Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LIMA3782
2007-12-07 16:46:00
SECRET
Embassy Lima
Cable title:
FOLLOW-UP REPORTING ON PERUVIAN MILITARY
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHPE #3782 3411646 ZNY SSSSS ZZH R 071646Z DEC 07 FM AMEMBASSY LIMA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7473 INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 1861 RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 5341 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7688 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3213 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0967 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ DEC MONTEVIDEO 9382 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1626 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 1646 RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC RUMIAAA/CDR USCINCSO MIAMI FL
S E C R E T LIMA 003782
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2017
TAGS: PINR MOPS PGOV PINS PE
SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP REPORTING ON PERUVIAN MILITARY
DEVELOPMENTS (C-AL7-02193)
REF: A. STATE 158693
B. LIMA 3764
Classified By: Charge James Nealon, for Reasons 1.4(C)
S E C R E T LIMA 003782
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2017
TAGS: PINR MOPS PGOV PINS PE
SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP REPORTING ON PERUVIAN MILITARY
DEVELOPMENTS (C-AL7-02193)
REF: A. STATE 158693
B. LIMA 3764
Classified By: Charge James Nealon, for Reasons 1.4(C)
1. (S/NF) Post appreciates the feedback offered by Washington
analysts in ref A and offers the following responses to
questions raised regarding the status of Plan VRAE. (Ref A
questions regarding internal political and congressional
matters will be answered septel.)
2. (C) Has the Peruvian government taken any action to
carry out Plan VRAE?
Embassy contacts report the GOP has spent $80 million in the
past 11 months on Plan VRAE to improve existing facilities,
build new bases, and upgrade equipment. But local leaders in
the departments of Junin and Ayachucho say the money has not
brought increased security, pointing out that Army patrols
rarely extend beyond the immediate vicinity of the bases.
Analysts familiar with Plan VRAE say its success depends on
the political will of the Ministry of Defense to engage
agressively with terrorists and narco-traffickers, actions
the Peruvian Army has not taken so far. Military officials
sometimes defend their hesitancy by underscoring the
uncertain legal environment in which they operate and the
possibility that decisive counter-insurgency actions will be
followed by allegations of human rights abuses. In a meeting
with Emboffs November 28, Minister of the Interior Alva
Castro accused the army of reaching an accommodation with
narco-traffickers and their Shining Path allies, and he
doubted significant progress would be made in combating the
influence of subversive groups in the region -- see ref B.
3. (C) How is the government of Peru planning to use its
recent arms acquisitions?
Officials at all levels of the Peruvian military -- including
the Minister of Defense -- privately express concern about
Chilean arms purchases and the need for Peru to respond (at
least in a face-saving manner) to Chile's vastly superior
firepower and conspicuous military equipment advantages
across the board. But the GOP remains focused on its primary
goal of combating the internal threat to sovereignty posed by
transnational criminal and terrorist groups. The GOP's
recent arms acquisitions are designed to meet this goal by
increasing the ability of the armed forces to control
Peruvian territory and by developing a rapid-reaction force
able to respond quickly to emergencies.
4. (C) What was the Peruvian Government's goal for the arms
summit that took place November 24 and 25?
The event, SITDEF 2007 (Salon International Tecnologia
Defensa),was more of a technology exhibition than a summit,
attended by arm sellers from Israel, South Korea, China, and
Russia, among others. The GOP hoped to use the event to
highlight the modernization efforts underway in the Peruvian
military and to gain a higher international profile for GOP
efforts to acquire military technology.
NEALON
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2017
TAGS: PINR MOPS PGOV PINS PE
SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP REPORTING ON PERUVIAN MILITARY
DEVELOPMENTS (C-AL7-02193)
REF: A. STATE 158693
B. LIMA 3764
Classified By: Charge James Nealon, for Reasons 1.4(C)
1. (S/NF) Post appreciates the feedback offered by Washington
analysts in ref A and offers the following responses to
questions raised regarding the status of Plan VRAE. (Ref A
questions regarding internal political and congressional
matters will be answered septel.)
2. (C) Has the Peruvian government taken any action to
carry out Plan VRAE?
Embassy contacts report the GOP has spent $80 million in the
past 11 months on Plan VRAE to improve existing facilities,
build new bases, and upgrade equipment. But local leaders in
the departments of Junin and Ayachucho say the money has not
brought increased security, pointing out that Army patrols
rarely extend beyond the immediate vicinity of the bases.
Analysts familiar with Plan VRAE say its success depends on
the political will of the Ministry of Defense to engage
agressively with terrorists and narco-traffickers, actions
the Peruvian Army has not taken so far. Military officials
sometimes defend their hesitancy by underscoring the
uncertain legal environment in which they operate and the
possibility that decisive counter-insurgency actions will be
followed by allegations of human rights abuses. In a meeting
with Emboffs November 28, Minister of the Interior Alva
Castro accused the army of reaching an accommodation with
narco-traffickers and their Shining Path allies, and he
doubted significant progress would be made in combating the
influence of subversive groups in the region -- see ref B.
3. (C) How is the government of Peru planning to use its
recent arms acquisitions?
Officials at all levels of the Peruvian military -- including
the Minister of Defense -- privately express concern about
Chilean arms purchases and the need for Peru to respond (at
least in a face-saving manner) to Chile's vastly superior
firepower and conspicuous military equipment advantages
across the board. But the GOP remains focused on its primary
goal of combating the internal threat to sovereignty posed by
transnational criminal and terrorist groups. The GOP's
recent arms acquisitions are designed to meet this goal by
increasing the ability of the armed forces to control
Peruvian territory and by developing a rapid-reaction force
able to respond quickly to emergencies.
4. (C) What was the Peruvian Government's goal for the arms
summit that took place November 24 and 25?
The event, SITDEF 2007 (Salon International Tecnologia
Defensa),was more of a technology exhibition than a summit,
attended by arm sellers from Israel, South Korea, China, and
Russia, among others. The GOP hoped to use the event to
highlight the modernization efforts underway in the Peruvian
military and to gain a higher international profile for GOP
efforts to acquire military technology.
NEALON