VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #1921 1431142
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221142Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2963
INFO RHEHOND/DIR ONDCP WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL//SCJ2/SCJ3/SCJ5//
RUWDQAC/US INTERDICTION COORD WASHDC
RUEAHLC/DHS WASHDC//ICE/CNO//
RUMIJTF/DIRJIATF SOUTH KEY WEST FL
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF STATE AIR WING PATRICK AFB FL

UNCLAS BOGOTA 001921 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR INL/LP 
DEPT FOR WHA/AND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR SENV KCRM PTER CO
SUBJECT: FARC DOCUMENTS INDICATE THAT ERADICATION FINANCIALLY HURTS 
THE ORGANIZATION 
 
REFS: A) BOGOTA 800 NOTAL B) BOGOTA 1014 NOTAL 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  Documents recovered from the laptop computers of 
two recently killed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC in 
Spanish) Secretariat members and subsequently released to the press 
indicate that coca eradication causes financial hardship for the 
organization.  In essence, the FARC itself provides concrete proof 
that aerial eradication negatively impacts on FARC operations.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) On March 1, Colombian security forces launched a successful 
operation against a FARC camp located just across the border in 
Ecuador.  During the operation the organization's second in command 
and FARC Secretariat member, Luis Edgar Devia Silva (aka Raul 
Reyes), was killed, and a number of computers seized (REF A). 
 
¶3.  (U) Shortly thereafter, El Tiempo, Colombia's leading daily, ran 
an article on its website with a collection of documents taken from 
Raul Reyes' computers.  One was an e-mail to Reyes dated February 
16, 2008 from alias Edgar Tovar, a FARC front commander making 
reference to the negative effects that aerial spray and eradication 
have had on the organization's ability to generate income.  Mr. 
Tovar says, "We have not been able to do any good business deals, we 
are just now trying to close some deals, we have done some small 
things, but the situation is difficult due to the eradication and 
fumigation." 
¶4.  (U) On March 6, Manuel Munoz Ortiz (a/k/a Ivan Rios), another 
member of the FARC general secretariat and commander of the FARC's 
central block, was killed by one of his own bodyguards.  The 
bodyguard turned over Rios' laptop computer along with Rios' severed 
right hand to prove that Rios was dead (REF B).  According to a 
March 12th article in the Colombian weekly magazine "Cambio," 
documents on Rios' computer show that he was concerned with 
eradication because it decreased his organization's ability to 
generate revenue from narcotrafficking activities.  An email sent to 
a subordinate said, "Make me a proposal on distribution percentages 
that we receive from this business, taking into account the needs of 
all fronts and also taking into account that the crisis in this zone 
is worse than others, because the part where we would make a lot of 
money charging our tax is subject to massive aerial eradication, and 
the units there are living off of very small tax collections and the 
funds for the radio station, workshops, schools, emergencies, and 
war material are all at zero." 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The latest public estimates are that the FARC 
generates at least 80 percent of its revenue from narcotics 
production and trafficking.  The information found on Reyes' and 
Rios' computers demonstrates that eradication is effective in not 
only reducing the productive capability of Colombia's coca 
producers, but also in taking its toll on the finances of Colombia's 
oldest terrorist organization.  Destroying the coca of the FARC 
destroys the funding that it would use to buy arms, ammunition, 
explosives, food, and equipment.  It also denies the FARC funding to 
try and intimidate or corrupt public and private officials.  Now 
that Interpol has confirmed that the computers were not manipulated, 
it is our hope that other documents regarding aerial eradication 
will come to light.  END COMMENT 
 
Brownfield