VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPE #0218/01 0261812
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261812Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3713
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4297
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7179
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0102
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JAN QUITO 0956
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 1068
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHOND/DIRONDCP WASHDC

UNCLAS LIMA 000218 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR PE
SUBJECT: EMBASSY GETS TO KNOW COCALERO LEADER AND PRO-COCA 
MAYORS 
 
REF: A. 2006 LIMA 4766 
 
     ¶B. 2006 LIMA 3823 
     ¶C. 2006 LIMA 2927 
     ¶D. 2005 LIMA 4441 
     ¶E. 2003 LIMA 1098 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified, Please Handle Accordingly. 
 
Summary 
------- 

¶1. (SBU) Post hosted 48 cocalero (i.e., coca-producer) 
leaders on 1/18, including seven mayors and Nelson Palomino, 
secretary general for a large cocalero federation.  The 
cocaleros main assertions were: extreme poverty plagues their 
communities and coca is one of their few profitable 
agricultural commodities; foreign aid has been poorly managed 
in the field; municipalities, not NGOs, should be the 
development implementers; and cocaleros are not 
narcotraffickers.  Palomino and his group took a more 
moderate stance than expected with us, GOP officials, and the 
press, but given his past radical, pro-coca and anti-U.S. 
statements, it is doubtful this will stick.  End Summary. 
 
Palomino and friends 
-------------------- 

¶2. (U) Nelson Palomino, Secretary General of the 
Confederation of Agricultural Producers of Coca-Growing 
Valleys (CONPACCP), led a delegation of seven pro-coca 
mayors, an indigenous (Ashaninka) representative, and over 35 
cocaleros (coca producers) in a meeting with Embassy staff on 
1/18.  (Note: Palomino was released from prison in 2006 after 
serving three years of a 10-year sentence for inciting 
violence, kidnapping and other crimes during cocalero 
protests.  Despite prohibitions on political activity he led 
a pro-coca political movement that won 17 mayor seats in the 
VRAE this past November. End Note)  The representatives came 
from the Apurimac and Ene River Valley (VRAE) and requested a 
meeting with the Embassy during their 2-day trip to Lima to 
meet with GOP officials on the VRAE Plan (ref A).  This was 
the first encounter with Palomino in over five years 
(Palomino met once with Embassy staff in 2001-2002 before his 
prison sentence.)  He reportedly harbors ambitions for 
political office, and hopes to harvest the disenfranchised to 
achieve this.  (Ref B, C) 
 
Moderated message? 
------------------

¶3. (U) The cocaleros emphasized the need to "eradicate 
extreme poverty" (not mentioning the need to eradicate coca) 
in the region and to increase their income opportunities. 
They downplayed their standard coca industrialization and 
decriminalization rhetoric, but still drew distinctions 
between coca and cocaine and coca farmers and 
narcotraffickers.  Palomino said he would support a gradual 
reduction in coca if other crops were profitable.  Following 
a USAID presentation of past VRAE Alternative Development 
projects, Palomino acknowledged U.S. investment and good 
will, but opined the money was mismanaged and wasted on 
projects that were "over-valued and poorly constructed." 
With seven mayors from his pro-coca party listening, he 
asserted that municipalities, not NGO's, should implement 
development projects.  (Note: In the last 3 years USAID has 
invested over $7.8 million USD in the VRAE and continues to 
work in 65 VRAE communities.  Security risk and coca 
replanting are specific challenges in the region. End Note.) 
Emboffs emphasized that coca cultivation retards economic 
development and that a successful counternarcotics program 
requires eradication, interdiction, and alternative 
development. 
 
Atmospherics 
------------

¶4. (SBU) The tone of the meeting was friendly and civil. 
Palomino's group was mostly rural farmers (campesinos), 
informally dressed, with no ties to be seen.  They were 
disciplined, and Palomino maintained order.  During the 
meeting he used hand gestures to tell people when to stand 
and sit. Though he showed a degree of respect and deference 
to the mayors, he was clearly in charge and emphasized that 
they were campesinos and cocalero leaders before being 
elected.  To set himself apart from the other speakers, 
 
Palomino stood up from the table to speak for about 15 
minutes, much longer than anyone else.  He is a skilled 
orator who spoke without notes.  After the meeting, the 
cocaleros individually expressed their appreciation to 
Embassy staff for the meeting. 
 
Comment 
-------

¶5. (SBU) We chose to meet with Palomino, his mayors, and 
cocalero leaders to hear first-hand their message, see how 
they operate, and reach out to a group that expressed 
interest in dialogue but has consistently opposed our 
counter-narcotics program.  Palomino's message was more 
conciliatory than expected, and he expressed a desire to work 
with us to foment economic development and reduce poverty. 
This is in sharp contrast with his past rhetoric opposing 
U.S. and GOP counter-narcotics programs and demonizing the 
U.S.  Palomino's moderate stance may well be a political 
ruse.  He has been an advocate of increased coca production 
in the VRAE, an area where over 97 percent of the coca goes 
to narcotrafficking, and has actively undermined GOP and U.S. 
counternarcotics efforts in the region.  Despite this, the 
meeting was a first step in what could be a longer-term 
dialogue with an active and sometimes hostile sector. End 
Comment. 
 
 
POWERS