NEW COLMIL COMMANDER MAKES RIGHT SOUNDS IN CHANGE

UNCLAS BOGOTA 007616 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV CO SUBJECT: NEW COLMIL COMMANDER MAKES RIGHT SOUNDS IN CHANGE OF COMMAND SPEECH ¶1. (U) On August 16, in front of the President, the Minister of Defense, and the military high command, General Freddy Padilla's speech on taking command as CHOD of the Armed Forces General started his tenure off right. He stressed the importance of respecting human rights and in achieving a "clean victory." In another break with the past, he praised the contribution of the police, noted the importance of the counter-drug fight, and called for inter-service cooperation. As an army officer coming from the service most dismissive of the police, as a military man from an institution that continues to argue that the counter-terror fight is more important than the counter-drug fight, and as an occasional casualty of the "jointness wars" of the last few years, this is all good news and must have surprised some of his listeners. He also put the military solidly behind confiscation of illicit properties and their return to the people, as well as the fight against money laundering. Padilla himself is seen to have a wider view than many of his colleagues, and to be more astute politically. We will be watching for follow-up. ¶2. (U) On human rights: "We will perhaps be the first military in the history of the world to win a war while fundamentally respecting international humanitarian law, which we will apply under the illustrious purview of our Constitution and laws. We will not dishonor our combat with a savage act, nor will we treat those we conquer with cruelty or cowardice. Results give us legitimacy in the eyes of the people for whom we fight, and justice gives us legitimacy in the eyes of the world and posterity. This is one thousand times better than a momentary lapse that endures for eternity....Now, more than ever, a clean and convincing victory is the first, most urgent, and most sacred of our duties." ¶3. (U) On the joint fight against drugs with the police and money laundering: "As we pursue the war against narco-terrorist aggression, the destruction of the drug trade is a necessary condition for victory. Narcotics trafficking will no longer be considered just a problem of public order. Instead, we will insert into our military doctrine the importance of mutual service with the National Police, who make an invaluable cooperation and whom we will never be able to sufficiently praise." "Defeating the finances of the armed bandits, and blocking their access to precursor chemicals, gasoline, and cement with which they process coca leaves and poppies must be an urgent task of unquestioned importance. The eradication of illicit crops within this unquestionable logic also relates to our own fundamental responsibilities." ¶4. (U) On the peace process and reparations: "A war has never been won by losing popular support. The overwhelming approval the people give to our conduct must not make us vain or corrupt our path. Under instruction from civilian authority, we will contribute to the construction of peace. The land that the bandits have scorched will be returned to its legitimate owners, the Colombian people. Each military unit is obligated to denounce the "pseudo-properties" of the defeated criminals. Our proximity to the grand scene of events makes us fundamental actors in the discovery of assets of dubious origins and in the full guarantee of the new, clean, and creative uses that judges deem fit for them." WOOD