R 011131Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0422
INFO AMEMBASSY LIMA 
AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 
DIR ONDCP WASHDC
CIA WASHDC
DEA HQS WASHDC
DIA WASHDC
CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
DEPT OF STATE AIR WING PATRICK AFB FL

UNCLAS BOGOTA 002786 
 
 
DEPT FOR INL/LP 
DEPT FOR WHA/AND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PREL SENV KCRM PGOV PTER CO
SUBJECT: AERIAL ERADICATION RESUMES IN THE MACARENA CONSOLIDATION 
ZONE 
 
REF: A) 08 Bogota 3547, B) Bogota 2334 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  On July 2, officials from the Macarena Consolidation 
Program (PCIM) met with NAS and the Colombian Antinarcotics Police 
to request aerial eradication operations in the PCIM.  The request 
comes over a year after the Colombian government declared the PCIM 
off-limits to spray to accommodate consolidation efforts, including 
voluntary eradication, in the region.  PCIM officials justified 
spraying to eliminate FARC-controlled coca considered too dangerous 
for manual eradicators.  So far this year, there have been four 
deaths and dozens of injuries during manual eradication operations 
in the PCIM.  After careful coordination with GOC elements, NAS 
sprayed 868 hectares in the PCIM in August.  End summary. 
 
¶2. On July 2, representatives from the Macarena Consolidation 
Program (PCIM) met with NAS and the Antinarcotics Police to request 
aerial eradication operations inside the PCIM to eliminate 
FARC-controlled coca deemed too dangerous for manual eradicators. 
The request comes over a year after the PCIM was declared off limits 
to spray to accommodate consolidation efforts and to implement an 
ambitious voluntary eradication program (see ref A). 
 
¶3. Consolidation efforts have been successful in controlling coca 
cultivation in the northern PCIM.  The FARC-controlled region in the 
southern PCIM bordering the Macarena National Park still poses 
serious security issues for manual eradicators.  So far this year, 
four personnel were reported killed and dozens injured, many 
resulting in amputations, during security incidents during manual 
eradication operations in the PCIM. PCIM officials, citing security 
concerns, the slow pace of manual eradication and the relatively 
small amounts of licit agriculture in the southern PCIM, turned to 
aerial eradication to eliminate coca and cut off an important source 
of revenue for the FARC.  PCIM officials acknowledge that voluntary 
eradication programs in some parts of the PCIM are impossible to 
implement due to threats of violence by the FARC against 
participating communities. 
 
¶4. NAS-led eradication operations sprayed 868 hectares in the 
southern PCIM in early August.  Aerial eradication operations will 
not resume in the PCIM unless requested again by PCIM officials. 
There was one hostile ground-fire impact against a spray plane 
resulting in no injury to the pilot.  As a security precaution, 
Colombian troops were inserted into spray areas in advance of spray 
operations in the PCIM.  Historically, the PCIM has been a 
target-rich environment for spray operations.  NAS sprayed 1,770 
hectares in 2008 (before being declared off-limits to spray), 9,599 
hectares in 2007 and 14,458 hectares in 2006 in the PCIM. 
 
¶5. The United Nations recently reported that coca cultivation in the 
PCIM was down 73 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, evidence that 
consolidation and eradication efforts have been successful in 
reducing coca cultivation there (see ref B).  Manual eradicators 
working in the PCIM eradicated nearly 6,000 hectares of coca in 
¶2008.  PCIM officials estimate that an additional 2,000 hectares of 
coca were eradicated voluntarily.  As in 2008, NAS plans to image 
the entire PCIM in August to measure cultivation inside the 
consolidation zone. 
 
¶6. Comment:  In a meeting to discuss manual eradication in the PCIM 
in May, Colombian military planners raised the issue of spraying as 
a way to eradicate coca more quickly and cut off a source of income 
to the FARC.  PCIM officials initially rejected the proposal, citing 
a commitment to communities to not spray inside the consolidation 
zone.  The GOC's decision in July to request spray in the PCIM 
demonstrates that aerial eradication will play an increasingly 
integral part in consolidation efforts.  The role of eradication in 
Colombia's consolidation plan is still being defined.  It is likely 
that as in the PCIM, finding the right balance of aerial, manual and 
voluntary eradication will be key to achieving consolidation 
objectives.  End comment. 
 
BROWNFIELD