GOVERNMENT PREPARING FOR PROTESTS DURING EU-LATIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 000745 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2018 TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR PE SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT PREPARING FOR PROTESTS DURING EU-LATIN AMERICAN SUMMIT REF: A. LIMA 3853 ¶B. LIMA 489 ¶C. LIMA 480 Classified By: POL/C ALEXIS LUDWIG FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) ¶1. (C) Summary: New reporting suggests that radical groups may be planning unspecified violence during upcoming protests against the European Union-Latin America and Caribbean Lima Summit (May 13th-17th). According to Congressman Gustavo Espinoza, political strategist for jailed nationalist leader Antauro Humala, a group of Antauro's supporters recently traveled to Bolivia to receive combat training to prepare them to launch attacks during the summit -- a trip organized by the Venezuelan Embassy in Lima and a particularly dangerous Antauro supporter. According to a GOP counter-terrorism agency (Dircote) report released to an investigative news program, Dircote penetrated a meeting of the Venezuelan and FARC-sponsored Bolivarian Continental Coordinator (CCB) in which participants agreed to coordinate efforts to undermine the summit. Our EU counterparts point to the 2005 Summit of the Americas in Argentina where radicals hijacked anti-summit protests by provoking violent confrontations, but are coordinating closely with the GOP and believe security forces here have things in hand. End Summary. "Reservistas" Training in Bolivia for Summit Violence -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Congressman Gustavo Espinoza (protect),political strategist for jailed nationalist leader Antauro Humala, told poloffs that he recently learned that a group of 48 current and former Antauro supporters ("reservistas") had traveled to Bolivia to receive combat training to prepare them to launch unspecified attacks during anti-summit protests in May. He said he received the information from a reservista who was disturbed by what he saw in Bolivia and left before completing the training or learning specifically what was planned. According to Espinoza's source, Venezuelan diplomat Virly Torres organized and funded the trip in collaboration with a reservista named Roger Chipana Yupanqui. Espinoza described the men involved in the training as stupid and crazy, and from the unreformed fringes of Antauro's political movement. He said he feared they would "seek notoriety" during the summit and that the entire movement would be blamed. (Note: Espinoza appeared genuinely worried about the threat of an attack. End Note.) ¶3. (C) A March article in the prominent magazine Caretas appears to support Espinoza's story about military training. The article describes an investigation by Peru's counter-terrorism agency Dircote of reservistas that allegedly received military training in Bolivia. Dircote officers followed a group of reservistas leaving the Lima office of the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator (CCB) -- a group reportedly sponsored by the Venezuelan Government and the FARC that coordinates radical organizations across Latin America -- through Puno to La Paz until they entered a Bolivian military installation. The magazine claimed to have seen photos documenting the entire journey. Other circumstantial evidence backing Espinoza's story includes reported visits to Peru by Bolivian Aymara leader and former terrorist Felipe Quispe. Quispe has openly associated with Antauro Humala and his reservistas, and is reported by one Embassy contact to have provided combat training to Peruvians in Puno, on the Bolivian border. (REF A) Press reports also say Quispe is a leader in CCB's Bolivia chapter. Who is Roger Chipana Yupanqui? -------------- ¶4. (C) Espinoza described Chipana as a particularly radical and dangerous reservista who has traveled to Venezuela and a strong supporter of President Chavez. Because of his Venezuela ties, Chipana broke with the exclusively Peruvian nationalist movement that Espinoza claims to have promoted since linking with Antauro Humala in 2006. According to press reports, the 23 year old Chipana comes from a peasant community in Apurimac and currently lives in Lima. He claims to have participated in the January 2005 reservista assault on the Andahuaylas police station that left four police and two reservistas dead, according to a press report, and his brother Raul Chipana Yupanqui is currently in prison for charges related to this attack. As of January 2008, Chipana led an organization of family members of reservistas jailed for the attack; the organization's purpose was to pressure the government to speed up their trial or release them. Evidence the CCB Planning Summit Confrontations -------------- -- ¶5. (C) The GOP on February 9 arrested seven people returning from a CCB summit in Quito and accused them of planning disruptions during the May summit (Ref B). In an attempt to prove the legitimacy of these charges to the public, Dircote recently released additional evidence to the investigative news program "La Ventana Indiscreta". According to the program, Dircote penetrated a meeting held on February 15th by Roque Felix Gonzalez la Rosa, head of the CCB-Peru Chapter and a formerly imprisoned militant of the terrorist group MRTA. Participants in the meeting included two members of the radical Uruguayan group "Fogoneros" ("Firestarters"), described as experts in fomenting violence during protests. Attendees reportedly discussed improving coordination of CCB activities with Venezuela, and agreed to work together to undermine the EU-Latin America summit. On February 21, Gonzalez la Rosa, the "Fogoneros", and several others reportedly traveled to Quito for the CCB summit. Although the GOP arrested Gonzalez la Rosa and six others on their return, several additional suspects -- including three who were jailed in the early 1990s on MRTA-related terrorism charges -- have not been found. Potential Repeat of 2005 Summit of the Americas Riots -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Our contacts at the EU Mission are concerned that the long-planned anti-summit may be hijacked by radicals intent on provoking confrontations with police, much like the 2005 Summit of the Americas in Argentina (Ref C). (Note: In Argentina, a peaceful "People's Summit" and protest were followed by a smaller march where protestors threw Molotov cocktails and lit fires, leaving at least 20 people injured, according to press reports. End Note.) Anti-summit organizers have planned their main event -- a mass protest -- for May 17, the second day heads of state will be in Lima. Organizers reportedly hope 20-30,000 protestors will attend, and a variety of leftist unions and social movements around the country have announced plans to march on Lima. Government Ministers remain relatively confident they can handle the situation with security measures they have in place. Comment: -------------- ¶7. (C) We believe GOP security services should be able to handle a protest of this size, even if it involves minor violence such as molotov cocktails. We are less sure that the government will be able to deal effectively with a worst-case scenario involving sophisticated, coordinated violence. As things stand, our EU Mission counterparts are coordinating closely with GOP security forces and believe that, all told, the GOP has things in hand. MCKINLEY