SCENESETTER FOR CODEL MCGOVERN

UNCLAS BOGOTA 001400

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/AND
DEPARTMENT FOR H

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOC ECON CO
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL MCGOVERN

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Summary
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1. (SBU) Post welcomes CODEL McGovern to Colombia. With U.S.
help, President Uribe has made great strides in fighting drug
trafficking and terrorism. In January, the GOC presented a
Plan Colombia consolidation phase strategy, with a heightened
emphasis on social development. USAID programs aim to
strengthen democratic institutions, foster a culture of human
rights, create alternative development opportunities, and
assist people displaced by internal violence. Colombia's
human rights record is improving. Truth about links between
paramilitaries, politicians and others is coming out as a
result of the paramilitary demobilization and the Justice and
Peace Law process. Exploratory talks with the National
Liberation Army (ELN) are focused on establishing an agenda
for formal negotiations and a ceasefire agreement; the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have yet to
start talks with the GOC. The FARC has held three U.S.
citizens for more than four years; their safe recovery is a
top priority. The economy is growing, and the United States
and Colombia signed a Free Trade Agreement in November 2006.
End Summary

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U.S. Assistance
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2. (SBU) On January 24, the GOC presented a Plan Colombia
consolidation phase strategy. The proposal contains a
heightened emphasis on social development, assigning new
resources to human rights, displaced people, and
Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities. It also aims to
reintegrate 42,000 demobilized ex-combatants and deserters
and to promote Colombia's competitiveness and licit exports.
The GOC is seeking funding from the United States and
European countries.


3. (SBU) USG security assistance is designed to combat the
interrelated threats of drug trafficking and terrorism and
includes training, material aid, and guidance to security
forces and other institutions. Uribe characterizes U.S.
assistance as critical to the GOC,s "Democratic Security"
policy - aimed at establishing a state presence throughout
national territory - and considers the United States to be
Colombia,s most important ally.

-- Plan Patriota: The military's multi-phased campaign to
re-take areas dominated by the FARC is in its third year.
The first phase, which focused on securing Cundinamarca
Department around Bogota, pushed the FARC away from the
capital and resulted in the deaths of five mid-level FARC
commanders. The second, more complex phase is two years old
and is focused on the FARC,s traditional stronghold in
southern Colombia. The operation has disrupted the FARC's
hold on the region, but sustainment of troops in this
isolated region is difficult. Infectious diseases -
especially leishmaniasis, a parasitic skin infection - and
landmines are the leading causes of military casualties.

-- Despite the Colombian's military's success, the FARC
continues to attack isolated or smaller police and military
targets throughout the country, while avoiding direct
contests with larger units. Three notable exceptions include
the late December 2005 attack that killed 29 Colombian
soldiers just outside of La Macarena National Park, two
attacks on civilians, resulting in 17 dead and 14 injured, in
southern Colombia in late February 2006, and a November 2006
attack that killed 17 police officers and three civilians in
Tierralta, Cordoba Department.

-- Center for Coordinated Integral Action: With U.S. support,
the GOC formed in 2005 an interagency center to facilitate
delivery of social services in seven areas that have
traditionally lacked state presence and been controlled by
illegal armed groups. The Center focuses on providing
immediate social services, including documentation, medical
care, and longer-term development projects. More than 40,000
individuals have been enrolled in state health care. Judges,
investigators, and public defenders have been placed in all
16 municipalities of the Plan Patriota area. A public
library was opened in early 2006 in the town of San Vicente
del Caguan, which served as the unofficial capital of the
FARC's demilitarized zone during the peace process with
President Pastrana.

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Drug Eradication and Interdiction
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4. (SBU) Eradication and interdiction are at record levels.
The aerial eradication program exceeded the mid-year revised
bilateral spray goal of 160,000 hectares of coca with a 2006
year-end total of 169,399 hectares sprayed. This was the
sixth straight record spray year, and 24 percent more than
the 2005 total. Moreover, the National Police and military
forces seized over 203 metric tons of cocaine (HC1) and coca
base in 2006, a near record quantity, and destroyed 200 HC1
laboratories, also a record. The GOC reported the manual
eradication of over 43,808 hectares of illicit crops in 2006
(including 42,111 hectares of coca and 1,697 hectares of
opium poppy). Manual eradication remains costly in terms of
human and mechanical resources: 41 security force personnel
and civilian eradicators were killed in 2006 by improvised
explosive devices (IEDs) and narcoterrorist attacks. Manual
eradication projects placed a heavy burden on the National
Police to provide security for eradicators.

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U.S. Assistance to Development and Democracy Building
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5. (U) The USAID Mission in Colombia funds programs in three
key strategic sectors. USAID,s Democratic Governance
programs aim to improve the transparency of the justice
system, assist the peace process, promote respect for human
rights, support democratic processes, and foster efficiency
and accountability. USAID programs also promote legal
alternative development opportunities through increased
competitiveness, improved local government infrastructure and
management, and a more favorable environment for investment
and trade. Lastly, USAID provides support to nearly 2.7
million Colombians displaced by internal violence as well as
children who have been forced to serve as child combatants.
Colombia has the second largest population of internally
displaced persons, behind only Sudan.

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Military Justice and Improved Human Rights Record
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6. (SBU) The Uribe Administration continues to make progress
on human rights cases involving military abuse or
collaboration with paramilitaries. We continually stress the
need for the legal system that delivers credible, timely
results. Minister of Defense Santos has identified military
justice reform as a top priority; in October, he named the
first civilian - and the first woman - as director of the
Military Criminal Justice System. In January 2007, MOD
Santos relieved Colonel Hernan Mejia Gutierrez, a highly
decorated colonel, from command of the 13th Mobile Brigade
due to allegations tying him to former paramilitary leader
Jorge 40. This was the first time the MOD had taken such
action against an active commander for alleged paramilitary
ties.


7. (U) On May 22, 2006, Colombian army soldiers gunned down
10 members of an elite judicial police squadron in Jamundi,
Valle Department. These police officers had received DEA
training and support and were part of a successful counter
narcotics unit. 15 soldiers, including the battalion
commander, are on trial for the crime. In June, the military
and civilian justice systems signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) that provided the Prosecutor General's
office with the power to investigate and make jurisdictional
recommendations in all alleged human rights cases against
military defendants. Jamundi, for example, is in the
civilian courts.


8. (U) Human rights training is mandatory for all members of
the military and police. Less than two percent of human
rights violations are attributable to government security
forces, according to GOC statistics. In 2006, total
homicides in Colombia fell by 5 percent to 17,281, the lowest
level in 20 years, kidnappings by 14 percent to 687, and
forced displacements by 20 percent to 172,722, building on
trends from previous years. The GOC has a difficult but
active dialogue with NGOs, the United Nations, and foreign
governments. The local office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) has noted positive
advancements in the GOC's human rights record, but has also
expressed concerns over alleged extrajudicial killings by the
military.


9. (SBU) There has been investigative and judicial progress
in several high profile human rights cases. In January 2007,
the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) announced the
indictments and arrests of seven soldiers on homicide charges
in the January 21, 2006 killing of Edilberto Vasquez Cardona
of the Arenas Alta Peace Community in San Jose de Apartado.
In February 2007, the Fiscalia summoned 68 soldiers of the
17th Brigade to a formal interrogation hearing into the
February 21, 2005 massacre of eight members of the San Jose
de Apartado peace community. Also in February 2007,
authorities arrested five suspects in the January 31 killing
of Yolanda Izquierdo, leader of a group representing
displaced persons reclaiming paramilitary-occupied land in
Monteria. Police expect more arrests in the case.


10. (SBU) Other long standing human rights cases, such as the
1998 Santo Domingo case and the 1997 Mapiripan massacre, are
delayed in courts, pending decisions by the judges. Under
Secretary for Political Affairs Burns has repeatedly raised

SIPDIS
these cases with both President Uribe and the Prosecutor
General, and Embassy officers regularly meet with senior GOC
and Fiscalia officials to press for resolution in these
cases.

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Extradition
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11. (SBU) President Uribe is a strong supporter of the
U.S.-Colombia extradition relationship. Since taking office,
he has approved over 430 extraditions to the United States.
President Uribe has approved but suspended the extradition of
four AUC leaders to ensure their continued cooperation in the
AUC demobilization process.

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Demobilization and Peace Process
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12. (SBU) Over 32,000 former paramilitaries have demobilized
since 2002, and a further 11,000 have deserted from all
illegal armed groups (about half from the FARC). Some
renegade former AUC members have joined new criminal groups.
The reinsertion program has limited funding and logistical
problems, but is slowly improving. In FY06, Congress
approved up to USD 20 million in demobilization assistance,
subject to certification. Consultations continue with the
Congress regarding the U.S. intention to spend USD 15.5
million in FY06. The USG has also demarched numerous allies,
with some success, to financially support these processes.
The GOC currently pays 96 percent of the Reintegration
Program's budget, while the international community pays 4
percent. Reintegration Commissioner Frank Pearl, who has
been in charge of the Reintegration Program since September
2006, will launch a Capital Investment Fund with the support
of Bill Gates on March 19 in Cartagena to raise funds for
reintegration. Pearl has warned, however, that completely
abolishing former paramilitary networks will be more complex
and take longer than anticipated.


13. (SBU) The Justice and Peace Law confessions (version
libres) of ex-paramilitary chiefs began with ex-leader
Salvatore Mancuso testifying in December. Rigorous
implementation of the law and ensuring the safety of
witnesses and victims are key to ensuring peace and justice
in Colombia. The version libre and related processes
continue to reveal truths that no other Colombian
administration has come close to discovering. Eight
Congressmen and the former chief of the Administrative
Security Department (DAS),Jose Noguera, are in jail; one
Congressman is on the run in Europe; and five others have
been called to testify in the Supreme Court. President Uribe
strongly supports the Colombian Supreme Court's
investigations into links between paramilitaries and
politicians, and provided the funding needed for the Supreme
Court to set up its own investigative unit to probe deeper.



14. (SBU) The ELN has been negotiating with the GOC for over
a year, but it is unclear whether it is ready to implement a
cease-fire. The U.S. supports a process that leads to ELN
cease-fire, disarmament, and demobilization. The FARC and
the GOC had publicly announced their willingness to enter
into talks, but an October 19 car bomb attack that left 17
injured led President Uribe to revoke outreach efforts as
long as the FARC continued to commit terrorist acts. Both
sides sporadically reiterate their interest in negotiating a
humanitarian exchange, but have been unable to agree on the
conditions for initiating talks on the issue.

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U.S. Hostages
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15. (SBU) The three U.S. contractors captured by the FARC in
February 2003 are the longest held U.S. hostages in the
world. Their safe release continues to be a top priority.
The Colombians are providing full assistance. Uribe has
assured us that the U.S. hostages will be included in any
humanitarian exchange. The Embassy held a commemoration
ceremony on February 13, marking the fourth anniversary of
their capture. In January, former Development Minister
Fernando Araujo escaped from six years of FARC captivity
after an army rescue attempt. In February, a military
operation resulted in the rescue an army captain whom the ELN
had allegedly kidnapped in 2003.

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Labor
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16. (U) In June 2006, the GOC, trade confederations, and
business representatives signed a Tripartite Accord at
International Labor Organization (ILO) in Gevenva, removing
Colombia from discussion in the ILO's Committee for the
Application of Standards for the first time in 21 years.
Under the accord, a resident ILO representative was sent to
Colombia, and he began his functions in January. The
agreement also committed the government to financing the ILO
Special Technical Cooperation program and allocated USD 1.5
million to the Fiscalia to combat impunity for violence
against trade unionists. To date, the GOC has assigned
nearly 100 prosecutorial and investigative personnel to
investigate 200 cases of violence against trade unionists,
prioritized by the trade confederations. Labor leaders and
the UNHCHR's local representative have praised the initiative.


17. (U) Although trade unionists continue to be victims of
violence - from the FARC, renegade paramilitaries, and common
crime - the GOC continues to demonstrate its commitment to
protect labor union leaders and members. In 2006 alone, the
GOC's Protection Program assisted over 1,200 trade unionists,
with over 40 percent of its annual USD 21 million budget
providing protection measures for them. In total, the
Colombian Government also provides protection to over 10,000
human rights activists, journalists, politicians. witnesses
and other individuals under threat.

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Positive Economic Outlook
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18. (U) Significant gains in security have helped boost the
Colombian economy. Colombia,s exports and imports each
increased more than 20 percent in 2005, and the U.S. is
Colombia's largest trade partner (approximately 40 percent of
exports and 28 percent of imports). Colombian exports to the
U.S. have grown USD 1 billion per year since ATPDEA's
inception in late 2002, while U.S. exports to Colombia
increased approximately USD 2 billion. The largest U.S.
investors - Drummond (coal),ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil -
are planning considerable expansion due to the improved
investment climate. In the third quarter of 2006, Colombia's
gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 7.7 percent.
Inflation in 2006 was 4.5 percent, the lowest rate in 50
years. 2005 Foreign Direct Investment increased to USD 5.6
billion, an increase of 50 percent over 2004, and first
quarter 2006 FDI totaled USD 978 million, which is an
increase of 6.8 percent over the same period in 2005.
Unemployment fell from 18 percent when President Uribe took
office to a little more than 11 percent in October 2006.


19. (SBU) On November 22, 2006 Colombia and the U.S. signed a
Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA). The agreement will provide
stronger IP protection and give increased market access to
key U.S. industrial and agricultural exports. For Colombia,
the agreement will create a more attractive investment
climate, lock in ATPDEA benefits, and expand employment
opportunities for small and medium-sized business. The U.S.
Congress recently approved a six month extension of the
ATPTDEA to promote tariff relief for Colombian businesses as
ratification on the TPA moves forward.
DRUCKER