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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #8384/01 3402014
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 062014Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0403
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7927
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 9629
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ DEC 9096
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 5685
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 0950
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1152
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 6373
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BOGOTA 008384 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PREF PTER PHUM PGOV KJUS VE CO
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT URIBE SPEAKS TO REID DELEGATION ON TPA, 
LABOR, AND CHAVEZ 
 
REF: BOGOTA 008224 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) During a November 28 meeting with the U.S. 
Congressional Delegation led by Senate Majority Leader Harry 
Reid, President Alvaro Uribe outlined Plan Colombia's 
accomplishments and stressed the importance of continued U.S. 
support.  Uribe said passage of the U.S.- Colombia Trade 
Promotion Agreement (TPA) would attract vital investment to 
Colombia and show U.S. political support for its best ally in 
the region.  Uribe said his recent dispute with Venezuelan 
President Hugo Chavez occurred because Chavez violated 
Colombia's institutional hierarchy by directly contacting 
Colombian Army Commander Mario Montoya.  Uribe claimed that 
Chavez had expansionist plans for his model of "new 
socialism," and likened the threat Chavez poses to Latin 
America to that posed by Hitler in Europe.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Participants: 
 
UNITED STATES 
 
Ambassador William R. Brownfield 
Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader, D-NV 
Senator Thad Cochran, R-MS 
Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-NM 
Senator Byron Dorgan, D-ND 
Senator Mike Crapo, R-ID 
Senator Robert Menendez, D-NJ 
Senator Kent Conrad, D-ND 
Mike Castellano 
Anna Gallagher 
Marcel Lettre 
Federico De Jesus 
Serena Hoy 
Col. Mike Barbero 
Deputy Political Counselor, Julie Chung 
Adam Lenert, POL (note-taker) 
 
COLOMBIA 
 
President Alvaro Uribe 
Vice Minister of Foreign Relations, Adriana Mejia 
Vice Minister of Defense, Juan Carlos Pinzon 
Minister of Trade, Luis Guillermo Plata 
Ambassador to the U.S., Carolina Barco 
Director of National Planning, Carolina Renteria 
Vice Minister of Labor, Andres Palacios 
High Commissioner for Reintegration, Frank Pearl 
High Commissioner for Accion Social, Luis Alfonso Hoyos 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs North Americas Desk, Patricia 
Cortes 
 
 
------------------------------------- 
CONTINUED PLAN COLOMBIA SUPPORT VITAL 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Asked by Senator Menendez if the time had arrived to 
shift U.S. assistance from traditional Plan Colombia programs 
towards alternative development and justice-sector projects, 
Uribe said that Colombia had done much under Plan Colombia, 
but more remains to accomplish. The GOC controlled only fifty 
percent of its territory in 2000, but now maintains a 
presence in every municipality. Spraying and manual 
eradication programs supported by the U.S. would destroy over 
200,000 hectares of coca in 2007. Uribe said to maintain 
security and continue the fight against narco-trafficking, 
the U.S. must continue its vital support. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
GOC INVESTING IN JUSTICE AND ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶4. (U) Uribe said his government had committed to justice 
programs and alternative development. He explained how the 
GOC had passed important judicial reforms and almost doubled 
 
the budget for the justice system over the past four years. 
He noted that Colombia began producing biofuel, and expanded 
coffee production by over one million bags over the last five 
years. Uribe reminded the Senators of the difficulty of 
alternative development in a country with over 50 percent 
jungle terrain (578,000 square kilometers). He explained that 
the GOC's Forest Families program works to secure the jungle 
by employing rural families to patrol and report illicit 
activity. 
 
------------------------------- 
EXTRADITIONS ARE NON-NEGOTIABLE 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Uribe explained that after he met with families of 
hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(FARC) and spoke with French officials about the release of 
French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt, he dropped his 
original position that he would not discuss a humanitarian 
exchange with the FARC unless it coincided with a broader 
peace process.  Despite pressure from Chavez and others, he 
had insisted that any humanitarian exchange include the three 
American hostages. In contrast, the GOC would not support the 
inclusion of extradited FARC members in the U.S.  He 
explained that Colombia had extradited over 650 criminals to 
the U.S. to date, a level of cooperation with U.S. justice 
unprecedented anywhere else in the world. "For us, 
extradition is a policy that is non-negotiable," he stated. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
TPA WILL BRING INVESTMENT, SHOW SUPPORT 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Senator Crapo asked for Uribe's views on the TPA and 
labor unionists' concerns.  The President said the TPA was 
economically important for his country, because it would help 
Colombia attract foreign investment. He said the TPA would 
probably not have a large immediate impact in increasing 
Colombian exports to the U.S., but with increased foreign 
investment, their export sectors could develop to be more 
competitive in U.S. markets.  Uribe said the TPA was also 
important for political reasons, since it would show U.S. 
support for its best ally in the region. "I don't know how I 
could explain to my nation and the international community 
why the best friend of the U.S. was not granted a TPA," he 
said. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Uribe said his government had made great efforts at 
improving the situation of labor unionists. In the past, 256 
unionists were killed in a single year.  In 2007, 30 
unionists had been killed to date, and investigations and 
prosecutions were underway.  Since 2002, the Prosecutor 
General's Office has prosecuted 56 cases of labor violence, 
sending 118 people to prison.  In the majority of cases, 
Uribe said, the killer was not linked to the unionists' 
employers, but rather to terrorist groups that suspected the 
union members were helping rival gangs.  The GOC has 
protected over 6,000 people in 2007, at a cost of nearly USD 
40 million, including over 1200 unionists.  Uribe said there 
 
were many private sector unions that disagreed with the large 
labor confederations' criticism of the TPA. He held regular 
lunches with the large labor confederations to discuss labor 
issues, but noted that they would never accept the TPA due to 
their ideological opposition to free trade and the United 
States. 
 
------------------------------------ 
URIBE: CHAVEZ POSES THREAT TO REGION 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) Asked by Senator Conrad to comment on President 
Chavez, Uribe said he prefers to be prudent in statements 
about the leader of this significant trading partner.  He had 
authorized opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba and Chavez to 
facilitate talks with the FARC on a humanitarian accord after 
the families of the hostages implored him to do so. He 
recognized this was taking a great political risk, but saw 
Chavez as perhaps the only person respected enough by the 
FARC's leaders to reach an agreement to release the hostages. 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Uribe then reviewed the events that led him to 
suspend Cordoba's and Chavez' roles as facilitators.  He said 
that in an October 12 meeting, Chavez told him that he wanted 
to meet with FARC leader Marulanda in Colombia. Uribe told 
him this could only be done if the FARC released an initial 
group of hostages, with a commitment to release the rest 
later. The meeting would also have to be conducted at a 
specific demilitarized point, not a general zone as proposed 
by  Chavez.  To Uribe's surprise, Chavez publicly announced 
in Paris that Uribe had given him approval to meet with 
Marulanda in Colombia without mentioning any of the 
conditions set in their prior meeting. Uribe saw this as a 
violation of trust which put in question Chavez' reliability 
as a facilitator. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Uribe said the final factor that caused him to 
terminate Chavez' mandate as a negotiator was Chavez' call to 
Colombian Army Commander Montoya, despite Uribe's earlier 
specific instructions not to contact his military officials. 
Uribe stressed several times that this was "a violation of 
our institutional hierarchy," explaining he had a duty to 
defend democratic values.  Uribe said Chavez was trying to 
create a "personal empire," and had expansionist plans in the 
region for his model of "new socialism." Chavez' model 
violated democratic values such as freedom of the press, 
local elections, and independence of the Central Bank. He 
likened the threat Chavez poses to Latin America to that 
posed by Hitler in Europe. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
URIBE SEEKS SUPPORT FROM OTHER PRESIDENTS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Uribe mentioned he would see Chavez in Ecuador on 
November 29 at President Rafael Correa's inauguration 
ceremony of the new constitutional assembly.  He said it 
would be a difficult trip, but a necessary one and he would 
not leave the stage exclusively to Chavez. In recent weeks, 
Uribe saw positive movements by Correa away from Chavez-type 
radicalism, and he was not sure which way the Ecuadorian 
leader would lean. Uribe said he also called several other 
Latin American presidents to seek their support. Uribe said: 
"I do not want to leave political space for Chavez alone." 
 
¶12. (U) This cable has been cleared by Senator Reid. 
 
 
Nichols