VISAS VIPER MONTHLY REPORT: FEBRUARY 2007

id: 101791
date: 3/23/2007 18:32
refid: 07BOGOTA1903
origin: Embassy Bogota
classification: SECRET//NOFORN
destination: 07BOGOTA1390
header:
VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #1903/01 0821832
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 231832Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3568
INFO RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 4878
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUETIAA/DIRNSA FT GEORGE G MEADE MD
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC//INTD/CTD/CT WATCH


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S E C R E T BOGOTA 001903

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS
VISAS VIPER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2016
TAGS: ASEC CMGT CVIS KVPR PINR PTER CO
SUBJECT: VISAS VIPER MONTHLY REPORT: FEBRUARY 2007

REF: BOGOTA 01390 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: CDA Milton Drucker, reason 1.5(d).


1. (U) Post's Visa Viper Committee met on March 7, 2007, and
the meeting was chaired by the CDA, Milton Drucker. Post's
Viper Coordinator is Fraud Prevention Unit officer Jenny
Cordell.


2. (C) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Horacio Duque
Giraldo, former advisor to then-Minister of Interior Horacio
Serpa during the presidential administration of Ernesto
Samper. Duque was arrested on February 28, 2007 for his
alleged ties to a drug trafficking organization that conducts
business with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC),a Named Foreign Terrorist Organization. Reports
characterize Duque as the right-hand man of FARC spokesperson
"Raul Reyes," and Post's Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) office confirms that, according to 2005 reporting,
Duque is a finance man for the FARC.


3. (SBU) Name: Duque Girlado, Horacio
DOB: 18-MAY-1954
Colombian Cedula Number: 4406725
Colombian Passport: PO47719
Gender: Male
CLASS Hits: None
Subject's B-1/B-2 visa was revoked on March 7, 2007 under INA
Section 212(a)(2)(C)(i).


4. (C) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Denys (aka Denis)
Silva Ruiz, who was arrested on February 18, 2007 for
membership in and activities on behalf of the FARC. Silva
played a key role in a 1998 operation, negotiated by former
Peruvian security chief Vladimiro Montesinos, wherein 10,000
AK-47 rifles from Jordan were bought and transferred to the
FARC. Silva faces international drug and arms trafficking
charges. DEA confirms that Silva is a member of the FARC's
16th Front. Although there are CLASS hits which appear to
correspond to Silva, Colombian security officials confirm
that Silva's nationality and date of birth are different from
those shown in CLASS.


5. (SBU) Name: Silva Ruiz, Denys (or Denis)
DOB: 31-MAY-1969
Peruvian Passport Number: 0679757
Country of Birth: Peru
Gender: Male


6. (SBU) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Rosa Stella
Ibanez Alonso, who was arrested on February 12, 2007, for her
alleged involvement in diverting the equivalent of USD 2.7
million in municipal funds to the United Self-Defense Forces
of Colombia (AUC, a Named Foreign Terrorist Organization).
Ibanez, the former Mayor of Soledad in Colombia's Casanare
Department, remains in custody.


7. (SBU) Name: Ibanez Alonso, Rosa Stella (or Estella)
DOB: 29-AUG-1969
Colombian Cedula Number: 32828433
Colombian Passport: AJ140391
Gender: Female
CLASS Hits: None


8. (S/NF) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Bertulfo
Trujillo Fuentes. Post's Office of Regional Affairs (ORA)
reports that according to Colombian Army Intelligence,
noncommissioned officer Trujillo is actively involved with
the FARC and has attempted to facilitate the kidnapping of
several unit mates. Until he was recently terminated from
his post, Trujillo was a part of the Intelligence Unit, as
well.


9. (SBU) Name: Trujillo Fuentes, Bertulfo
DOB: 05-OCT-1969
Colombian Cedula Number: 75001768
CLASS hits: None


10. (SBU) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Alvaro Araujo
Castro, Colombian Senator from Cesar Department who, on
February 15, 2007, upon the order of Colombia's Supreme Court
of Justice, was arrested for his alleged ties to the AUC.
Araujo has been charged with conspiracy and aggravated
kidnapping. Araujo remains in custody.

11. (SBU) Name: Araujo Castro, Alvaro
DOB: 07-NOV-1966
Colombian Cedula Number: 80411143
Colombian Passport: PO038731
Gender: Male
CLASS Hits: None
Subject's B-1/B-2 visa was revoked on December 22, 2006 under
INA Section 221(i).


12. (SBU) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Dieb Nicolas
Maloof Cuse, Colombian Senator from Atlantico Department who,
on February 15, 2007, upon the order of Colombia's Supreme
Court of Justice, was arrested for his alleged ties to the
AUC. Maloof has been charged with conspiracy, and remains in
custody.


13. (SBU) Name: Maloof Cuse, Dieb Nicolas
DOB: 19-APR-1964
Colombian Cedula Number: 8736863
Colombian Passport: PO031658
Gender: Male
CLASS Hits: None
Subject's B-1/B-2 visa was revoked on December 22, 2006 under
INA Section 221(i).


14. (SBU) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Mauricio
Pimiento Barrera, Colombian Senator from Cesar Department
who, on February 15, 2007, upon the order of Colombia's
Supreme Court of Justice, was arrested for his alleged ties
to the AUC. Pimiento has been charged with conspiracy, and
remains in custody.


15. (SBU) Name: Pimiento Barrera, Mauricio
DOB: 17-MAR-1961
Colombian Cedula Number: 19434067
Colombian Passport: D031184
Gender: Male
CLASS Hits: None
Subject's B-1/B-2 visa was revoked on December 22, 2006 under
INA Section 221(i).


16. (SBU) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Luis Eduardo
Vives Lacouture, Colombian Senator from Magdalena Department
who, on February 15, 2007, upon the order of Colombia's
Supreme Court of Justice, was arrested for his alleged ties
to the AUC. Vives has been charged with conspiracy, and
remains in custody.


17. (SBU) Name: Vives Lacouture, Luis Eduardo
DOB: 10-DEC-1957
Colombian Cedula Number: 12544261
Colombian Passport: PO029013
Gender: Male
CLASS Hits: None
Subject's B-1/B-2 visa was revoked on December 22, 2006 under
INA Section 221(i).


18. (SBU) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Alfonso
Antonio Francisco Campo Escobar, Colombian Representative
from Magdalena Department who, on February 15, 2007, upon the
order of Colombia's Supreme Court of Justice, was arrested
for his alleged ties to the AUC. Campo has been charged with
conspiracy, and remains in custody.


19. (SBU) Name: Campo Escobar, Alfonso Antonio Francisco
DOB: 05-DEC-1966
Colombian Cedula Number: 85449946
Colombian Passport: PO038616
Gender: Male
CLASS Hits: None
Subject's B-1/B-2 visa was revoked on December 22, 2006 under
INA Section 221(i).


20. (SBU) Post's Visas Viper Committee submits Jorge Luis
Caballero Caballero, Colombian Representative from Magdalena
Department, whose arrest has been ordered by the Colombian
Supreme Court of Justice due to his alleged ties to the AUC.
Caballero has been charged with conspiracy, but has fled
Colombia and is reportedly seeking asylum in Europe.


21. (SBU) Name: Caballero Caballero, Jorge Luis
DOB: 21-APR-1967
Colombian Cedula Number: 5056056
Colombian Passport: PO034270
Gender: Male
CLASS Hits: None
Subject's B-1/B-2 visa was revoked on December 22, 2006 under
INA Section 221(i).


22. (SBU) The Visas Viper Committee also discussed the status
of the Colombian Supreme Court investigation into Colombian
Senators' and Representatives' alleged ties to AUC
paramilitaries and others involved in the "parapolitics"
scandal (reftel). Specifically, the Committee reviewed the
cases of Alvaro Araujo Noguera, Jorge de Jesus Castro
Pacheco, Miguel Angel Duran Gelvis, Hernando Cesar de Jesus
Molina Araujo, Ciro Ramirez Pinzon, and Oscar Leonidas
Wilches Carreno. The Committee determined that additional
information is needed before submission to Visas Viper.
Given that these individuals are currently under criminal
investigation, however, the Consular Section, in concurrence
with the Visas Viper Committee, is taking action to revoke
the visas of those who hold them, as these individuals
currently pose a flight risk.


23. (SBU) The Committee discussed the cases of six sitting
mayors who have been called for questioning by a prosecutor
with the National Anticorruption Unit. The mayors are under
investigation for alleged ties to the ACC (Casanare Peasant
Self-Defense Group),having signed a document in which they
agreed to channel part of their towns' budgets to
paramilitary coffers. Those implicated include: Raul Cabrera
Barreto, Mayor of Villanueva; Aleyder Castaneda Avila, Mayor
of Monterey; Mauricio Esteban Chaparro, Mayor of Sabanalarga;
Jorge Eliecer Lopez Barreto, Mayor of Tauramena; Henry Montes
Montes, Mayor of Mani; and Leonel Roberto Torres Arias, Mayor
of Aguazul. The subjects' ties to the AUC and the
circumstances under which they signed the document remain
unclear. As such,the Committee determined that additional
information is needed before submission to Visas Viper. None
of the mayors currently hold visas, and CLASS Lookouts have
been added for each of them.
Drucker

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