CONGRESS PASSES RURAL DEVELOPMENT LAW WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 005444

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON PHUM SOCI CO
SUBJECT: CONGRESS PASSES RURAL DEVELOPMENT LAW WITH
PROTECTIONS FOR VULNERABLE GROUPS

REF: A. BOGOTA 32

B. BOGOTA 4786

C. BOGOTA 4825

Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reason: 1.4 (b,d)

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Summary
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1. (C) On June 15, Colombia's congress passed a rural
development law to increase rural productivity, harmonize
existing laws, and reform INCODER, Colombia's rural land
development agency. Concerns of human rights, Afro-Colombian
and indigenous groups were addressed in the bill, and INCODER
will have greater transparency and less authority. Still,
complaints from about the bill persist. Implementing
regulations are not in place and agencies with new
responsibilities will need more resources to succeed. End
Summary

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Background
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2. (U) In July, 2006 the Colombian Congress began debate on
a bill to promote productive land use, harmonize existing
land laws and reform the Instituto Colombiano de Desarrollo
Rural (INCODER) (ref A). Legislator Pedro Ramirez, who
sponsored the bill, said it will make the rural economy "more
productive and competitive to cope with the growing demands
of globalization." Lorena Garnica, a special advisor to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MinAg),agreed
that modernizing the rural economy and boosting rural
productivity were the primary goals. Garnica said the main
instrument to achieve this will be giving the GOC the right
to use eminent domain to purchase economically unproductive
land to put to more productive uses.


3. (C) In early 2007, the bill was criticized by human
rights, Afro-Colombian, and indigenous groups who argued the
bill could be used to hurt vulnerable groups. They claimed
the bill might permit legalization of some ex-paramilitary
land seizures by reducing the time needed to acquire legal
ownership through "adverse possession." This argument had
political impact, but was flawed because the bill only
consolidated existing adverse possession laws. The Colombian
Commission of Jurists, which actively opposed the bill,
privately told us the argument was legally weak.


4. (U) In April President Uribe publicly floated the idea
getting rid of INCODER in response to widespread accusations
of corruption within the organization, including accusations
that high-ranking officials were linked to ex-paramilitaries
and involved in land-for-votes schemes. As a result, the
bill was substantially amended and passed by congress on June
15 (ref B). It was transmitted to President Uribe in
mid-July. Garnica anticipates he will sign it into law in the
next two weeks.

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Complaints Persist Despite Protections for Vulnerable Groups
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5. (U) Congress added a number of specific provisions
protecting vulnerable groups to the law before passing it.
Eminent domain based on lack of economic productivity cannot
be exercised against land owned by previously displaced
persons, small farmers, and indigenous or Afro-Colombian
communities. Additionally, displaced persons will be able to
challenge adverse possession decisions at anytime, instead of
within the previous five year limit. It also makes it easier
for displaced persons to register land claims.


6. (C) Indigenous groups, such as the Colombian National
Indigenous Organization (ONIC),still object to the law.
ONIC rejects the idea of modernizing the rural economy,
complaining that the law is intended to "reorganize the
country" to implement the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion
Agreement. ONIC claims the law will "trample" on the rights
of indigenous groups and "obliterate" their lands
(resguardos). Garnica said these claims make no sense. She
noted that the Constitution provides extraordinary protection

for resguardos, which cover almost a third of the country, by
making them legally inalienable. In addition, the law
specifically states that it does not modify or reduce the
rights of indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups.

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INCODER Reform
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7. (U) The law makes INCODER more transparent, minimizes
land market distortions, and moves some critical
responsibilities to other agencies. Previously, INCODER had
a virtual monopoly on developing rural projects: it designed
projects, subsidized their development, and chose project
developers. This monopoly reduced transparency, distorted
land values, and facilitated corruption. Under the new law,
objective criteria for projects will be developed by MinAg,
projects will be publicly advertised, and developers will be
chosen by an impartial group of outside experts. Embassy
technical experts were invited to work with MinAg officials
on the bill to increase INCODER's transparency and strengthen
the role of the private sector in projects.


8. (U) Rodolfo Campo Soto, INCODER's general manager, said
the biggest change for INCODER is that multiple government
agencies will assume responsibility from INCODER for helping
vulnerable groups with land related issues (ref C). Accion
Social will be responsible for land issues for displaced
persons and the Ministry of the Interior and Justice's Bureau
of Ethnic Affairs will be responsible for land issues for
ethnic minorities. Garnica said implementing the new system
will be a "challenge," as responsible agencies will decide on
solutions to land problems, and INCODER will then execute the
solution.

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Details and New Resources To Be Defined
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9. (C) Some key aspects of the law are yet to be defined,
and agencies with new responsibilities will need new
resources to succeed. Regulations to be developed by the
MinAg in the next year will, for example, determine how
"economic productivity" is defined, what the criteria for
rural development projects are, how the outside experts who
chose developers will be selected, and how responsibilities
will be transferred from INCODER to other agencies. Luis
Alfonso Hoyas, the head of Accion Social, said his agency
lacks the capacity to implement the new law with its current
resources. Pastor Murillo, the director of the
Afro-Colombian office in the Ministry of the Interior and
Justice, said taking responsibility for land issues will be
"impossible" with his current staff of five. Both Hoyas and
Murillo hope they will receive additional resources to
implement the law, but neither was optimistic that their
resource needs would be met in the short-term.
Drucker