribe called Castro over and asked him if the story was accurate. Castro confirmed that it was, and Uribe said he wanted General Naranjo to add the matter to his investigation. Gaviria said Castro objected because Naranjo was his subordinate, at which point Uribe told him he could leave the conversation. -------------- -------------- Gaviria Plans to Step Down, Says Campaign Lackluster -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Gaviria said he would likely step down as Liberal Party chief after the May 28 presidential election. He said Liberal nominee Horacio Serpa's campaign was grinding to a halt. At best, Serpa was running neck and neck with Polo Democratico Alternativo nominee Carlos Gaviria, and could even lose second place to the Polo candidate. The former president said Serpa was unwilling to attack the Polo's Gaviria and was listening to a "radical group" of advisors rather than Liberal Party figures. Gaviria said he had been a target of narcotraffickers while serving as president, and paramilitaries after returning to Colombia to head the Liberal Party. Adding the FARC to the list was the last straw. Gaviria said he planned to stay in Colombia and remain in public life through newspaper columns. ¶9. (C) Gaviria said Cambio Radical leader German Vargas Lleras had talked to him privately about returning to the Liberal Party. Gaviria expects Vargas Lleras to make the move, but not immediately. According to Gaviria, Vargas Lleras is anxious to be elected president in 2010 and expects his relationship with Uribe to be testy at best after Uribe's reelection. ("U" Party leader Juan Manuel Santos told polcouns on May 9 that arch rival Vargas Lleras had told him that he wants to remain within the coalition of parties supporting President Uribe.) -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) Gaviria appeared emotionally exhausted and tears welled up in his eyes several times when he discussed the investigation into his sister's murder. His disillusion with the Serpa campaign was unmistakable, but it remains to be seen whether his decision to step down as Liberal chief is related to his frustration with recent developments or is due to pessimism about the Liberal Party's longer term prospects. WOOD