SPAIN: VISIT OF INL DAS MCCAMPBELL; OPPORTUNITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 000924 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INL/FO (DAS MCCAMPBELL) AND EUR/WE DEPARTMENT ALSO PASS TO USAID E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2017 TAGS: SNAR EAID PREL SP SUBJECT: SPAIN: VISIT OF INL DAS MCCAMPBELL; OPPORTUNITY FOR BILATERAL COUNTER-NARCOTICS COOPERATION IN BOLIVIA Classified By: DCM HUGO LLORENS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Summary. During a visit to Madrid to attend the 25th-annual International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC),INL DAS Christy McCampbell on May 7 met with senior officials in Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and USAID-equivalent Agency for International Cooperation (AECI). During her meetings, DAS McCampbell said she looked forward to the IDEC conference, expressed concern for the increased cocaine use in and trafficking to Spain, highlighted INL's role and recent activities in the Andes, and stressed the importance of Spanish engagement on interdiction and law enforcement efforts in that region. AECI officials expressed an interest in working together with INL and USAID on a joint pilot project to build counter-narcotics capacity in Bolivia and suggested that senior Spanish and U.S. development assistance and counter-narcotics officials should consider organizing a bilateral "workshop" to discuss the nexus between development work and the drug trade. AECI also invited DAS McCampbell to visit the Spanish program in Chapare the next time she travels to Bolivia and to also call upon the Spanish Ambassador in La Paz. End Summary. -------------- -------------- SPANISH AID AGENCY OFFERS BILATERAL COOPERATION IN BOLIVIA -------------- -------------- - ¶2. (C) DAS McCampbell met May 7 with Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI) Deputy Director General for Latin America Rafael Soriano. The conversation focused largely on the challenges both countries have faced in trying to foster alternative development strategies (to coca leaf) in Bolivia. McCampbell stressed that alternative development does not reduce narcotics flows unless it is pursued in conjunction with crop eradication. She said that even if one accepts the Morales government's promotion of alternative uses of the coca leaf, domestic production for legitimate purposes should not exceed 7-12,000 hectares, yet there are 30,000 hectares of coca leaf currently being cultivated in Bolivia. McCampbell said that the excess is being converted into cocaine and that this cocaine is mostly coming to Europe, via Spain, and not to the U.S. As a result, Spain should be supporting crop eradication as well as alternative development programs in Bolivia. ¶3. (C) Soriano said that Spain did not want to dismiss out of hand the Morales government's distinction between the coca leaf and cocaine, even though Spain agrees that Bolivia is growing far more coca leaf than it needs for domestic consumption. He thought we should try harder to understand Morales' position and look to see if we could find common ground. McCampbell noted that Morales continues to slow roll an EU offer to finance a study to determine exactly how much coca Bolivia would need to grow for domestic consumption. She said that Morales probably fears that the eventual figure would be far below the 30,000 hectares currently under cultivation. ¶4. (C) Soriano commented that while Spain's "vision" of Latin America is often different from that of the U.S., it is clear that both countries care deeply about the region and should coordinate more, both on the ground in Latin American countries as well as on the policy level in Madrid and Washington. He said that "drugs are not a priority for AECI," (as he said this issue is handled by other GOS elements) and that his agency does not finance crop eradication efforts. However, AECI does have both multilateral and bilateral anti-drug programs. AECI's multilateral programs are administered via the CICAD network of national observatories and focus on monitoring the impact of the drug trade in Latin America and combating it via institution building. AECI's main bilateral effort against drugs is via financing alternative development strategies. ¶5. (C) Soriano said that while AECI's alternative development results in Peru have been less than ideal, his agency has been very pleased with the results obtained in the Chapare region of Bolivia over the past five years. He suggested that McCampbell visit the Spanish program in Chapare the next time she travels to Bolivia and to also call upon the Spanish Ambassador in La Paz. McCampbell indicated that she would likely travel to Bolivia within the next two months and would try to both visit the Spanish Chapare program and meet with the Spanish Ambassador. ¶6. (C) Soriano also suggested that senior Spanish and U.S. development assistance and counter-narcotics officials should consider organizing a bilateral "workshop" to discuss the nexus between development work and the drug trade. This workshop could produce a list of "lessons learned" and "best practices" that would prove useful to both sides. It might also set the stage for U.S.-Spanish joint financing of alternative development programs in Latin America. Soriano thought Bolivia would be an ideal place to start. McCampbell said that she would discuss the idea with USAID and get back to the Spanish with our reaction. ¶7. (C) Turning to Colombia, Soriano explained that Bogota had asked Madrid to finance its "Forest Warden" alternative development strategy, but that Spain had refused. Spain viewed it as a program that was basically paying people not to grow coca, rather than a viable and sustainable alternative development strategy. McCampbell agreed that paying people not to grow coca was not an ideal strategy and noted that the U.S. Congress had also refused to fund this Colombian initiative. ¶8. (C) Comment. The visit of DAS McCampbell continues the series of high-level USG officials who have visited Spain in the past year to discuss counter-narcotics and money laundering issues (DEA Administrator Tandy, Attorney General Gonzales, INL PDAS Schweich). The visit provided another important opportunity to educate the Spanish on the Department's key role in the counter-narcotics effort. The Spanish government ranks drug trafficking as one of its most important law enforcement concerns and we have pressed the GOS to step up and become a leader in the counter-narcotics fight within the EU and with select countries in Latin America. The AECI offer to explore avenues of multi-agency cooperation between our two governments is very welcome and we suggest that it be pursued. We hope that INL officials are able to work with USAID to consider the Spanish proposal, as it could bolster not only our counter-narcotics efforts with the Spanish but also provide some tangible substance to our bilateral cooperation in Latin America. Post stands ready to assist as needed in facilitating USG contact with GOS officials working these issues in Madrid and La Paz. We also thank DAS McCampbell for taking time out of her IDEC schedule to meet with Mission elements and with select Spanish officials to advance our counter-narcotics efforts. ¶9. (U) INL DAS McCampbell cleared this cable. Aguirre