COLOMBIAN MILITARY OFFENSIVE GETS RESULTS

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000776 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PTER MOPS MCAP CO SUBJECT: COLOMBIAN MILITARY OFFENSIVE GETS RESULTS REF: BOGOTA 0743 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The military scored several recent victories against the FARC, ending a lull of several months in which some questioned whether the GOC may have lost the initiative. On February 27, the Army's 5th Division captured "Negro Antonio," the deputy commander of the FARC's "Antonio Narino" urban front, near Bogota. Two days later, the Army killed front commander "Gaitan," a 26-year FARC veteran, in the same region. The FARC had been driven from areas near Bogota under Plan Patriota in 2003, and the group was reportedly trying to regain a toehold near the capital. In Meta, the military uncovered a large complex of FARC camps, caves, bunkers, and arms and explosives caches for which they had been searching for years. Defense Minister Santos told the media that the successes further weakened the FARC, and would force them to "live like rats" in ever more isolated areas. End summary. "OPERATION FUERTE" -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In February 2009, the Colombian military and police launched a joint exercise called "Operation Fuerte," designed to block the FARC's efforts to re-establish a presence in the Sumapaz region of southern Cundinamarca near Bogota. The FARC operated in the area in the 1990s, but was largely driven from the region by the Colombian military in 2003-2004. Due to its strategic location, FARC Secretariat member Mono Jojoy ordered FARC units to re-establish their presence in Cundinamarca as part of a wider FARC initiative, known as Operation "Rebirth", to retake the initiative after five years of remaining on the defensive. On February 12 the Colombian air force bombed FARC targets in southern Cundinamarca, forcing fighters to disperse into Sumapaz, a remote, mountainous area south of Bogota. Ground troops from the 5th Division then engaged. DEPUTY FRONT COMMANDER CAPTURED -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On February 27, troops from the Army's 13th Brigade mounted a surprise attack on a FARC camp in Sumapaz, supported by aircraft and helicopters. The attack resulted in the capture of Bernardo Mosquera Machado (alias "El Negro Antonio")--one of the FARC's most notorious kidnappers. Negro Antonio was the deputy commander of the FARC's "Antonio Narino" urban front, which has been blamed for a string of extortion-related activity in Bogota, including the January 27, 2009 Blockbuster video store bombing that killed two people in north Bogota. Ten FARC fighters died in the attack and seven more were captured. A prominent labor leader, Juan Efrain Mendoza, was also discovered in the camp under suspicious circumstances (reftel). AND FRONT COMMANDER KILLED -------------- ¶4. (SBU) After Negro Antonio's capture, remnants of the FARC's "Antonio Narino" urban front tried to flee the military pressure, but were cut off by the army near Gutierrez, Cundinamarca. The army's thirteenth brigade attacked on March 1, and killed the front's commander--Jose de Jesus Guzman (alias "Gaitan"). Maria Ardila (alias "Mariana Paz"),reportedly the highest-ranking female commander in the FARC, was also killed. She was a 20-year FARC veteran, in charge of ideological activities and student recruitment. Gaitan, a 26-year FARC veteran, was a confidante of FARC military commander Mono Jojoy, and was linked to the 2003 bombing of the Nogal club in Bogota, extortion activity in Bogota, and other terrorist attacks. Army Commander General Oscar Gonzalez publicly stated that Colombians should "rest assured that the public forces will never again permit the FARC to retake Cundinamarca." FARC "LIVING LIKE RATS" -------------- ¶5. (SBU) After the success against FARC high value targets (HVTs) in 2008, President Uribe and Minister Santos have been pressuring the military for further results in 2009. On February 28, the Colombian military's Rapid Deployment Force (FUDRA)--which had been searching for Mono Jojoy--located a ten square kilometer area in La Macarena region of Meta Department that included eleven major FARC camps. The FUDRA uncovered a cave and bunker complex, which the media reported housed an explosives factory, medical facility, rations, and thousands of kilograms of explosives. The complex was believed to be capable of accommodating up to 500 fighters. The military had been searching for the complex for five years. "El Tiempo" reported that Mono Jojoy likely used these camps shortly before their discovery. ¶6. (SBU) Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos and Armed Forces Commander General Freddy Padilla visited the FARC complex with the media to highlight the success. Santos commented that the FARC "used to live like princes, and now they are literally living like rats." FUDRA commander General Miguel Perez told "Semana" that the FARC's presence deep in the jungle was further evidence that they remain isolated and no longer enjoy the support of the local population. The discovery of the complex will push them into even more isolated zones. BROWNFIELD