PRESIDENT URIBE FIRES TWO POLICE GENERALS AFTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003454 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2017 TAGS: PGOV SNAR CO SUBJECT: PRESIDENT URIBE FIRES TWO POLICE GENERALS AFTER ILLEGAL WIRETAPS EXPOSED Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer Reason: 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) On May 14, President Alvaro Uribe dismissed national police chief (CNP) General Jorge Daniel Castro and CNP intelligence chief (DIPOL) Guillermo Chavez after learning of illegal DIPOL wiretaps. Vice Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon confirmed to Judatt that Castro and Chavez admitted to Defense Minister Santos they knew about the illegal wiretaps. Weekend news reports in Semana magazine cited the wiretap information in describing allegedly illegal activities by ex-paramilitaries imprisoned in Itagui. Media reports suggested the wiretaps had taken place over at least a two-year period, and targeted GOC ministers, Administrative Department of Security (DAS) employees, ex-paramilitary leaders, and politicians. ¶2. (U) Uribe named national Judicial Investigative Police chief (DIJIN) General Oscar Naranjo to replace Castro. Naranjo is a relatively junior general, and police hierarchy rules meant a further 10 more senior generals were also forced out. This means only nine generals remain in the CNP, requiring colonels to assume leadership responsibilities of important CNP units. Pinzon said the loss of the other senior generals would be a blow, especially since the only "bad apples" were Castro and Chavez, but said the Ministry would respect the CNP custom. ¶3. (U) Prosecutor General (Fiscal) Mario Iguaran said May 15 that illegal wiretaps could be punished by a sentence of up to three years in jail. Iguaran said he would study whether the wiretaps should be investigated by civilian or military authorities. Speaking at a May 15 press conference, and flanked by Castro and Naranjo, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the GOC would continue investigating who had ordered the interceptions, a process that would make the CNP stronger. Naranjo underscored the seriousness of the illegal wiretaps and committed to publicizing information obtained in the investigation about its scope and duration. ¶4. (U) Political reaction was swift and negative, with representatives of the "U," Liberal, and Polo Democratico parties insisting the GOC reveal who had ordered the wiretaps and who was targeted by them. During a congressional debate on an unrelated matter, Defense Minister Santos said he investigated the leak to Semana and discovered the illegal wiretap activity. He said the Uribe Administration, unlike the Samper Administration (1994-98) supported by some Liberal members of congress, had revealed the facts immediately. Polo Senator Gustavo Petro accused the CNP leadership of ordering the taping and leaking the results. Petro alleged the CNP's motivation was to discourage ex-paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso from going ahead with his "version libre" Justice and Peace Law testimony, which started May 15 (septel). Drucker