BOLIVAR'S SECURITY SITUATION STILL A CONCERN POST

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 002575

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2017
TAGS: KJUS PGOV PINR PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: BOLIVAR'S SECURITY SITUATION STILL A CONCERN POST
PARAMILITARY DEMOBILIZATION


Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) On March 20, Poloff visited the former
conflict-ridden Bolivar department where the overall
security, political, and economic situation has improved
sharply since 2002. Still, an increase in common crime and
other security-related problems remain a challenge. The
security and social situation is particularly acute in
southern Bolivar, where poverty is widespread and illegal
armed groups still operate. The local National Registrar's
Office said prospects for transparent regional elections in
October have improved due to the paramilitary demobilization,
but warned illegal armed groups--FARC and new criminal
groups--remain influential in specific municipalities. End
summary.

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Key Improvements Since 2002
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2. (C) Governor Libardo Simancas said Bolivar is the biggest
department on the north Atlantic coast. GOC presence has
always been weak, especially in rural areas, allowing illegal
armed groups to operate freely. Still, its overall security,
political, and economic situation has improved sharply over
the last five years. Before 2002, 14 of the 44
municipalities in the department had no security presence;
residents were unable to travel safely throughout the
department; the FARC and AUC competed for control; and
kidnappings occurred daily. Pursuant to President Uribe's
democratic security policy, the GOC has now established a
security presence in every municipality, forcing the FARC to
withdraw to more remote areas. The paramilitary process and
subsequent demobilization also reduced violence and illicit
activity, boosting economic growth.


3. (C) Bolivar Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia)
Sectional Chief Ibet Hernandez said greater security
encouraged the population to inform authorities about illegal
activities. Currently her office receives some 3,000 tips
per month. To tackle common crime, Hernandez said the
Fiscalia and police are cooperating to ensure that criminals
are not immediately released due to lack of evidence. This
cooperation gives Bolivar one of the highest conviction rates
in the country.

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Crime Still of Great Concern
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4. (C) Despite the overall improved security, Ombudsman
Arturo Zea said common crime in parts of Bolivar has worsened
since the last Embassy visit in September 2006 (ref. A).
Between 2005 and 2006, murders in Cartagena rose from 230 to
270, primarily due to score settling among former
paramilitaries. The police have more personnel, but the
demand for security for VIP visits in Cartagena distracts
them from focusing on attacking crime. Zea said the day
prior to our visit, criminals stole three computers that held
four years of information on 1,500 victims of paramilitaries,
including pictures and biographical data. He believed the
robbers had targeted this sensitive information because other
valuable equipment was left behind. (Note: Local UN High
Commission for Refugees office head Roberto Meier told
Ambassador Shapiro April 18 there has been a series of
break-ins targeting computer files of victims' testimony,
suggesting a concerted effort by some former paramilitaries
to disrupt the Justice and Peace Law process.)


5. (C) Zea warned about growth of illegal security
cooperatives around the city, which are mostly formed by

ex-paramilitaries. National Police Commander Col. Carlos
Mena said they had identified at least eight illegal security
cooperatives in neighborhoods in Cartagena demanding security
fees from residents. Col. Mena said former paramilitaries
were also involved in loan sharking, motorcycle-taxi
services, and protection rackets in one of Cartagena's main
markets. Caribbean Naval Force Commander Col. Roberto Garcia
estimated that five percent of ex-paras in Bolivar have
rearmed.


6. (C) Col. Mena explained the police had increased its
staff to prevent criminals from converting Cartagena into a
narcotrafficking port. The city still has a strong presence
of criminal groups competing for control of narco/illicit
activities, the biggest of which are the "Paisas" and the
"Aguilas Negras." He did not consider the "Aguilas Negras"
to be a consolidated structure, but a loose conglomeration of
independent groups using the name for intimidation and to
inflate their importance. The Police chair weekly
inter-agency meetings to monitor the changing criminal
dynamics in the city.


7. (C) First Brigade Commander Col. Bautista Carcamo, Mena
and Garcia said the complexity and scope of the security
situation in the department makes the Public Forces' work
difficult. They divide the department into two areas of
greatest security concern: 1) North, Montes de Maria area;
and 2) South, Serrania de San Lucas area. The north is a
strategic corridor for shipping drugs from the south of the
department to the coast. The FARC's 37th and 35th Fronts
(around 400 members) and the new criminal groups fight for
control of this strategic corridor. In the south, coca is
grown, and the GOC is trying manual eradication. The
security situation is delicate since all illegal armed groups
(IAGs) are present, including ex-paramilitaries (with 30
members),the ERP (with 80 members) and the ELN (with 60
members). The ERP confronts the FARC; the ELN avoids
confrontations. Moreover, infrastructure was limited, with
most movement limited to rivers. Fiscalia Sectional Chief
Hernandez said prosecutors often have to travel by river for
over eight hours just to get to the investigation site.

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Poverty Levels Remain High
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8. (C) The poverty rate is one of the highest in the
country; 80 percent of residents in southern Bolivar are
poor. Social investment in health and housing coverage is
lacking. The department also had over 120,000 displaced
persons, 50,000 of whom live in Cartagena. Simancas said the
department is working with the Santo Domingo financial group
on tourism projects, and with Ecopetrol on a petro-chemical
project. There is also an effort to develop an arts and
craft industry, which has significant job creation potential.
The department also has projects with cacao, palm oil, and
cattle raising.

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Local Elections in October 2007
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9. (C) Registrar's Office Departmental Delegate Fernando
Mendoza said the Registrar's Office, in conjunction with the
Inspector General's Office (Procuraduria),is developing more
effective mechanisms to detect corruption. He said prospects
for transparent regional elections in October are much
improved due to the demobilization of the Montes de Maria
(July 2005) and Sur de Bolivar (January 2006) blocs. The
situation has improved sharply since the presidential and
Congressional elections in 2002, when he was pressured by
paramilitaries to influence the results. Still, Mendoza and
Zea warned illegal armed groups--FARC and new criminal
groups--remain influential in specific municipalities. Zea
said gaming chief and gangster Enilse Lopez (AKA "La
Gata")--despite being in prison--is as strong as ever in

Magangue municipality, where she controls the mayor,
continues to buy land, and still receives generous payments
from her lottery business.
Drucker