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DE RUEHBO #1810/01 0791959
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R 201959Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
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INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 8794
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RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 3908

UNCLAS BOGOTA 001810 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR H, PLEASE PASS TO CONGRESSMAN MCGOVERN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PMIL PHUM PTER PREL ELAB VE CO
SUBJECT: REPRESENTATIVE MCGOVERN MEETS WITH DEFENSE 
MINISTER SANTOS 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet Distribution. 
 
SUMMARY 
======= 
 
¶1. (SBU) Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos told 
Representative James McGovern (D-MA) on March 4 that the 
Justice and Peace Law was an example of security advances 
under Uribe, but voiced concerns that revelations of 
para-political ties would be viewed negatively by the U.S. 
Congress.  Santos explained security concerns on Venezuela 
and Ecuador, but said Colombia would not be drawn into a 
regional arms race.  Santos also highlighted advances by the 
military in human rights; McGovern stressed the need for U.S. 
aid to be more focused on socio-economic initiatives and 
institution-building.  End Summary. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) On March 4, McGovern met with Minister of Defense 
Juan Manuel Santos, Vice Minister of Defense Sergio 
Jaramillo, and Vice Minister of Defense Juan Carlos Pinzon. 
Also attending the meeting were McGovern's Legislative 
Director Cindy Buhl, Program Director for the Center for 
International Policy Adam Issacon, Political Counselor John 
Creamer, and Political Officer Kevin Murakami (notetaker). 
 
MOD SANTOS PRAISES JUSTICE AND PEACE LAW 
======================================== 
 
¶3. (SBU) Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos said the 
Justice and Peace (J&P) Law process was an example of the 
success of President Uribe's democratic security policy.  As 
recently as three years ago, public debate over whether or 
not to televise the voluntary confessions (version libre) of 
58 paramilitary leaders would have been "unthinkable." 
Santos conceded the J&P Law was a controversial issue - 
heavily discussed and criticized in Colombia's Congress.  He 
rejected criticism that the law was too lenient, stressing 
that paramilitary chiefs entered the process voluntarily.  He 
added that ELN members had rejected the J&P demobilization 
terms as too harsh. 
 
PARA-POLITICO SCANDAL 
===================== 
 
¶4. (SBU) Santos said recent revelations of politicians' and 
legislators' ties to paramilitaries were proof that 
democratic institutions were working.  He said the magnitude 
of these revelations was due to Uribe's policies, not in 
spite of them.  Santos pointed out that although most of the 
politicians currently accused of paramilitary ties were Uribe 
supporters, the President consistently called for the 
harshest application of the law against them.  Santos said 
para-political ties must continue to be revealed, regardless 
of who is implicated, but worried the U.S. Congress would 
negatively perceive what the Colombian government considered 
a "traumatic, but necessary" step in the demobilization 
process. 
 
MOD COMMITTED TO FIGHTING NEWLY EMERGING CRIMINAL GROUPS 
============================================= =========== 
 
¶5. (SBU) Santos expressed concern over ex-paramilitaries' 
participation in emerging criminal groups, estimating there 
were 26 such bands.  He said fighting them was a top 
priority.  Military and police forces had captured 970 
members of these criminal groups and killed 130.  Santos 
receives OAS reports on paramilitary recidivism and ties 
between the military, police, and ex-paramilitaries.  He 
stressed his commitment to break such links, explaining he 
had dismissed 15 police and military officers suspected of 
collaborating with emerging criminal groups. 
 
OTHER MOD ADVANCES ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
================================== 
 
¶6. (SBU) Santos said one of his key objectives as minister 
was for human rights to become a "non-issue" with the 
military.  He had made significant progress toward this goal 
by appointing a civilian to head the Military Penal Justice 
System and assigning a legal adviser to review every combat 
flight by the Colombian Air Force.  He also emphasized that 
any allegation of a human rights violation by military 
personnel is investigated and prosecuted in civilian courts. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Santos and Vice MOD Sergio Jaramillo highlighted 
increased investment and a stronger climate of trust between 
the military and local citizens in San Jose de Apartado peace 
community.  In one of the peace communities, Santos 
explained, members were now allowing medical personnel to 
enter to provide health services, whereas before they had 
rejected all such services.  McGovern recognized these 
advances as positive steps.  Santos said the GOC would boost 
the police by 20,000 and the military by 18,000 over the next 
four years to improve security in areas where human rights 
violations by the FARC and ELN regularly occur. 
 
 
CONCERNS OVER VENEZUELA AND ECUADOR 
=================================== 
 
¶8. (SBU) Santos said he was concerned with developments in 
Venezuela, but acknowledged the GOC would have to tread 
carefully with President Chavez.  He was worried about 
drug-trafficking routes and cocaine processing labs in 
Venezuela, as well as Chavez's arms build up.  He said Chavez 
was also financing "extremist" political movements in 
Colombia.  Vice MOD Sergio Jaramillo said Chavez was 
encouraging strikes by trade unions and providing them 
financial backing, especially in Tolima and Valle de Cauca 
Departments.  Jaramillo also said Chavez was financing the 
radical arm of the CRIC, one of Colombia's largest Indigenous 
umbrella groups.  Still, Santos stressed the importance of 
not confronting Chavez.  Santos said, "We depend a lot on 
trade with Venezuela," He also stressed that "Colombia would 
not be drawn into a regional arms race."  Santos said Ecuador 
was portraying Colombia as its primary external threat.  He 
explained that President Correa, in casting Colombia as a 
threat, was replicating Venezuela's approach to the United 
States. 
 
 
DEBATE ON PLAN COLOMBIA 
======================= 
 
¶9. (SBU) McGovern said Plan Colombia should include more 
emphasis on socio-economic development and institution 
building, and suggested there would be increased debate over 
the merits of military assistance in the new U.S. Congress. 
He had just visited a community of Internally Displaced 
Persons (IDPs) and said little had changed since his last 
visit there in 2003.  He recounted hearing the same 
complaints of chronic poverty, lack of basic services, and 
presence of illegal armed actors.  Left unattended, McGovern 
asserted, the IDP problem could quickly become a security 
one.  The MOD and his vice ministers agreed on the importance 
of providing social services and building institutions.  This 
was the goal of the military's "clear and hold" strategy of 
first eliminating illegal armed groups and illicit crops, so 
that democratic institutions could flourish safely. 
 
FTA 
=== 
 
¶10. (SBU) Santos stressed the importance of both Plan 
Colombia and the FTA to ensure economic growth and strengthen 
democracy.  McGovern said the FTA would be subject to a 
"rough" debate in the U.S. Congress, but said he did not 
believe U.S.-Colombian relations hinged on ratification of 
the FTA. 
 
¶11. (U) Representative McGovern did not clear this message. 
Drucker