VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #3764/01 1172338
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 272338Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4524
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 6745
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 7626
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ APR 7930
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 3675
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 4317
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNFB/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003764 

SIPDIS 

SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: PROSECUTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATES DAS ALLEGATIONS; 
DAS DIRECTOR SEES POLITICAL MOTIVATION FOR CHARGES 

Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood 
Reason: 1.4 (b,d) 

------- 
Summary 
------- 

¶1.  (C) Accusations of criminal conduct and electoral fraud 
continue to swirl around the FBI-equivalent Department of 
Administrative Security (DAS).  President Uribe said the 
Fiscalia (Prosecutor General) was investigating recent 
allegations of corruption and paramilitary influence in the 
DAS and should be allowed to do its work.  He criticized 
media coverage of the issue, characterizing it as frivolous 
and worse.  Uribe was responding to public reports of 
accusations made by Rafael Garcia, a former senior DAS 
official currently jailed on corruption, asset laundering, 
and paramilitary collusion allegations.  According to the 
reports, Garcia claims the DAS, with the knowledge and/or 
participation of its then-Director Jorge Noguera, was 
associated with electoral fraud in the 2002 presidential 
election that brought Uribe to office, planned to assassinate 
Venezuelan President Chavez and in fact murdered a Venezuelan 
prosecutor, and was involved in plots to kill labor leaders. 
Garcia's motives for making the allegations are unclear, but 
could be to reduce his sentence, affect Uribe's reelection 
campaign, or simply tell the truth.  Noguera denied the 
allegations and said he would sue Garcia and the media 
outlets that published them.  DAS Director Penate leans 
towards the view that opposition figures are using Garcia to 
damage Uribe's reelection campaign, and that Garcia himself 
is looking to secure political refugee status in a third 
country, likely Argentina or Venezuela.  End summary. 

--------------------------------------------- --- 
DAS Official Garcia Jailed on Corruption Charges 
--------------------------------------------- --- 

¶2.  (C) On June 25, 2005 prosecutors arrested former DAS 
Director of Information Systems Rafael Garcia Torres on 
charges of aiding and abetting narcotics traffickers and 
paramilitaries.  According to the Fiscalia, Garcia assisted 
Colombians to escape extradition, was involved in money 
laundering and "illicit enrichment," and was a member of a 
group of DAS officials that helped criminals enter Colombia 
illegally.  Garcia also faces fraud and conspiracy charges 
related to the offenses. 

---------------------------- 
Garcia Claims DAS is Corrupt 
---------------------------- 

¶3.  (C) In early April, weekly magazines Semana and Cambio
published interviews with Garcia from his prison cell, in 
which he accused former DAS Director Jorge Noguera (now 
Colombia's Consul in Milan), two DAS officials and six other 
GOC officials of involvement in a plot to assassinate 
Venezuelan President Chavez.  According to Garcia, Noguera is 
linked to the 2004 murder of Venezuelan prosecutor Danilo
Anderson.  Garcia claimed that the 2002 Uribe presidential 
campaign had links to drug traffickers and paramilitaries, 
including "Jorge 40," and asserted that as DAS director of 
information systems he helped commit electoral fraud in 2002 
in Magdalena Department (but said he had no information that 
Uribe, who was not the President or in control of the DAS, 
knew about the fraud).  Garcia asserted that Noguera (who 
resigned as DAS Director on October 25, 2005) and then-DAS 
Secretary General Giancarlo Auque personally received 
hundreds of millions of pesos from contracts for arms and 
equipment. 

¶4.  (C) Garcia also made allegations of corruption against 
Uribe.  However, he failed to provide detail to the magazines 
when asked, saying that without protection he feared to give 
further information.  Garcia claims the electoral fraud that 
he helped to engineer in Magdalena may have secured Uribe's 
2002 presidential win.  He said he provided electoral census 
information to paramilitary sympathizers that allowed them to 
manipulate the vote in certain areas.  He also asserted that 
the 2002 Uribe campaign had ties to drug traffickers and 
paramilitaries. 

¶5.  (C) Other charges Garcia has made less clearly involve 
Noguera or Uribe but took place during Noguera's tenure at 
the DAS.  Garcia said high ranking DAS officials removed 
information on paramilitaries and drug traffickers from DAS 
files and that DAS provided paramilitaries with a list of 
academics and labor leaders thought to be leftist 
sympathizers that may have been used to threaten or kill 
them.  He noted that the alleged killings were done by 
paramilitaries, not DAS officers. 

--------------------------- 
Garcia's Motivation Unclear 
--------------------------- 

¶6.  (C) Garcia's motivation for making the charges is 
unclear.  According to legal contacts, Garcia could receive 
up to a one-third reduction of any sentence imposed on him if 
he cooperates with the Fiscalia.  Other possible motivations 
include Garcia's involvement (witting or not) in a campaign 
to damage Uribe's reelection prospects.  Or, he may in fact 
be telling the truth despite the dangers to his safety from 
disgruntled paramilitaries (he has apparently asked to be 
placed in a witness protection program). 

¶7.  (C) DAS Director Andres Penate told us recently DAS 
information (from another imprisoned DAS official in the same 
jail as Garcia) suggests that Garcia's target was not 
Noguera.Penate said opposition figures such as Gustavo 
Petro (Polo Democratico Alternativo) and Piedad Cordoba
(Liberal Party), both strong critics of President Uribe, are 
supplying Garcia with his information to harm Uribe's 
campaign, and help him secure political refugee status in a 
third country, most likely Argentina or Venezuela. 

------------------------------------------- 
Former DAS Chief Noguera Denies Accusations 
------------------------------------------- 

¶8.  (C) Noguera, who returned from Milan at the request of
the President, publicly denied Garcia's charges, calling him 
a liar.  He asserted that the only meetings he had with 
paramilitary leader "Jorge 40" were related to the AUC 
demobilization negotiations and were performed in his 
capacity as DAS Director, with the knowledge of Peace 
Commissioner Restrepo.  According to Noguera, Garcia's 
allegations that the DAS was part of plots against Chavez 
were based on information from a witness whom the Fiscalia
office considers unreliable. 

---------------------------------------- 
Recent Background: DAS Internal Problems 
---------------------------------------- 

¶9.  (C) Allegations of DAS corruption first aired in October 
2005 when Noguera and then-deputy DAS director Jose Miguel 
Narvaez engaged in mutual accusations of connections to 
paramilitaries.  Rumors began circulating mid-October of 
efforts by Narvaez to secure evidence of wrongdoing against a 
Noguera insider, DAS's Chief of Intelligence Enrique Ariza.
Narvaez claimed that Ariza was trying to create a special 
office within DAS to sell information to paramilitary 
sources.  Meanwhile, Narvaez was himself being accused of 
having links to paramilitary leader Hector Buitrago, AKA 
"Martin Llanos." According to press reports, Noguera claimed 
that Narvaez was orchestrating a smear campaign against him 
to force his exit from DAS.  Narvaez claimed that he, in 
turn, is a victim of a plot to discredit him and that Noguera
was trying to protect Ariza. Uribe diffused the situation by 
acceptingNoguera's resignation, dismissing Narvaez and 
creating a special commission to investigate the DAS. 

-------------------------------------------- 
Alleged Paramilitary Links in State Agencies 
-------------------------------------------- 

¶10.  (C) Press reports raised allegations of corruption and 
collusion with paramilitaries in three other government 
agencies in the past few weeks.  In the office of the 
Superintendent for Oversight (the entity that oversees and 
licenses private security), former superintendent Fernando 
Segura resigned after a police report said that as deputy 
superintendent in 2004, he aided Enlice Lopez (known as La 
Gata, now jailed for asset laundering and being investigated 
for supporting paramilitary forces), by restoring her 

family's licenses for their security services.  On April 7 
the manager of INCODER (Colombian Institute for Rural 
Development) resigned after revelations of corruption in the 
program to deliver lands to displaced Colombians.  On April 8 
the manager of FINAGRO (the government entity that provides 
rural credit) resigned amid an investigation by the Fiscalia
and the Financial Superintendent into credit authorizations 
for businesses that had poor financial indicators and use of 
FINAGRO by paramilitaries to launder assets.

-------------- 
Uribe Responds 
-------------- 

¶11.  (C) Uribe defended his administration in four recent 
media interviews and implied that the revelations were made 
to damage his candidacy.  He cited his good reputation and 
long record of integrity as a political figure and noted his 
administration's strong record of killing, capturing, or 
demobilizing paramilitaries.  Uribe repeatedly asserted that 
he knew no paramilitary leader personally nor had he ever met 
privately with one.  He also criticized the press for 
publishing the stories, characterizing Semana magazine's 
coverage as frivolous and worse. 

---------------------------- 
Media and Human Rights Watch 
---------------------------- 

¶12.  (C) The media appeared stung by Uribe's criticisms but 
soon responded, saying the President should address the 
serious charges instead of attacking the messenger.  For its 
part, Human Rights Watch issued a statement accusing Uribe of 
intimidating the media. 

------- 
Comment 
------- 

¶13.  (C) Embassy continues to work with the DAS on specific 
operational issues.  We have no information to confirm 
Garcia's assertions but agree that over the years, as 
different presidents have used the DAS in different ways, it 
has become a problem.  Uribe appointed a Commission of 
Inquiry into the DAS after Noguera resigned in October 
(though some prominent analysts have described it as fourth 
rate), and there is cross party agreement that new DAS 
Director Penate is cleaning house (he fired a number of 
regional DAS officials after instituting polygraph tests). 
Some wonder, though, why Uribe gave Noguera a cushy job in 
Milan.  We are cooperating discreetly with Penate to support 
a cleaner, tighter mandate for the DAS, with improved 
management and operational controls.  Noguera is now in 
Colombia to address the charges against him.
WOOD