COLOMBIA RAISING ITS REGIONAL PROFILE, STARTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 000335

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KJUS CO SNAR
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA RAISING ITS REGIONAL PROFILE, STARTING
WITH MEXICO

REF: A. 07 BOGOTA 7470

B. 08 BOGOTA 002674

C. 08 BOGOTA 008170

D. 07MEXICO1815

E. 07BOGOTA418

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

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (C) High-level meetings between Colombian and Mexican
officials in recent months highlight the GOC's growing
willingness to take on a leadership role in the region in
combating terrorism, narcotics and other criminal activity.
The two countries are working more closely than ever to fight
narcotraffickers, and Colombia is helping Mexico counter
Venezuelan influence in Central America and the Caribbean.
Still, Colombia remains worried over corruption in Mexico and
a lack of institutionalization in the bilateral relationship.
End summary.

RECENT MEETINGS POINT TO BOLSTERED COLLABORATION
-------------- --------------

2. (U) President Uribe and Mexican President Felipe
Calderon, along with Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom and
Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, met in mid-January to
highlight the need for the four four countries to present a
united front against narcotrafficking and organized crime.
At the meeting, Calderon asked Uribe for advice based on the
successes of the GOC's Democratic Security policy. Uribe
emphasized Colombia's use of civilian informants, rewards,
and military counterintelligence against narco-terrorists.
Calderon first reached out to learn from Colombia's
experience in fighting narcotrafficking when he visited
Bogota as president-elect in late 2006


3. (U) In November 2008, Uribe and Calderon announced that
they would step up bilateral anti-narcotics cooperation. In
a joint press statement issued after the two met in private
in Mexico City, Uribe praised the GOM's efforts and noted
that Calderon's personal commitment to combating drugs made
Mexico a "great" Colombian ally. Senior officials from both
countries--including Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel
Santos, Colombian Prosecutor General Mario Iguaran, and
Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora--simultaneously
held the third in a series of high-level bilateral meetings
aimed at bolstering cooperation on drug trafficking,
smuggling, money laundering, and other criminal activities.
Medina Mora told the press that the three countries discussed
specific projects for joint cooperation in 2009-10.


4. (C) Colombia and Mexico are also promoting trilateral
cooperation with the United States in fighting drugs.
Santos, Medina Mora, and Drug Enforcement Administration
Andean Regional Director Jay Bergman met in Bogota on October
29 for the fourth in a series of tripartite meetings aimed at
boosting cooperation on security and counternarcotics. At
the October meeting, Colombia and Mexico agreed on a list of
high-value targets designated as "key narcotics facilitators"
who interact between Mexican and Colombian drug trafficking
organizations (DTOs). Officials emphasized that these were
not household names, but rather the crucial interlocutors and
trusted emissaries who enable the Mexico-Colombia pipeline to
operate. The sides also agreed to maintain their ongoing
cooperation on wiretaps involving each others' nationals.
DEA reports that these achievements reflect a commitment to
cooperation that did not exist until recently.

FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN
--------------


5. (C) These and other meetings have sought to build on
Colombia's growing willingness to assume a leadership role in
the region. Colombia is helping Mexico confront the
narcotrafficking-fuelled violence that plagued Colombia in
the past by training Mexican police, boosting cooperation
with Mexican anti-narcotics officials, and sharing best
practices to help Mexico tackle its spiraling kidnapping

problem.


6. (C) Monica Gonzalez, political officer at the Mexican
Embassy in Bogota, told us in late January that the GOM
welcomes Colombia's assistance, but cautioned against a
"cookie cutter" approach to implementation of Colombia's
experience in Mexico due to significant institutional and
cultural differences between the two countries. Gonzalez
added that this was not a problem yet, but cautioned that all
sides were aware of the issue as GOC-GOM cooperation deepens
under Plan Merida.


7. (C) Beyond security, Colombia has sought to deepen its
ties with Mexico through the Colombia-Mexico Free Trade
Agreement and by helping Mexico revive Plan Puebla-Panama,
which seeks to bolster Central American development.
Colombian MFA officials Alicia Alfaro and German Castaneda
told us Colombia and Mexico see this as a way to counter
Venezuelan influence in Central America and the Caribbean by
offering alternative energy assistance through the
construction of small-scale biodiesel plants, among other
projects.

GOC CONCERNS OVER CORRUPTION
--------------


8. (C) Still, GOC officials remain worried about Mexican
corruption and a lack of institutionalization. Alfaro and
Castaneda told us the GOC was "frustrated" by the slow pace
of Mexico's security reform measures (Colombia has been
working closely with Mexico on the reforms),and was
concerned by Mexico's high levels of corruption. Colombian
MFA officials confirmed that Colombian National Police
Commander General Oscar Naranjo told Mexican Public Security
Secretary Garcia Luna that Colombia would look to cut
training programs if Mexico was not able to show better
vetting of its security and police officials that receive
Colombian training. Officials cited the November 18th arrest
of senior Mexican police official Ricardo Gutierrez Vargas,
head of Interpol's Mexico City bureau, as particularly
worrying because GOC officials had shared sensitive
information with him.


9. (C) Beyond the interest in disrupting the Colombia-Mexico
narcotrafficking nexus, much of the impetus for the recent
improvement in cooperation stems from the strong personal
dynamic between Uribe and Calderon--and between Santos and
Medina Mora. Alfaro and Casteneda said an important next
step would be to construct durable institutional
mechanisms--such as permanent coordination at the working
level--that will survive beyond Uribe and Calderon. Neither
country has taken significant steps to start such a process.
The Mexican Embassy's Gonzalez said it is likely that the
governments will begin to build more durable cooperation
mechanisims, since they expect bilateral ties to deepen in
the near future.



BROWNFIELD