AUGUST COLOMBIA STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT INTIATIVE UPDATE

UNCLAS BOGOTA 002904 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PTER PHUM EAID SNAR CO SUBJECT: AUGUST COLOMBIA STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT INTIATIVE UPDATE REF: BOGOTA 2759 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Colombian military is moving forward with its security strategy in support of the National Consolidation Plan (PNC),the GOC's effort to increase state presence in Colombia. Civilian participation at a senior level meeting for the Coordination Center for Integrated Action (CCAI),the PNC's civil-military coordinating mechanism, was disappointing and underscores the challenge in asserting civilian control of the initiative. Moreover, President Uribe still has not named a director for his Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation (Accion Social). In meetings with the Embassy, Vice President Francisco Santos stressed the critical condition of the Pacific Coast while regional coordinators for Putumayo and Montes de Maria described challenges in their zones. The Tolima Regional Coordination Center (RCC) has begun developing its regional security plan, and the Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia) is augmenting its personnel in Tumaco. End Summary. POSITIVE SIGNALS ON SECURITY STRATEGY FOR PNC -------------- ¶2. (SBU) General Carlos Saavedra, Chief of Army Operations, and General Freddy Padilla, Chief of Defense, will be holding a series of meetings with the coordinators of all RCCs (civilian, police and military) and the respective military and police leadership to discuss security strategies. Gen. Padilla told Polcouns September 2 that he intends to press hard for greater civilian leadership in the PNC, including the naming of a new head of Accion Social. These developments follow an August 24 meeting with the Embassy (see reftel) in which General Saavedra offered to lead visits to our Colombia Strategic Development Initiative (CSDI) priority zones to meet with area commanders, receive their security assessments, and evaluate current conditions. ASSISTANCE REQUESTS FOR RCC'S -------------- ¶3. (SBU) CCAI officials submitted a $1.8 million assistance request to the Embassy for RCC support. The majority of the request is for salaries of regional technical advisors, with smaller amounts for operational expenses (office space, communications equipment, etc.). The CSDI working group is evaluating the request and preparing a response. Encouragingly, the salaries requested are for one-year "bridge" funding for advisors in critical specialties such as economic activation, land tenure and property rights, community development, and the justice sector. The CCAI officials told us their request is not modeled on the level of effort put forth in Macarena but rather "bare bones." MINISTRIES DISAPPOINT AT CCAI MEETING -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The third CCAI senior coordinating meeting (Comite Directivo) was held on August 18. Despite a letter from President Uribe's office to ministries directing them to support the PNC, no ministers or vice-ministers attended. Key ministries, such as Agriculture, did not send any delegate, while the Ministry of Interior and Justice representative said her ministry was too preoccupied with other business to prepare a report. The majority of the reports, though appearing to focus on resources already designated to consolidation zones before the PNC existed, at least demonstrated better awareness of the PNC than in the previous two senior staff meetings. ACCION SOCIAL DIRECTOR POSITION STILL VACANT -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The Uribe Administration has still not named a director for Accion Social. One potential candidate is Diego Molano, the former number two at Accion Social and currently a USAID contractor. Some observers have suggested that President Uribe was awaiting the outcome of the re-election referendum debate in the Congress before appointing a new director, whose sizeable social budget is thought to be a significant political spoil. GOC GIVING PNC A MAKEOVER -------------- ¶6. (SBU) A senior CCAI official told us that the GOC has internally discussed and acknowledged its initial mistake in presenting the PNC. The image has been decidedly military because the MOD has been responsible for ninety percent of the content of presentations. He added that the prime example of consolidation has been the La Macarena zone, which has a distinct military flavor. The official said the military image needs to be changed so that the PNC is accurately represented as a civilian endeavor, and the GOC is attempting to do this zone by zone. They have redesigned their core presentation to be led by civilians and to stress the civilian side of consolidation. Polcouns suggested to Gen. Padilla that a new rollout of the Plan, this time emphasizing civilian leadership, could take place once a new Accion Social Director is named. VP SANTOS ON THE PACIFIC COAST -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Vice President Francisco Santos met with CSDI working group members on August 4 to discuss consolidation issues. He said that while the Embassy is focusing on Tumaco, the situation in the entire Pacific coast is troubling, especially the northern areas of Choco and Guapi. Santos said the economic development vision for the Pacific coast needs to be re-orientated towards the natural markets of the Pacific Basin rather than the interior. NAS PROGRAM TO RECRUIT POLICE FROM PACIFIC COAST REGION -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) NAS is coordinating with the Colombian National Police (CNP) to provide scholarships for up to 100 police recruits from the coastal region of Tumaco who will commit to serving in the Pacific Coast area for two years. The program is part of an effort to recruit youth who meet academic and physical qualifications, but do not have the resources to pay for the one-year Police Academy training. The youth come from communities with little history of professional or career opportunities, poor perceptions of the police, and that have previously resisted the presence of the state. The final selection will take place in November and the course will begin in January 2010. The applicants will follow the regular CNP admission process, including physical, medical, psychological, and security testing. NAS' Pacific Coast advisor is working with local police recruiting offices on security screening of candidates and means testing. CONSOLIDATION IN PUTUMAYO FACES CULTURAL CHALLENGES -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) A CCAI civilian coordinator told us on August 13 that the GOC is prioritizing six municipalities in southern Putumayo, four of which border Ecuador. They are also considering locating an RCC in Puerto Asis even though Putumayo is considered a GOC secondary effort. The coordinator said he has faced cultural resistance to consolidation because the residents of southern Putumayo identify strongly with Ecuador --they watch Ecuadorian television, listen to Ecuadorian radio, follow soccer teams in Quito, and even sing the Ecuadorian national anthem. The coordinator added that changing this cultural identification is a long-term challenge and difficult to measure. The task is complicated in the current PNC context where the GOC is seeking quick wins, focusing on infrastructure and other material deliverables, and looking towards a deadline of August 2010. STRENGTHENING 'RETURN COMMITTEES' IN MONTES DE MARIA -------------- -------------- ¶10. (SBU) In an August 14 meeting with USAID, a CCAI official identified four GOC priority areas in Montes de Maria: Las Palmas to Bajogrande; Carmen de Bolivar (El Salado, Macayepo); Ovejas (Chengue); and San Onofre (La Libertad, Pelona y Cacique). USAID is focusing twelve small infrastructure projects in health and education in these areas. The official also described the status of the "Return Committees" ("Comites de Retorno"),local committees to coordinate activity programs for the displaced. The interagency committees exist at the municipal and departmental levels and consist of working groups assigned to different phases of displacement: prevention, emergency humanitarian assistance, reestablishment, and strengthening displaced populations and organizations. The official told us only two of the four priority municipalities have a functioning committee --San Jacinto and Ovejas-- and these do not meet regularly, slowing the iplementation of each municipality's plan to assist displaced persons. USAID will be prioritizing strengthening these committees at the municipal level. DEVELOPING A TOLIMA SECURITY PLAN -------------- ¶11. (SBU) USAID's implementing partner is currently working with the Tolima RCC to develop a security map for Tolima and Valle del Cauca. This analysis will then serve as a basis for discussions with the army and the police regarding a security strategy based on territorial control. The map is based on the same process that was used for La Macarena, which determined on a case-by-case basis which districts had the minimal acceptable security level for program implementation. FISCALIA AUGMENTING PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES IN TUMACO -------------- -------------- ¶12. (SBU) The Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia) is addressing judicial branch difficulties in Tumaco with both prosecutors and judges. The Fiscalia is assigning an additional special prosecutor for narcotics (currently there is only one) and replacing six of the seven other local prosecutors due to ineffectiveness or corruption concerns. New housing and office arrangements will have to be created for the new prosecutors to avoid the same environment that led to problems with the current group. A leading possibility is co-locating them with the police. Of the four municipal judges in Tumaco, one has already been removed and another is slated for removal. The Fiscalia has asked for replacements for these judges and an additional specialized judge to hear narcotics cases. BROWNFIELD