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DE RUEHPE #3066/01 2542147
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P 112147Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6804
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 5060
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7577
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ SEP QUITO 1446
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF STATE AIR WING PATRICK AFB FL
RHEHOND/DIRONDCP WASHDC
RHMFIUU/COGARD INTELCOORDCEN WASHINGTON DC
RULSJGA/COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//G-CI/G-M/G-OLE//
RUCOWCA/COMLANTAREA COGARD PORTSMOUTH VA
RUWDQAA/COMPACAREA COGARD ALAMEDA CA

UNCLAS LIMA 003066 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/LP 
STATE FOR WHA/PPC 
ONDCP FOR LT COL RONALD GARNER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM ASEC PREL PE
SUBJECT: BUILDING POLICE PRESENCE - AND BETTER FUTURES - 
EAST OF THE ANDES 
 
 
1.(U) SUMMARY: The 3 NAS-sponsored police Pre-Academies, with 
a total of 764 students enrolled this year, are starting to 
provide a better-prepared pool of candidates for the 3 
NAS/PNP Academies East of the Andes, that now graduate around 
1000 new police each year.  In 2007, half of the Mazamari 
pre-Academy students passed the PNP entrance exams: next year 
the goal is 70 percent. The main goals for all these 
Academies -- augmenting well-trained CN police East of the 
Andes and increasing state presence, as well as improving 
community-police relations, are being achieved, despite some 
bumps in the road.  Additionally, local economies are 
receiving a boost, educational opportunities are opening, and 
women and indigenous groups are being integrated into 
national structures. In a study of the impact of the 
pre-Academies/Academies in Mazamari, assessors found the 
locally recruited students are contributing not only to 
security in previously lawless zones, but are also a source 
of pride to wide family circles, and they embark on 
professional careers.  END SUMMARY. 
 
- - - - - - 
BACKGROUND 
- - - - - - 

2.(U)  To redress the lack of police presence in Peru's 
lawless coca growing zones -- security is the prerequisite 
for broader state presence, development, and social inclusion 
-- NAS developed a beachhead program in 2004 consisting of 3 
Police Academies (in the towns of Santa Lucia, Mazamari and 
in 2005, Ayacucho) to train recruits from East of the Andes. 
These recruits commit to serving 3 years in counter-narcotics 
duties.  Over 1000 students are currently in training. By the 
end of 2008, 3000 new police will have passed through the 
program and the first graduates will be moving on to regular 
policing duties.  To meet the annual intake of 350 recruits 
in each Academy, NAS set up pre-Academies in the same towns 
to provide a pool of qualified local candidates. Currently 
764 school-leavers between the ages of 17-25 are enrolled in 
the 3 pre-Academies. (Note: Peru has a young population - 65 
percent is under 29.  Most living East of the Andes have 
scant hope of a professional career.  The demographics show 
this trend will continue during the next 10 years, providing 
a significant challenge to this and the next government. End 
Note). 
 
3.(U) During a rotation at NAS Lima, INL/RM Foreign Affairs 
Officer Keira Goldstein looked at the functioning of the 
pre-academies as feeder schools for the main NAS/PNP 
Academies at Santa Lucia, Mazamari and Ayacucho.  Goldstein 
did a field visit to the pre-academy at Mazamari, (VRAE), 
where she interviewed representatives of the local 
government, social service providers, community leaders, 
police, and the students and teachers of the pre-Academy to 
assess the efficacy of the program. The information below is 
based on her report. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
MAZAMARI - POOR YET A "REGIONAL ENVY" 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

4.(U) Mazamari is a typical impoverished Peruvian town yet an 
exceptional one, described by its governor as a "regional 
envy".  Most residents are farmers with an average income of 
10 soles (3.15 USD) a day.  The town has no paved roads, no 
potable water, and no university or trade school.  The 
population of around 20,000 has a significant Ashaninka 
minority.  The presence of a PNP base and the Police Academy 
sets Mazamari apart.  Both Presidents Toledo and Garcia have 
visited, along with several of Ministers, because of the 
Academy/Pre-academies, that provide local youth a chance for 
a professional career in a town with no other options.  The 
police base, built in 1965, has provided Mazamari with 
increased security and prevented it from becoming a center of 
narco-trafficking.  Thus, both the challenges and the 
potential in Mazamari are substantial. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
5.(U) All PNP Academies accept students through a national 
exam process.  Aspiring police must pass medicals, a test of 
physical abilities, academics, psychological evaluation, and 
a personal interview.  In the NAS/PNP Academies, men and 
women are trained together, and must pass the same entrance 
exams (except men are tested on upper body strength and women 
on abdominal strength).  A set number of indigenous 
applicants are accepted into the NAS/PNP Academies without 
having to pass the academic portion of the entrance exam 
(administered by a Peruvian university to ensure fairness). 
The second year the Academies were in operation they 
encountered a problem: not enough locals were passing the 
entrance exam.  Academy slots were being filled by students 
from coastal cities: such recruits have typically resisted 
serving East of the Andes.  In response, NAS opened 
pre-Academies to bolster the skills of local applicants. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
ACADEMY AND PRE-ACADEMY GOALS 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

6.(U) The goals for both the Academies and pre-Academies 
include: augmenting counter-drug police East of the Andes, 
improving community-police relations, creating ethical police 
with a sense of community service, supporting development of 
the local economy, improving the overall level of education 
east of the Andes, integrating women and indigenous groups 
into national structures, and paving the way for 
significantly increased state presence east of the Andes. 
Stated narrowly, the goal of Mazamari's Academy is to 
graduate 350 well-trained police each year.  The goal of the 
pre-Academy is to prepare local candidates to pass the 
entrance exam so that 100 percent of the Academy students in 
Mazamari are from East of the Andes. 
 
7.(SBU)  The pre-Academy in Mazamari opened in March 2006. 
Administering NGO CEPTIS works closely with local governing 
officials, providers of social services, and police at the 
base/Academy (e.g. the Base Commander teaches the civics 
course at the pre-Academy, students practice swimming at the 
base pool, and police instructors provide specialized 
physical fitness training).  CEPTIS has instituted screening 
to weed out potential narco "plants".  In the most recent 
round of recruiting, 250 people applied for 160 spots in 
Mazamari's pre-Academy (in Ayacucho, over 600 people competed 
for the 280 places in that pre-Academy).  Once accepted, 
students attend academic classes on week-nights and do 
physical fitness training Saturday mornings.  Heavy emphasis 
is placed on reading comprehension since levels are low 
throughout Peru.  All students have to run the same sprint 
and endurance distances and practice formation drills before 
each evening's Academic classes. 
 
8.(U) Teachers are carefully selected.  In Mazamari, 6 of the 
8 academic teachers teach in the local private school that 
donates classroom space to the pre-Academy in the evenings. 
CEPTIS monitors instructor performance, use of appropriate 
teaching techniques and the syllabus.  Teachers commented on 
the differences between teaching students in regular schools 
and the pre-Academy.  In regular school, the students do not 
believe academic success will improve their lives and so do 
not work hard.  In the pre-Academy, the students had to 
compete to be there: they have a chance to prepare for a 
professional career.  Teachers emphasized how motivated 
students are to learn -- this was apparent during class 
observation. 
 
- - - - 
IMPACT 
- - - - 

9.(SBU)  The Pre-Academy/PNP Academy in Mazamari appear to be 
achieving three broad kinds of change.  First, local 
businesses are benefiting, with an increase in the number of 
restaurants and services.  Second, the Academies are 
improving community-police relations.  Locals used to stone 
police patrols, but with local recruits, this has stopped. 
The assessors observed that the students are a source of 
pride, touching a wide family circle.  Impoverished children 
asked what they wanted to be when they grew up 
enthusiastically shouted "Police!"  A parent of a pre-Academy 
student said he hoped his child would be able help rebuild 
the security terrorists had destroyed.  A leader in the 
indigenous communities, with 2 sons in the PNP, considers her 
community to be safer now that their own people are joining 
the police. Third, policy decisions advocated at the 
NAS-funded Academies are having nation-wide implications. 
All 19 police Academies in Peru are now moving from a 3-year 
degree program to a condensed 1-year program.  This shift is 
important for the goal of expanding the PNP by 20,000 in 5 
years.  The recruitment of women and indigenous has pushed 
national policy in a more inclusive direction. 
 
¶10. (U) The easiest measurement of the impact of the Mazamari 
pre-Academy is how many of its students passed the police 
entrance exam.  Out of the 151 students, 62 passed the exam 
(41 percent).  CEPTIS has set an internal goal for the coming 
session of a 70 percent acceptance rate.  Regardless of 
whether they passed the entrance exam, anecdotal evidence 
suggests additional results from the pre-Academy. 
Educational levels are being raised.  Students are 
responsible for cleaning their classrooms and townsfolk 
observed that students were also cleaning the area around the 
school.  The underlying hope is that all students leaving the 
pre-Academy, whether they pass of fail, will have a better 
education, a greater respect for the police and more 
commitment to community service. 
 
¶11.  (U) Comment:  This substantial police training program 
has run into the usual bumps in the road as it is being 
developed.  However, the pre-Academies/Academies are 
providing a window of opportunity and educational advancement 
in the Upper Huallaga and VRAE -- areas where illegal 
activities are rife for lack of alternatives.  The 
pre-Academies are still a work-in-progress, but students 
involved in town clean-up auger well for a future commitment 
to community service.  Problems remain with coordinating 
pre-Academy and PNP entrance exam schedules.  There needs to 
be careful calibration of recruitment practices to represent 
the population and meet police needs.  Nonetheless, an 
indication of the success of the NAS pre-academies is that 
several private academies have also sprung up to prepare 
students for entrance to the NAS/PNP Academies. 
NEALON