URIBE SET TO DISMANTLE DAS

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003018 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KJUS PREL PHUM PINR ASEC CO SUBJECT: URIBE SET TO DISMANTLE DAS REF: BOGOTA 002963 AND PREVIOUS URIBE FAVORS DOING AWAY WITH DAS -------------- ¶1. (U) President Uribe announced on September 17th that he favored dismantling the wiretapping scandal-ridden Administrative Department of Security (DAS). In a much-anticipated move (reftels),Uribe proposed a much smaller entity managed by the Colombian National Police (CNP) that would focus on immigration services (NOTE: The DAS currently reports directly to the Presidency, and includes immigration services among its many duties. End Note.). Local media sources pointed out this was the first time Uribe has publicly spoken in favor of dismantling DAS, although then-Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos had proposed doing so earlier this year. ¶2. (U) Uribe announced no further details, but on September 18th CNP Director General Oscar Naranjo told a radio interviewer that the CNP was ready to assume the DAS's police functions. He listed DAS's intelligence and judicial authorities as areas the CNP had a particularly strong capacity to handle. Naranjo opined that the overhaul had been in the works for some time and was not prompted by the most recent press revelations alleging illegal surveillance by DAS. FORMER PRESIDENT SAYS PROBLEM DEEPER THAN DAS -------------- ¶3. (U) Former President Cesar Gaviria, the head of the opposition Liberal Party, announced he was not convinced that dismantling DAS would solve the problem of illegal surveillance, according to leading daily "El Espectador." He added that he thought the problem could be easily solved by asking the government to stop conducting illegal surveillance. Gaviria, who has frequently accused Uribe and his advisors of ordering the surveillance, said the DAS had a long and honorable history, and that shuttering the agency was an attempt by the administration to "wash its hands" of the scandal. He called for an investigation by an independent body to ascertain who was behind the illicit monitoring. Brownfield