EMBASSY BOGOTA REPLY REGARDING THE AUC'S FTO

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 002264

SIPDIS

SLUG FOR WHA/AND AND S/CT MICHELLE ARIAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2018
TAGS: PTER PGOV ASEC PREL KCRM KJUS CO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY BOGOTA REPLY REGARDING THE AUC'S FTO
DESIGNATION

REF: STATE 58310

Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer
Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d)

SUMMARY
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1. (U) Over 32,000 former United Self Defense Forces of
Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries have demobilized since 2002 and
the elimination of its national command structure
significantly reduced the group's terrorist activities.
Still, a human rights group reports that AUC offshoots
committed 358 violations of international humanitarian law in

2006. Similarly, OAS Mission in Support of the Peace Process
(MAPP/OAS) analysts believe that many new criminal groups use
similar structures, people and networks as the former AUC,
but on a smaller scale. The GOC position is that the AUC no
longer exists, and its continued inclusion on the FTO list
would not reflect the reality on the ground. End Summary

AUC DEMOBILIZATION
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2. (U) Over 32,000 former United Self Defense Forces of
Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries have demobilized since 2002.
This has resulted in the Justice and Peace Law (JPL) process,
the largest reintegration program ever attempted. In
addition to the demobilization, most former AUC high-level
leaders are in jail in Colombia, have been extradited, or are
dead. The GOC extradited 15 AUC leaders, including Salvador
Mancuso and Diego Murillo, to the United States in May.
Other AUC leaders who continued their illegal activities have
recently been captured or killed, including Feris Chadid,
captured April 16, Victor Manuel Mejia Munera, killed April
29, and his twin brother, Miguel Angel, captured on May 1.
The Mejia Munera brothers, known together as Los Mellizos,
were key in rebuilding criminal-narco networks from Bolivar
to Norte de Santander departments.

VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
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3. (U) The elimination of the national military and
leadership command structure of the AUC significantly reduced
the group's terrorist activities. Still, in 2006, the year
the AUC demobilization concluded, Colombian human rights
group CINEP (Center of Investigation and Education) reported
that paramilitaries (groups which CINEP considers direct
offspring of the AUC) conducted 358 violations of
international humanitarian law, including kidnappings,
murders, and the exercise of social control over territory.
CINEP data for 2007 is not yet available.

CRIMINAL GROUPS WITH POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
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4. (C) The vacuum created by the demobilization of the AUC
has permitted the growth of new criminal groups. The CNP
estimates these groups to number approximately 2200
members--compared to over 30,000 in the AUC. Local
journalist Marta Ruiz told us, "this new enemy is a monster
with two heads, it has the excessive ambition of the mafia,
and the cruelty without limits of the paras." Members of the
new criminal groups fall into three categories: 1) AUC
dissidents who never demobilized, 2) demobilized who have
rearmed or rejoined armed groups, or 3) newly emerged
criminal groups. The new groups operate in four major
regions: the north Atlantic coast; Antioquia and Uraba;
Valle del Cauca to Narino; and the south-eastern regions of
Meta and Vichada. Gustavo Duncan, a security analyst, states
the groups fight over territory, production, and control of
narcotrafficking corridors. Using tactics similar to the
AUC, MAPP/OAS reports the groups target the demobilized and
unemployed youth for forced recruitment.


5. (C) The new groups are largely criminal, not political,
in nature, but a few are clear offspring of the AUC and

maintain its political ideology. The CNP reports groups such
as the New Generation Organization (ONG) in Narino and the
Aguilas Negras del Santander maintain the former AUC's
counterinsurgency line and seek the social control of
territories. MAPP/OAS analysts report that some groups have
the same structure, people and networks as the former AUC but
on a much smaller scale. The MAPP/OAS eleventh draft report
notes with concern that AUC spin-off groups are responding to
the GOC's aggressive strategy to contain their activities
with targeted murders of military and judicial authorities.
MAPP/OAS cautions that the groups pose a threat to the
long-term success of the peace process.

CONTINUITY OF LEADERSHIP
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6. (SBU) There is a continuity of leadership from the AUC to
some new criminal groups. Daniel Rendon (Don Mario)--a
former mid-level AUC commander and brother of former AUC
Elmer Cardenas Block commander Freddy Rendon (El Aleman)--now
heads an Uraba-based group which is battling other criminal
groups for control of narcotrafficking routes. Media sources
attribute over 400 murders in the Uraba region since January
to the conflict, and violent crime in Cordoba reportedly rose
37% in the first quarter of 2008 as compared to last year.
Such killings have been sometimes called "social cleansing."
Rendon, who demobilized under the paramilitary peace process
but later returned to crime, is recruiting former demobilized
paras into his ranks.


7. (SBU) Don Mario's close ally, Pedro Oliverio Guerrero
Castillo (Cuchillo) commands the Anti-Subversive
Revolutionary Popular Army, which has a substantial military
capacity and operates in Meta and Vichada. Guerrero is
another former AUC leader who continued illegal activities
after demobilization. Guerrero is believed to have killed
AUC rival Miguel Arroyave in 2004. He is one of Colombia's
most wanted criminals and faces charges of homicide,
extortion, forced disappearance, and narcotics trafficking.

LINKS TO THE GOC
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8. (C) The ability of the demobilized AUC to regenerate
their criminal groups is due in part to local corruption
within the Colombian National Police (CNP),military, and
local government. The GOC has not been able to root out
corrupt local officials, which has hampered its efforts to
combat the threat. A local security analyst reported that
many local police outside urban areas remain complicit in
narcotrafficking activities. He described one incident when
a local sergeant showed him a bag of 5 million Colombian
pesos (about U.S. 2500),which he said was an offer from an
emerging group.

VICTIMS AT RISK
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9. (SBU) The MAPP/OAS' eleventh draft report says that as
with the former AUC, communities affected by the new criminal
groups face mobility restrictions, extortion, forced coca
cultivation, threats, and assassination. As a result, the
Colombian National Police (CNP) launched a protection program
for victims of paramilitary crimes participating in the
Justice and Peace Law (JPL) process. The CNP protects 36
high-risk municipalities, where large numbers of victims
reside. Police provide perimeter protection, community
liaison, and enhanced intelligence collection to increase
security, preempt threats, and catch those making the threats.

GOC VIEW
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10. (SBU) Embassy informed Vice-Foreign Minister Camilo
Reyes and Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo of the
review. Restrepo said the GOC position is that the AUC no
longer exists. The GOC has extradited key former AUC
leaders, and the rank and file have demobilized. New illegal

armed groups are focused on criminal activity, and play no
political role. He said continued inclusion of the AUC on
the FTO list would not reflect the facts on the ground and
would cause political problems for the GOC.
STANFORD