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UNCLAS BOGOTA 007718 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ELAB ETRD KJUS OVIP PGOV PHUM PTER EC
VZ, CO 
SUBJECT: SECRETARY GUTIERREZ AND U.S. REPRESENTATIVES' 
OCTOBER 13 MEETING WITH PRESIDENT URIBE 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) In an October 13 breakfast meeting with Commerce 
Secretary Gutierrez and an accompanying congressional 
 
SIPDIS 
delegation, President Uribe thanked the group for U.S. 
support and urged them to support the bilateral Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA).  He said the FTA will complement Plan 
Colombia by generating the resources Colombia needs to 
sustain advances on security and social issues.  Uribe 
reviewed GOC programs to respect human rights, protect union 
members and human rights activists, and punish those guilty 
of human rights abuses.  He also highlighted the result of 
the paramilitary peace process-60 key paramilitary leaders in 
jail and others on the run-and reiterated his commitment to 
extradite any paramilitary who violates the terms of the 
peace process.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
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PARTICIPANTS 
------------ 
 
¶2. (U) UNITED STATES 
 
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez 
Representative Eliot Engel 
Representative Richard Hastings 
Representative James McDermott 
Representative Gregory Meeks 
Representative John Salazar 
Representative William Sali 
Ambassador William R. Brownfield 
Deputy Chief of Mission Brian A. Nichols 
Commerce Counselor Maggie Hanson-Muse 
 
 
COLOMBIA 
 
President Alvaro Uribe 
Vice President Francisco Santos 
Ambassador Carolina Barco 
Minister of Trade Luis Plata 
Reintegration Commissioner Frank Pearl 
U.S. and Canada desk Chief Patricia Cortes 
Accompanying Cabinet and other officials 
 
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FTA 
--- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Uribe thanked Commerce Secretary Gutierrez and the 
U.S. Congressmen for their support, noting that Colombia's 
progress in recovering control of its national territory from 
narcotraffickers and the FARC could not have happened without 
U.S. support.  Colombia remains a good friend of the United 
States; the bilateral free trade agreement would symbolize 
the permanent cooperation between the two countries.  This 
becomes especially important now, as South America passes 
through a complicated period.  Venezuelan President Chavez 
and Ecuadorian President Correa talk of a "new socialism" and 
advocate "new authoritarian constitutions.8  In contrast, 
Colombia shares the U.S. commitment to democratic values, 
including respect for independent institutions, transparency, 
and social cohesion.  Countries in the region would not 
understand if the U.S. Congress did not approve an FTA with 
the United States, &best friend8 in the region. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Uribe said the FTA will complement Plan Colombia by 
helping to generate the resources Colombia needs to sustain 
advances on security and social issues.  He noted that under 
his administration, the percentage of Colombians living below 
the poverty line fell from 57% to 45%.  Coverage for basic 
education rose from 78% in 2002 to 92% today, and the number 
of children in nutrition programs has climbed from 3.7 
million to 9 million during the same period.  More than 36 
million Colombians now have health insurance, up from 23 
million in 2002, and the GOC hopes to provide universal 
coverage by the end of his term in 2010.  The GOC  rebuilt 
196 towns that the FARC had destroyed, including 
 
Bojaya/Bellavista which the delegation would visit later that 
day.  Uribe said his "democratic security" policy has boosted 
investor confidence, leading to increased employment, growth, 
and tax revenue.  The FTA remains key to maintaining 
confidence and consolidating the progress achieved to date. 
 
-------------------- 
PARAMILITARY PROCESS 
-------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Uribe reviewed the GOC's fight against 
paramilitaries, noting that his administration has 
demobilized 32,000 paramilitaries.  Most paramilitary leaders 
are in jail, and those who remain at large face constant 
pressure from Colombia's security forces.  The GOC has 
extradited more than 650 criminals to the United States, a 
world record.  Uribe said he has suspended the extradition of 
eleven paramilitary leaders due to their cooperation in 
dismantling paramilitary structures.  Still, he would 
extradite them if they continued their involvement in 
criminal activity or violated the terms of the peace process. 
 For example, Uribe said he removed a major paramilitary 
leader from the Justice and Peace Law process because he 
clearly remained engaged in crime.  He will extradite him as 
soon as the USG submits an extradition request.  Ambassador 
Barco added that the paramilitary demobilization has exposed 
links between these criminal groups and some Colombian 
politicians.  She said 37 legislators await trial for their 
alleged paramilitary ties. 
 
¶6. (SBU) GOC Reintegration Czar Frank Pearl said that the GOC 
has developed a program that works with the demobilized, 
their families, and local communities.  The program 
conditions the demobilized paramilitaries, receipt of 
economic, psychosocial and educational benefits on their 
compliance with the terms of the peace process (i.e. a 
commitment to confess their crimes, pay compensation, and 
refrain from criminal activity.)  To overcome popular 
antipathy toward the former paramilitaries, the GOC extends 
health, education, and employment benefits to local residents 
of "receptor" communities as well.  Pearl said the Colombian 
private sector supports the reintegration program, and has 
financed 56 projects.  FTA approval would help the 
reintegration effort because it would create new economic 
opportunities. 
 
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HUMAN RIGHTS 
------------ 
¶7.  (SBU) Congressman Salazar said most opposition to the FTA 
in the United States comes from religious and human rights 
groups, and asked what the GOC has done to address their 
concerns.  Uribe replied that the GOC remains committed "to 
do whatever we have to do to protect human rights."  The GOC 
recently extended the mandate of the UN High Commission in 
Human Rights through 2010, and the Inter-American Court on 
Human Rights will hold a session in Bogota in two weeks.  The 
GOC welcomes the presence of international human rights 
groups, and the improved security climate has enabled 
opposition parties to campaign throughout the country.  Uribe 
stressed that despite facing major security threats from the 
FARC, narcotraffickers and other criminal bands, the GOC has 
not followed the route taken by many South American countries 
in the 1970s and restricted political or civil rights.  His 
"democratic security" strategy aims to defeat the FARC by 
strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law. 
 
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ECOPETROL 
--------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Congressman Sali noted the importance of energy 
security, and asked about the GOC's plans for Ecopetrol, 
Colombia's state-owned oil company.  Uribe said despite the 
recent trend in South America toward state control of 
petroleum and other natural resources, the GOC recently sold 
20% of Ecopetrol's shares to private investors.  Over 520,000 
Colombians bought shares, with local pension funds acquiring 
a substantial stake.  The GOC believes that the partial 
privatization will encourage greater transparency and less 
corruption.  The GOC did the same with the state-owned 
telephone company, and the results were dramatic.  Service 
 
improved, workers received their salaries on time, and 
corruption fell.  Uribe noted that with oil exports are 
excluded, Colombia runs a trade deficit with the United 
States. 
 
------------------------- 
LABOR UNIONS AND IMPUNITY 
------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Congressman Engel thanked Uribe for his strong 
support for the USG, and said that the U.S. Congress has an 
obligation to work with our allies.  Still, he stressed that 
many Congressmen want to see the GOC do more to address 
violence against labor unions and to include unions in the 
policy process before they will support an FTA.  Engel added 
that several Colombian union leaders have complained that 
they did not participate during the FTA negotiations, and he 
asked if the GOC would renegotiate some of the deal's 
provisions to address union concerns.  Congressman McDermott 
added that ending impunity in murders of labor leaders 
remains essential. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Uribe reiterated the GOC's commitment to protect 
union members and to prosecute those responsible for violence 
against them, noting that the number of unionists killed fell 
from 256 in 2002 to 60 in 2006.  The latter figure largely 
reflected fighting between the FARC and the leftist ELN.   To 
date, only 21 unionists have been murdered in 2007.  The 
murder rate for the general population now tops the rate for 
union members.  Still, Uribe said one trade union murder is 
too many.  He described the GOC's protection program for 
human rights activists, union leaders, journalists and other 
threatened individuals.  In 2007, the GOC will spend $39 
million to protect over 6000 Colombians, including 1500 
unionists.  He added that his "democratic security" policy 
will continue to improve the overall security situation. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Uribe stated that the GOC continues to support the 
efforts of the independent Prosecutor General's Office 
(Fiscalia) to investigate and prosecute crimes against 
unionists.  He had doubled the Fiscalia's budget between 2002 
and 2008, and will add $40 million in 2008 to strengthen the 
Fiscalia's Human Rights and Justice and Peace Law units.  The 
Human Rights unit contains the special sub-unit that 
investigates priority cases.  Since 2002, the Fiscalia 
resolved 52 cases of labor violence resulting in 108 
convictions. 
 
¶12. (SBU) On labor unions' inclusion in negotiations, 
President Uribe emphasized that the GOC had invited the 
unions to participate in the talks.  Some groups had 
accepted.  Others, such as unions representing public 
employees, had refused to participate based on ideological 
concerns.  He noted that Colombia has accepted the labor and 
environmental changes in the FTA proposed by the U.S. 
Congress, and added that the GOC also funds the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) office in country.  Asked by 
Congressman Hastings if the FTA had been a major issue in the 
2006 presidential elections, Uribe said the he had made the 
elections a referendum on the FTA.   The GOC closed the FTA 
negotiations with the USG during the election period, and he 
made a nationally televised speech highlighting the 
importance of the agreement. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
AFRO-COLOMBIAN CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Congressman Meeks said he had spoken with 
Congressmen Lewis and Rush, and both expressed interested in 
working with a proposed Colombian civil rights commission 
that addresses the needs of Afro-Colombian.  Uribe reiterated 
his interest in the proposal. 
 
¶14. (U) Secretary Gutierrez did not clear this message. 
Brownfield