This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 000860 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL CO ELN ELN
SUBJECT: PARTICIPANTS IN GOC-ELN EXPLORATORY TALKS UNDER NO 
ILLUSION OF QUICK SUCCESS 
 
REF: BOGOTA 594 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood.  Reason: 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request.  Please see paragraph 9. 
 
 
¶2.  (C) Summary. The next formal round of the GOC-ELN 
exploratory talks will take place in Havana on February 
17-28.  A preparatory phase for consultations with civil 
society, including Colombian political parties, press, Church 
officials, and diplomats from the three "accompanying 
countries," will be held February 9-16.  The principal 
objective for the second round is to create an agenda for 
actual negotiations.  GOC and ELN officials appear to want to 
move slowly and are not ready to tackle the substantive 
issues; the Europeans and civil society guarantors are 
pressing for faster action.  While a third round is likely 
months off, after presidential elections on May 28, 
discussions are underway already among the various players to 
hold it in Europe. End Summary. 
 
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Guarantor Daniel Garcia-Pena 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C)  Garcia-Pena told poloffs on January 26 that the 
GOC-ELN process was going slowly but would not break down. 
He stressed that the ELN leadership wants to move slowly 
because they have not thought through what price they want to 
pay to "come in from the cold" and because they remain unsure 
what they really want substantively.  Garcia-Pena said the 
GOC was equally cautious because, likewise, it is unsure how 
the process is going to go and because of the electoral 
campaign. 
 
¶4. (C) Garcia-Pena, whom another of the five guarantors has 
described as the "shadow foreign minister of the ELN" 
reiterated how surprised the ELN was by the attitude of the 
Colombian democratic left during the Casa de Paz initiative 
(consultative process with civil society prior to the first 
round of talks in Havana).  According to Garcia-Pena, 
representatives of the democratic left told ELN spokesman 
Galan, "we welcome you but you must give up arms and resolve 
your problems with Uribe.  We don't like him but he is the 
democratically-elected president of the country."  Garcia 
also said the ELN has kept the FARC closely informed about 
developments.  He characterized the FARC response as 
"interesting": be careful with Uribe, don't trust him, you 
shouldn't be doing this but it's your call and we respect 
your decision.  Garcia-Pena underscored that ELN-FARC 
regional relationships depend on personalities, however, with 
friendly/cooperative relationships existing alongside 
conflict.  As for the FARC, he said it only knows how to 
resist, has no plans for political talks and no sense of what 
it wants. 
 
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Peace Commissioner Restrepo's Deputy 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (C) Ret. Major General Eduardo Herrera, who has been 
serving as Restrepo's deputy, told polcouns on January 27 
that he agreed with the assessment that both sides wanted to 
move slowly.  In his view, neither side really trusted the 
other, nor was willing to make the necessary concessions to 
move the talks along.  The ELN was still reluctant to agree 
to anything that would deliver Uribe a political victory and 
more interested in stabilizing its considerable losses on the 
battlefield.  And the GOC was really not prepared to deal 
with the ELN's "agenda for transition."  Herrera also 
reported difficulties between the three accompanying European 
countries (Norway, Spain and Switzerland) and forecasted 
difficulties down the line between the Europeans and the GOC. 
The Europeans want things to move faster, he said.  They want 
to be facilitators, not observers.  He also said the five 
guarantors were revealing themselves to be closer to the ELN 
than the GOC. The veneer of neutrality had almost 
disappeared. 
 
¶6. (C) Herrera said after the next round in Havana, barring 
any unforeseen circumstances, formal discussions would be 
suspended for several months (past the May 28 presidential 
elections) with a third round perhaps in Geneva, Switzerland. 
 He noted that the Cubans were uncomfortable with the fact 
that members of civil society (including the press) would be 
descending on Havana for the February 9-16 pre-talks with not 
enough to do, and inevitably turn their attention to Cuba's 
human rights situation or other sensitive issues. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Norwegians Cautiously Optimistic 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Norway's negotiating team told polcouns over dinner on 
January 24 that the GOC had to be more assertive in advancing 
proposals if the next round of exploratory talks with the ELN 
were to lead to a third.  He asked that the U.S. do what it 
could to push the GOC along these lines.  Head of the Foreign 
Ministry's Latin America Section Herberth Linder and 
negotiator Johann Vibe were in Bogota to meet with the GOC, 
ELN Spokesperson Galan (during his consultations in Bogota 
with civil society and GOC officials per reftel) and Catholic 
Church officials, along with charge d'affaires in Bogota 
Sigurd Endressen.  Linder also recommended that the talks be 
moved out of Cuba.  While the Cubans continued in a strictly 
host role, he complained that they caused the delay in the 
second round, insisting that they could not accommodate 
everyone in Havana because of Jose Marti-related 
celebrations.  Why should we allow such events to diminish 
momentum and stand in the way of progress, he said. 
 
---------------- 
Action Requested 
---------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Embassy would like to approach Bogota-based 
journalists about focusing on Cuba's human rights situation 
while in Havana covering the GOC-ELN talks and would 
appreciate suggestions from the Department on what background 
material to provide prior to their departure. 
 
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Comment 
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¶9. (C) We are not inclined to take up the Norwegian's request 
to push the GOC for faster action.  We have told the 
Norwegians that the U.S. would be watching this process 
carefully and would weigh in if the Europeans appeared to be 
pressuring the GOC to make concessions.  Our sense is that 
both sides want to take this slow.  Most importantly, we 
should not support moving the talks to Europe without the 
ELN's conceding something for it. 
WOOD