ONDCP DIRECTOR WALTERS SEES PROGRESS IN PERU'S WAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 003673 SIPDIS SIPDIS WHITE HOUSE FOR ONDCP; DEPT. FOR WHA/AND, INL, AND INR E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER SNAR PE SUBJECT: ONDCP DIRECTOR WALTERS SEES PROGRESS IN PERU'S WAR ON DRUG... id: 130835 DROGAS 2 date: 11/20/2007 13:37 refid: 07LIMA3673 origin: Embassy Lima classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 07LIMA3638 header: VZCZCXYZ0012 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHPE #3673/01 3241337 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 201337Z NOV 07 FM AMEMBASSY LIMA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7349 INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 5285 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7672 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 3196 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0930 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV 4626 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 1593 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 1612 RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RUMIAAA/USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY -------------- header ends -------------- C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 003673 SIPDIS SIPDIS WHITE HOUSE FOR ONDCP; DEPT. FOR WHA/AND, INL, AND INR E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER SNAR PE SUBJECT: ONDCP DIRECTOR WALTERS SEES PROGRESS IN PERU'S WAR ON DRUGS REF: LIMA 3638 Classified By: DCM JAMES D. NEALON. REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Summary: ONDCP Director Walters met with Interior Minister Luis Alva Castro and Drug Policy Agency (DEVIDA) head Romulo Pizarro during a November 5-6 visit to Lima. Alva Castro characterized Peru's anti-drug efforts as an urgent fight to which U.S. assistance was critical. Pizarro credited USG assistance in helping to achieve Peru's counter-narcotics goals, but worried that Peru could become a platform for international cartels unless the GOP continued its fight in earnest. Director Walters recognized Peru's achievements in combating the production and trafficking of illegal narcotics and pledged continued U.S. assistance in facing these shared problems. Later, a panel of leading Peruvian narco-trafficking analysts and opinion makers told Director Walters that international cooperation was key to combating drugs in Peru and that GOP counter-narcotics efforts lacked cohesion. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy John P. Walters visited Peru November 5-6. Director Walters, Ambassador P. Michael McKinley, NAS Director Susan Keogh, ONDCP COS Patrick Ward, ONDCP OSR Bradley Hittle, and poloff met with Peruvian Minister of Interior Luis Alva Castro. Romulo Pizarro, head of Peru's drug policy directorate, DEVIDA, later hosted a lunch for Director Walters and his staff. NAS Director Susan Keogh, AID Mission Director Paul Weisenfeld, ONDCP COS Patrick Ward, ONDCP OSR Bradley Hittle, and poloff attended. -------------- - MEETING WITH INTERIOR MINISTER LUIS ALVA CASTRO -------------- -- ¶3. (C) Alva Castro opened the meeting by noting ongoing confrontations between police and striking coca growers in the jungle town of Aguaytia. He reviewed GOP efforts to disrupt cocaine production, confront traffickers, and halt the laundering of drug profits in Peru. Alva Castro described Peru's fight against drugs as "not negotiable" and pointed to U.S. assistance as crucial to the effort. He noted specifically aviation support to the Police (PNP), funding for Peru's coca eradication corps, and the construction of three PNP Basic Training Academies for anti-drug officers. Alva Castro noted that President Garcia would attend the opening of the academy in Ayacucho, scheduled for January 2008. He reported that the President had held a press conference earlier that morning, in which he announced the disruption of three organizations that had laundered over USD 174 million in suspected drug funds during the last decade. Alva Castro opined that the action would serve as a sign of Peru's seriousness in preventing the transit of drug money. He announced the planned opening of a base for special operations units in Ocabamba in the Apurimac region, the site of a fatal attack on a police station on October 31. Alva Castro characterized Peru's anti-drug efforts as a continuing fight that was important to Peru and to the world. ¶4. (C) Director Walters thanked Minister Alva Castro for his efforts. He noted that it was his first visit to Peru in 15 years and remarked that the country's progress since that time and its commitment to the war on drugs were clear. He said that security and prosperity required hard work and applauded GOP efforts to increase police presence in drug zones. Director Walters hoped that the pending free trade agreement would create new opportunities and prosperity for all Peruvians. Minister Alva Castro responded that Peru was blessed with abundant natural resources, but that security was key to attracting investment. He said that U.S. and European markets were very important for Peruvian products and that increased trade would bring greater stability and rule of law to Peru, helping to force out drug production and trafficking. He saw an open road to prosperity for Peru and would consider it an enormous privilege to enter into a formal free trade agreement with the U.S. ¶5. (C) Director Walters noted reduced demand for drugs in the U.S. and reduced production in Peru as compared to the 1990's. He observed that Peruvian cocaine found its way to other countries such as Brazil, and inquired about Peru's experience working with those governments. Alva Castro replied that Peru was working to improve its legal anti-drug framework, but noted that international drug cartels had vast economic resources. He claimed that corruption in Peru was decreasing, thanks largely to professional, dedicated staff. He noted U.S. assistance in Peru's efforts to control precursor chemicals and cited increasing amounts seized in recent years, and thanked the Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section for providing a new, environmentally friendly incinerator to dispose of such waste. He pointed to continued success of Peru's coca eradication program -- which he described as a "noble cause" despite increasing crop densities. Alva Castro noted that drug producers reacted quickly to movements of eradication teams and mentioned the surge during 2007 of improvised explosive devices planted in coca fields, which had caused a sharp spike in the number of injuries among eradication workers. ¶6. (C) Director Walters assured Minister Alva Castro that the U.S. understands Peru was on the front lines of the war on drugs and that the U.S. took seriously its responsibility to reduce domestic demand and help other countries in the hemisphere in their efforts. He remarked that leadership and commitment were keys to success and recognized those Peruvians who had given their lives in the fight against narcotrafficking. He expressed satisfaction with Peru's comprehensive strategy to combat drugs and his optimism that our combined efforts would ultimately prevail. He assured the Minister that the U.S. would continue to stand by Peru in its fight against illegal drugs. -------------- MEETING WITH DEVIDA DIRECTOR ROMULO PIZARRO -------------- ¶7. (C) DEVIDA Director Pizarro remarked that he saw the visit as an opportunity to demonstrate Peru's achievements in combating illegal drugs and, by extension, serve as a model for other countries. He said "some countries, especially Bolivia", had their "own ideas" about how to fight drugs, but that it was a complex issue because the countries were neighbors. ¶8. (C) Pizarro explained that he began his work at DEVIDA by studying how Colombia had conducted its anti-drug efforts, and had concluded that being too much "in the forefront" could hinder progress. He noted that coca's status as a "traditional" crop complicated the situation, but dismissed talk that is was commercially viable. Pizarro said the "carrot and stick" approach, referring to the need for both alternative development and coca eradication, was the only way to go, and that USAID's development assistance was essential in achieving Peru's counter-narcotics goals. He noted Peru's success in the last two decades in reducing the total area under coca cultivation and efforts to increase public awareness of the dangers of drug use, but worried that Peru could become a platform for international cartels given the country's vast coastline and borders with Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia. He solicited USG support for a dedicated, full-time police force for Peru's seaports. ¶9. (C) In response to Pizarro's comment on Peru's need for regional partners, Director Walters expressed surprise that Brazil had not done more to help. Pizarro replied that the construction of two new transcontinental highways between Peru and Brazil, scheduled to be finished in 2009, would provide increased mobility to traffickers -- a big challenge for which all must be ready, he warned. He discussed the need for increased and more rapid information sharing, especially among Peru, Mexico, and Colombia, on the movements of known traffickers. "Mexicans aren't coming here to see Machu Picchu", he said, and reported that as a result, Colombians and Mexicans now must obtain visas before entering Peru. ¶10. (C) In a formal slide presentation, Pizarro noted that Peru currently produced less than half of the cocaine it could, based on estimates of areas suitable for coca cultivation, and highlighted the link between drug trafficking and acts of terrorism. He reviewed the GOP's security and development plans for Peru's drug-affected regions and efforts to control precursor chemicals and money laundering. Director Walters commented that he saw a remarkable change in Peru's fight against illegal drugs. He reviewed encouraging signs, such as the reduction in U.S. demand and the steady drop in the area under cultivation of coca in Peru. He challenged all to respond not just to individual threats, but to the network of drug production, transport, and consumption throughout the hemisphere. ¶11. (C) Director Walters and Pizarro discussed briefly the growing production in Peru of synthetic drugs, often using generic legal over-the-counter medications from India and China. Pizarro related that the GOP was quietly combating the practice, which may involve large and otherwise legitimate pharmaceutical interests. In general, he said, Peru could not afford to let narco-traffickers take advantage of the country's economic growth, lest Peru become like Mexico. -------------- ROUNDTABLE WITH OPINION MAKERS -------------- ¶12. (C) Director Walters attended a roundtable discussion at the Embassy with leading Peruvian narco-trafficking analysts and opinion makers. The speakers highlighted: -- narco-trafficking in Peru as an impediment to economic growth and national security; -- lack of cohesion in GOP counter-narcotics efforts; -- corruption and institutional weakness as hindrances to GOP counter-narcotics efforts; -- involvement of Mexican and Colombian cartels as well as the Venezuelan government; and -- the need for international cooperation (Peru-Mexico-Colombia-U.S and others) to combat narco-trafficking. ¶13. (U) ONDCP has not cleared this message. MCKINLEY =======================CABLE ENDS============================