URIBE SLAMS FARC "INTELLECTUAL BLOCK" AFTER

S E C R E T BOGOTA 000427

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PTER PHUM CO
SUBJECT: URIBE SLAMS FARC "INTELLECTUAL BLOCK" AFTER
CHAOTIC ROUND OF HOSTAGE RELEASES

REF: BOGOTA 319

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

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

1. (S) The FARC freed six "political" hostages the week of
February 1 to the ICRC and members of the "Colombians for
Peace" group led by Senator Piedad Cordoba. After the
releases, Uribe slammed the FARC's "intellectual block"--a
reference to Cordoba's group--for trying to "trick" Colombia
and weaken the GOC's democratic security policy. "Colombians
for Peace"--citing the releases and a FARC communique
supporting humanitarian accord talks--reiterated its
commitment to promote such a deal despite Uribe's criticism.
GOC-authorized messenger to the FARC Henry Acosta was
skeptical about prospects for progress on FARC talks with the
Uribe Administration, noting FARC leaders' fears that the GOC
would exploit any communications to locate and kill them, as
well as internal resistance from FARC hard-liners. End
Summary.

TWO HOSTAGES RELEASED
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2. (U) The FARC released former-Meta Governor Alan Jara on
February 4 and former-Valle de Cauca department assemblyman
Sigifredo Lopez on February 5 to representatives of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and members
of "Colombians for Peace" group led by Senator Piedad
Cordoba. Four members of the Colombian security forces were
released on February 1 (reftel). Brazil provided logistical
support for the recovery operation. Lopez, who was kidnapped
in 2002 along with eleven other Valle assemblymen, told the
media that the FARC executed his eleven colleagues in May
2007 during a "friendly fire" incident. Twenty-one political
hostages, all members of the police and military, remain in
FARC custody.


3. (C) Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo offered his
resignation after the Jara release over a disagreement with
Uribe over media access to the hostages. Uribe rejected the
resignation on February 6 and praised Restrepo for his years
of effort. Restrepo told us in December that he had tried to
resign on several occasions over the past year, but Uribe
never accepted the resignations. Minister for Social
Protection Diego Palacio Betancourt called us on February 5,
asking for information on USG procedures for managing hostage
releases. We provided a briefing from Embassy hostage
recovery experts to Palacio and his lead psychiatrist Dr.
Jose Posada on how to design a structured process to improve
the post-captivity experience for victims.

URIBE SLAMS FARC FOR DUPLICITY
--------------

4. (U) President Uribe used his February 7 town hall meeting
in Meta Department to slam the FARC for trying to "trick" the
country through the hostage release. He said the GOC would
not permit the "intellectual block" of the FARC to disorient
Colombia "with a peace discourse that ends up strengthening
terrorism." Uribe added that, while the FARC "talked peace,
it also produced blood" through continued attacks against
civilians. He concluded, "we have to take the battle to them
in the entire country."


5. (C) Presidential Advisor Jose Obdulio Gaviria told us
Uribe dismissed the FARC hostage releases as nothing more
than a FARC campaign to strengthen the Colombian "peace camp"
and make Senator Piedad Cordoba its leader. He said the
releases have given Cordoba such a boost that she could win a
Liberal Party presidential primary and get a million votes in
a general election--which would continue the Liberals slow
decline into irrelevance. (Uribe won 7.4 million votes in
2006, and second place finisher from the Polo, Carlos
Gaviria, received 2.6 million.)

NO "HUMANITARIAN EXCHANGE"
--------------

6. (C) Gaviria rejected the notion of a "humanitarian
exchange" with the FARC. He said that for any such
exchange, both sides would need to hold prisoners. The FARC

members held by the GOC are not prisoners, but criminals
convicted in a judicial process. He said that FARC only
wants a humanitarian exchange to get the GOC to recognize it
as a "belligerent" force--something the GOC will not do. Any
peace process with the FARC (or ELN) would have to be along
the lines of the paramilitary process--terms which remain
unacceptable to the FARC's leadership.

GOC GOING AFTER FARC LEADERSHIP
--------------

7. (C) Gaviria said the GOC might be able to negotiate with
the more pragmatic FARC Secretariat member Pablo Catatumbo,
but only after killing or capturing more radical FARC leaders
such as Cano and Mono Jojoy. He said the GOC would consider
operations to go after FARC leaders Ivan Marquez and
Timochenko in Venezuela--operations that Vice Minister of
Defense Sergio Jaramillo told us would likely be difficult.

COLOMBIAN FOR PEACE CONTINUE EFFORTS
--------------
8 (U) The FARC issued a communique on February 4 thanking
Brazil for its assistance, praising Cordoba, and again
raising the possibility of a humanitarian accord. The group
said it hoped its unilateral release would lead to an accord
with the GOC. The group added that they had not forgotten
Simon and Sonia (FARC members "Simon Trinidad" and "Sonia,"
convicted in the United States of narcotics and terrorism
charges). Cordoba and the Colombians for Peace Group
embraced the communique, said they would ignore Uribe's
"intellectual block" comments, and vowed to continue to work
to bridge the gap between the FARC and GOC.

FARC HARD-LINERS BLOCK PRAGMATISTS
--------------

9. (S) The GOC-authorized messenger to the FARC Henry Acosta
was skeptical about prospects for GOC-FARC talks on either a
humanitarian accord or a broader peace process during the
remainder of the Uribe administration. He said that after
the successful GOC attack on Secretariat member Raul Reyes'
camp last March, FARC leaders fear the GOC will exploit any
communications to locate and kill them. Moreover, Acosta
added that while Cano and Catatumbo voiced interest in
seeking a political solution to the conflict in the past, it
is not clear that such an approach would receive the support
of FARC hard-liners such as Mono Jojoy.

BROWNFIELD