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DE RUEHBO #2328/01 1782019
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INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0622
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RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 1921
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UNCLAS BOGOTA 002328 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SNAR KCOM KAID EC ECON EPET EAID
PGOV, PREL, CO 
SUBJECT:  AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO META, JUNE 12, 2008 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  The Ambassador traveled on June 12 to the historically 
conflict-plagued Department of Meta to meet with local political, 
security, and civil society representatives and highlight USG 
efforts to assist the GOC in consolidating security gains made in 
territory previously occupied by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of 
Columbia (FARC).  Interlocutors emphasized the improved security 
situation in the region and the need for more resources to support 
education and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and increased 
private sector investment in Meta.  In Villavicencio, the Ambassador 
visited United States Agency for International Development 
(USAID)-supported programs such as education for IDPs and providing 
telecommunications connectivity and justice sector services to 
isolated, rural areas of the country.  The Ambassador also traveled 
to Vista Hermosa in western Meta, until recently a FARC stronghold, 
to meet with Colombian military officials and inaugurate a U.S. 
funded dining facility for the elderly.  The visit received 
extensive and positive press coverage and underscored the improved 
security situation in Meta.  END SUMMARY. 
 
USAID Focuses on Education and the Judicial Sector 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2.  The Ambassador began the day with a visit to a regional 
processing and registration center for IDPs where USAID supports a 
program to provide literacy services.  The center is the first stop 
for IDPs seeking humanitarian assistance and access to social 
services.  The Ambassador, joined by the Meta Governor Dario Vasquez 
and Villavicencio Mayor Raul Franco, toured the facility and was 
briefed on the center's IDP registry system and available services. 
The Ambassador concluded the visit by interacting with program 
beneficiaries and making a book donation to support the center's 
literacy activities.  The USG supports this literacy initiative in 
alliance with the Ministry of Education, the Pan-American 
Development Foundation, and Citibank to provide literacy services to 
some 11,000 IDPs and vulnerable youth and adults in seven 
departments in Colombia. 
 
¶3.  In a ceremony with Governor Vasquez, Mayor Franco, the President 
of the Villavicencio Chamber of Commerce, and the President of 
Avantel Colombia, the Ambassador launched USAID's education-centered 
Last Mile Initiative for the Department of Meta.  This initiative 
will provide telecommunications connectivity for underserved and 
rural populations, as well as education to support economic and 
social development.  Major contributors to this public-private 
alliance are Avantel, Intel, Cisco, Microsoft, Google, the 
Department of Meta, the City of Villavicencio, and the Ministry of 
Communications.  Overall, the USG-provided equipment and training 
will connect 50 municipalities in the Departments of Meta, Huila, 
and Magdalena, including 21,000 small businesses and 325,000 
institutions such as schools, hospitals, justice houses, and local 
government offices. 
 
¶4.  Highlighting USG justice sector assistance, the Ambassador 
visited a virtual courtroom in Villavicencio supported by USAID's 
Justice Sector Reform Program.  Virtual courtrooms use video 
conferencing technology to extend formal justice sector services to 
isolated, post-conflict areas of the country by connecting judges in 
urban areas with police, prosecutors, and public defenders in remote 
areas of Colombia.  The Ambassador met with the Chief Magistrate of 
the Meta Superior Council and representatives from the Prosecutor's 
and Public Defender's offices and participated in a demonstration of 
the virtual courtroom technology.  Installed this past February, the 
Villavicencio virtual courtroom connects the main courthouse in 
Villavicencio with smaller municipal courts in Puerto Carreno 
(Vichada), Puerto Inirida (Guainia), Mitu (Vaupes), and San Jose Del 
Guaviare (Guaviare).  To date, judges sitting in Villavicencio have 
conducted approximately 50 virtual criminal hearings with officials 
in these municipalities, including criminal appeals trials, 
evidentiary hearings and pre-trial detention hearings.  USAID plans 
to install 14 additional virtual courtrooms to serve rural locations 
across Colombia in the coming year. 
 
Meeting with Local Mayors and Governor of Meta 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5.  The Ambassador met privately with Governor Vasquez, Mayor 
Franco, and Granada Mayor Juan Carlos Mendoza Rendon.  The 
Ambassador recalled his previous meeting of March 3 with Mayor 
Franco regarding education and again committed to support education 
initiatives in Villavicencio and throughout Meta.  Mayor Franco 
stressed that the low education level in Villavicencio schools is 
causing high levels of unemployment in Villavicencio and the region. 
 Mayor Franco asked for USG assistance to enhance educational 
capacity in Villavicencio and throughout the Department, through 
English programs, technical assistance, and help with providing 
computers to schools and students. 
 
¶6.  The Ambassador also reiterated his support for the Coordination 
Plan for Macarena (PCIM) currently being implemented by the GOC's 
Center for Coordinated Integrated Action in six municipalities of 
southwest Meta.  Governor Vasquez thanked the Ambassador for his 
support, but highlighted the need for additional coordination, not 
just within the GOC, but among other actors in the Department, such 
as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and 
non-governmental organizations.  The Governor and Mayors 
acknowledged the importance of PCIM, but continue to be concerned 
about security threats in the Department posed by the FARC and 
criminal groups.  Similarly, all expressed concern over the high 
levels of IDPs in Meta, among the highest in Colombia, and asked for 
USG assistance to help respond to the problem. 
 
Meta:  Seeking U.S. Investment 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  Villavicencio Chamber of Commerce Board President Martha Isabel 
Plazas and Executive President Carlos Alberto Lopez briefed the 
Ambassador over lunch on Meta's economic potential and challenges. 
Plazas, Lopez, and attending Chamber Board members agreed that 
significant improvements in the security situation have provided new 
opportunities for investment in agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. 
 Citing Meta's favorable climate and soil and abundant water 
resources, Chamber representatives identified sugar and tropical 
fruits as particularly strong investment prospects for the 
Department.  They also requested USG assistance to encourage 
investment in tourism and biofuels, including potentially sponsoring 
a trade and investment delegation.  The Ambassador applauded Meta's 
progress and affirmed the Embassy's interest in assisting economic 
development efforts with available resources such as English 
language training, USAID alternative development programs, and 
assistance to Colombian security forces.  The Ambassador also 
underscored USG commitment to achieving approval of the 
U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, which he identified as an 
important tool for further sparking Meta's economic growth. 
Finally, the Ambassador encouraged Meta's private sector to support 
vocational education, including offering internships to local 
students, as key to building a long-term base for development. 
 
Vista Hermosa:  Visit to Former FARC Stronghold 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶8.  Following lunch, the Ambassador traveled to Vista Hermosa, a 
small town located near the Macarena mountain range in western Meta. 
 The Ambassador's visit to Vista Hermosa received heavy press 
coverage and is notable because it is the first visit made by a 
foreign ambassador to a town that was a FARC stronghold only three 
years ago.  It was one of the towns in the original FARC "despeje" 
(demilitarized zone) from 1998-2001. 
 
¶9.  In Vista Hermosa, the Ambassador visited the headquarters of the 
Colombian Army's 12th Mobile Brigade where he received a briefing 
from General Padilla, the Commander of the Colombian Armed Forces, 
4th Division Commander General Quinones and Joint Task Force Omega 
Commander General Navas.  General Quinones briefed on FARC 
infrastructure and colonization of the region, the success of 
military operations to push the FARC out of Vista Hermosa and other 
municipal centers and the continuing problem of coca cultivation in 
the nearby Macarena range.  The Ambassador queried the generals on 
lessons learned from the Coordination Plan for Macarena and 
emphasized that aerial spraying is an efficient way to eradicate 
coca and should accompany voluntary and manual eradication efforts. 
 
¶10.  The Ambassador concluded his visit to Vista Hermosa by 
inaugurating a dining facility for the elderly funded by the U.S. 
Military Group's Civil Affairs program.  The $97,000 project 
responds to a request made by the Mayor of Vista Hermosa and 
supports the GOC's consolidation efforts in the Macarena region. 
The dining facility will assist some 80 elderly from the 
municipality of Vista Hermosa.  Much of the town of Vista Hermosa 
attended the inauguration. 
 
Positive Press Coverage 
----------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) The Ambassador's trip to Meta saw the turnout of many more 
local broadcast and print journalists than had been anticipated.  An 
Associated Press photographer also accompanied for the Vista Hermosa 
portion of the visit.  Media viewed this as an historic first:  the 
sitting U.S. Ambassador traveled to the former heart of the war 
against terror in Colombia.  El Tiempo (Colombia's largest and most 
influential daily, centrist, circ. 1,198,000/Sunday 2,247,300) ran a 
front page, above-the-fold picture of the Ambassador dancing the 
local step - el joropo - with a young girl from Villavicencio with 
the caption, "The U.S. Ambassador doesn't miss a step."  RCN TV (the 
largest private Colombian TV network, audience 9,467,300) reported 
on the evening of the visit that "U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield 
arrived in the former war zone and from the municipality of Vista 
Hermosa, Meta, sent a message directly to the FARC: 'The moment is 
now for the FARC to liberate all of the hostages without conditions, 
to put down your arms and to end this cycle of violence.' "  Upon 
the inauguration of the dining facility in Vista Hermosa, broadcast 
outlets, including RCN TV, Caracol TV, CM& Noticias (independent 
news broadcast, audience 507,000) and various radio stations, 
carried this quote from the Ambassador:  "Three years ago, this 
event would have been impossible.  We're seeing the light at the end 
of the tunnel." 
BROWNFIELD