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DE RUEHBO #4786/01 1861706
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051706Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6755
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7618
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 9137
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 5209
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 0429
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 5806
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4004
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BOGOTA 004786 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON PREF PREL PTER PINR CO
SUBJECT: CONGRESS DELIVERS RESULTS DESPITE PARA-POLITICAL 
SCANDAL 
 
REF: REF A) BOGOTA 1169 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. Summary.  The Colombian Congress passed the GOC's top 
legislative priorities during its February-June session, 
despite the distraction of the para-political scandal. 
President Uribe's governing coalition lacks discipline and 
programmatic coherence, but was able to unite on votes that 
mattered, passing the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement 
(CTPA) and a critical bill reforming federal and state 
revenue sharing.  The GOC also killed a last minute attempt 
to insert a provision into ethics legislation limiting GOC 
authority to investigate Congress.  When Congress resumes on 
July 20, GOC and party leaders will focus on legislation to 
protect the October local elections from armed and criminal 
groups.  End summary. 
 
 
Congress and Uribe Coalition Get the Job Done 
============================================= 
¶2. Despite the distractions of the para-political scandal 
(Ref A) and local elections scheduled for October, President 
Uribe's Congressional coalition passed his top legislative 
priorities in the February-June session.  The Uribe 
coalition--which controls nearly 70 percent of the Senate and 
64 percent in the House--lacks discipline and programmatic 
coherence, and coalition parties used every vote to squeeze 
favors out of the president.  Still, as U Party President 
Carlos Garcia told us, the bottom line was that the coalition 
mustered the votes needed to pass the key items on Uribe's 
legislative agenda. 
 
CTPA Passed: 
============ 
¶3.  The CTPA easily passed on June 13 with the support of all 
coalition parties.  Only the leftist Polo Democratico Party 
opposed the CTPA.  Congress held 19 heated debates and 
numerous public hearings from March-June on the CTPA. 
Members of all parties told us their constituents had been 
concerned about possible future U.S. requests for changes to 
the CTPA, as well as with CTPA provisions on agriculture, 
medicines, and intellectual property.  The Congress will have 
to review and vote on the protocol to the CTPA signed on June 
27 containing changes to the text as requested by the U.S. 
Congress.  It is unclear when the GOC plans to present the 
Protocol for approval. 
 
Key Legislation Passed 
====================== 
¶4.  Congress also passed a bill reforming the system of 
federal to state budget transfers.  The reform is considered 
key to the federal government's long-term fiscal health. 
Since the "transfers" measure was considered a constitutional 
change, it had to pass through a second round of votes in the 
February-June session (in addition to four in the 
July-December 2006 session) to become law.  The bill was 
highly unpopular, and generated numerous protests throughout 
Colombia in May-June.  Its passage was hailed as a major 
victory for Uribe and a sign that Congress remained focused. 
 
Other key legislation passed: 
--A National Development Plan for 2006-2010 provides funds 
for local projects, stepped-up infrastructure development for 
Afro-Colombian and indigenous development projects, and 
additional funds and personnel for the Prosecutor General's 
Office (Fiscalia) to facilitate investigation and prosecution 
of human rights, labor rights, and paramilitary cases. 
President Uribe has objected to specific tax provisions in 
the bill, meaning it will be returned to Congress on July 20 
for adjustment (expected by mid-August). 
 
--A Military Justice Reform Law amends the military criminal 
justice code to clarify that torture, genocide, and forced 
disappearances fall under the jurisdiction of the civilian 
justice system.  The UN High Commissioner's Office on Human 
Rights noted the reform could place some violations of 
international humanitarian and human rights law within the 
military court's jurisdiction, and is seeking changes; 
 
--A Rural Development Law--with input from the 
USG--consolidates a wide range of existing laws and 
regulations related to land use, reduces the role and 
increases the transparency of land titling agency INCODER, 
 
adds protections for vulnerable groups including displaced 
persons and Afro-Colombians, and improves land use regimes. 
 
Challenges Remain 
================= 
¶5.  The para-political scandal which landed 13 members of 
Congress in jail was a distraction during the February-June 
session, and some lower-priority bills stalled.  A bill 
providing rights to homosexual couples that passed the four 
needed votes in the Congress was torpedoed by opponents at 
the eleventh hour by a procedural maneuver.  A complex 
election reform bill presented in March--also requiring 
constitutional change--ran out of time.   The GOC will seek 
passage of the bills in the Congressional session which 
begins July 20. 
 
Effort to Weaken Investigations of Congress Fails: 
============================================= ===== 
¶6.  A last minute attempt to sneak through an article in an 
ethics reform bill sharply reducing the Inspector General's 
Office (Procuraduria) authority to investigate Congress 
passed, but President Uribe vetoed the bill and sent it back 
to Congress where the GOC expects the article to be removed. 
The measure, which was inserted into the bill in the last 
days of the session by an independent representative, would 
have given the Congress "exclusive" jurisdiction to 
investigate certain accusations against members, effectively 
striping the Procuraduria of its authority to investigate 
Congress.  The Procuraduria has more than ninety 
investigations against members of Congress pending. 
 
Local Elections Near: 
===================== 
¶7.  Legislators are now focused on October local elections, 
making progress on new legislation unlikely until at least 
November.  GOC officials and party leaders, content that 
Congress passed the most important elements of the GOC 
legislative agenda, tell us they will use the July 
congressional session to focus on election reform and to 
introduce additional mechanisms to guard against the 
influence of armed and criminal groups in local elections. 
Drucker