VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0687/01 0562245
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 252245Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1509
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8061
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0005
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ FEB 9251
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 5937
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 1289
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 6577
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4302

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000687 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/AND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SNAR KCOM KAID EC CO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO PUTUMAYO HIGHLIGHTS USG 
ASSISTANCE 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (SBU) Ambassador Brownfield visited Villa Garzon, 
Putumayo on February 8, to inaugurate a major road pavement 
project and survey a water treatment project funded by USAID. 
Local officials touted the road as an important step to 
reducing Putumayo's isolation, improving security, and 
promoting prosperity. The Ambassador also met local police 
and army commanders.  The Colombian National Police (CNP) 
reported progress in its aerial eradication operations due to 
improved security, but cited growing coca production in 
national parks and reserves.  Military officials described 
advances against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(FARC), but noted growing FARC presence in border towns with 
Ecuador. The Ambassador also met with indigenous and 
Afro-Colombian leaders who thanked him for USG-supported 
local-governance projects.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
The Road to Putumayo's Future 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The Ambassador inaugurated a USG-GOC joint road 
project in Putumayo -- with USAID and the GOC providing USD 
12 million each -- to pave 42 kilometers of road from Puerto 
Caicedo to Villa Garzon.  This is a critical stretch of the 
Mocoa-San Miguel road makes up Putumayo's most important 
connection to the rest of Colombia and Ecuador.  The road 
will improve commerce and overall security in this isolated 
department, which has suffered from FARC activity,  illicit 
coca cultivation, and a lack of economic opportunities. 
 
¶3.  (U) Over 400 local residents attended the public 
groundbreaking ceremony in Villa Garzon's community arena, 
enthusiastically cheering the start of the road construction 
project.  Local and national government officials linked the 
road project to a safer, more prosperous community.  Luz Dary 
Garcia, Mayor of Puerto Caicedo, said the road would 
transition Putumayo to "progress and peace."  Accion Social 
director Luis Alfonso Hoyos and Representative Guillermo 
Rivera underscored the road's impact in moving Putumayo from 
illegality and violence to legal commerce and a sustainable 
economy.  Governor Felipe Guzman and Representative Orlando 
Guerra conveyed similar messages of hope, but also called for 
more social investment and an end to aerial eradication. 
Guzman said local farmers were ready to pull coca out of 
"their properties and their hearts" if provided alternatives. 
 
¶4.  (U) Under a delightfully refreshing steady downpour, the 
Ambassador also visited a water treatment plant, a joint 
USAID-U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project completed three 
years ago. The plant provides clean water to 15,000 local 
residents.  The Ambassador also participated in a signing 
ceremony between the USG and the departmental government, 
initiating new support for the design and implementation of 
departmental and municipal development plans in Putumayo. 
USAID (USD 140,000) and the departmental and municipal levels 
of government (USD 180,000) jointly funded the project. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Aerial Eradication Operations as a National Model 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) At the local CNP airbase, Colonel Gamboa briefed 
the Ambassador on the success of the GOC's aerial eradication 
operations.  Gamboa said it represents the most 
Colombian-intensive spray package of the three operating in 
the country, serving as a "nationalization model."  Still, he 
said NAS equipment and technical funding remains critical to 
continuing operations.  Gamboa noted that Putumayo has a 
strong FARC presence and remains a primary source of coca 
production in Colombia.  He reported that spray planes took 
over 300 bullets in Colombia in 2007, which translates into 
several hits per operating day.  Gamboa outlined the GOC's 
independent environmental auditing policy and compensation 
program for accidental fumigation of licit crops.  He said 
the GOC faces three challenges in its anti-narcotics efforts 
in Putumayo -- insufficient air bases, replanting of coca in 
areas that have been eradicated, and growing coca production 
 
in the department's national parks and indigenous reserves 
where aerial eradication is prohibited. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Security Better but Border Concerns Remain 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (U) Brigadier General Javier Fernandez, Commander of the 
27th Brigade, reported improved security from the Colombian 
military's offensive in Putumayo, citing zero terrorist 
attacks in 2007, reduced kidnappings, increased tourism, and 
safer roads.  Military successes against the FARC in 2007 
resulted in 299 captured, 44 demobilized, and 103 killed in 
combat.  He said 50 percent of the FARC's members in the 
region are children, some as young as 12 years old.  Many 
deserter and captured female FARC describe horrific 
conditions of coerced sex and forced abortions. He added that 
once military forces secure an area, integrated GOC efforts 
to provide schools, infrastructure, and economic 
opportunities follow.  Fernandez said the USAID-funded road 
will allow the region's licit economy to "take off." 
 
¶7.  (U) Despite military successes, Fernandez said 
significant problems remain.  The FARC's "political war" 
generates fabricated allegations of human rights violations. 
FARC landmines continue to injure and kill civilians and 
security forces.  Fernandez called coca production "ecocide," 
comparing a 1979 satellite photo of a heavily forested area 
with today's barren landscape. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Fernandez voiced concern over the porous border 
with Ecuador.  The FARC has infiltrated Ecuadorian border 
towns  - where Colombians now comprise 50 percent of the 
population - and even started constructing roads for their 
drug routes.  The FARC likely maintains its cocaine 
production labs are likely located in Ecuador.  Fernandez 
reported progress in relations with his Ecuadorian 
counterparts, who recently provided useful information on a 
FARC camp they attacked and destroyed.   . 
 
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Aiding Indigenous and Afro-Colombian Groups 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Local indigenous leader Luis Lopez said the 
indigenous -- who make up 19 percent (45,515) of Putumayo's 
population -- were taking strong steps to improve 
self-governance and collaboration with local officials. 
Lopez thanked the Ambassador for the USG's grant of USD 
150,000 to OZIP, one of Putumayo's regional indigenous 
grassroots organizations, to improve self-governance. 
Indigenous self-governance has proven a successful 
development model in conflict-prone areas with high levels of 
illicit crops.  Noting the indigenous' emphasis on 
conservation, Lopez called for greater inclusion in the 
region's development discussions.  He conceded indigenous 
reserves attract illegal crop production, since they provide 
a "safe haven" from aerial eradication, but also noted the 
indigenous community's commitment to manual eradication and 
the destruction of coca "root by root." 
 
¶10.  (U) Afro-Colombian activist Jose Arly Quinonez outlined 
plans to strengthen community-wide political engagement and 
to produce sustainable economic opportunities, especially in 
rural areas.  Quinonez thanked the Ambassador for USAID's USD 
98,000 grant for institution-building, which will train 400 
community leaders and 20 municipal officials.  He noted that 
4.5 percent of Putumayo's population (11,690 people) consist 
of Afro-Colombians.  The Ambassador underscored the USG's 
commitment to working with Afro-Colombians throughout the 
country. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment.  Putumayo has received a great deal of 
U.S. Plan Colombia assistance since 2000.  Between the heat, 
 
humidity, rain, and mud it is still not Colombia's favorite 
tourist destination.  But it is far better, safer, and more 
prosperous than eight years ago.  We are seeing some return 
on our investment. 
Brownfield