VZCZCXYZ0734
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0743 0631900
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041900Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7524
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8708
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1762
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ AUG 9980
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 7080
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 7810
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 0574
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNDTA/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1981
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000743 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KJUS PGOV PTER SOCI PHUM CO
SUBJECT: ARMY FINDS UNION LEADER IN FARC CAMP 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. Colombian troops captured labor leader Juan Efrain Mendoza 
in the same February 27 raid that netted Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Colombia (FARC) commander Bernardo Mosquera Machado 
("Negro Antonio").  Mendoza initially tried to flee the 
soldiers, but later claimed the FARC had kidnapped him.  GOC 
officials have cast doubt on Mendoza's story, saying that he 
still had his GOC-provided cell phone and that neither his 
family nor his union had reported him missing.  The parent 
organization of Mendoz's union publicly stated that Mendoza 
needed to fully explain his presence in the FARC camp and 
called on the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) to 
investigate.  End Summary. 
 
GOVERNMENT-PROTECTED UNIONIST IN FARC CAMP 
----------------------------------------- 
¶2. The Colombian Army captured Juan Efrain Mendoza, secretary 
general of the National Federation of Agricultural Unions 
(Fensuagro) in a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(FARC) camp in Sumapaz (Cundinamarca) during a February 27 
operation that captured FARC commander and feared kidnapper 
Bernardo Mosquera Machado ("Negro Antonio").  The military 
reported that Mendoza initially tried to flee the soldiers, 
then claimed after his capture that he had been kidnapped by 
the insurgents and brought to the camp.  Mendoza will remain 
in GOC custody pending investigation by judicial authorities 
of his "changing story." 
 
¶3. Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio Betancourt asked 
the United Workers Confederation (CUT--Colombia's largest 
labor confederation)--of which Fensuagros is a member--to 
cooperate in the investigation.  According to Palacio, the 
GOC had provided Mendoza bodyguards.  Mendoza denied 
receiving bodyguards, but Justice and Interior Minister 
(MOIJ) Fabio Valencia Cossio explained on March 3 that 
Mendoza and other Fensuagro leaders were in fact protected 
under the MOIJ's protection program for human rights 
activists, labor leaders and other at-risk individuals. 
Palacio said that Mendoza, the CUT, and Fensuagro needed to 
explain how one of its members in the GOC protection program 
could have ended up meeting with the FARC.  The GOC currently 
provides bodyguards to approximately 1,500 unionists. 
 
GOC CASTS DOUBT ON ALIBI 
------------------------ 
¶4. Mendoza claimed that he had been kidnapped in Bogota on 
February 25th and that he tried to flee because he feared 
being caught in a crossfire in the raid.  He reiterated that 
he did not receive any any GOC protection.  Palacio and other 
GOC officials publicly cast doubt on this account, noting 
that he was in possession of his GOC-provided cell phone when 
he was taken into custody and that neither his family nor 
Fensuagro had reported his alleged kidnapping. (Note: 
Fensuagro member Liliana Obando is in prison awaiting trial 
after computer files found at the camp of deceased FARC 
leader "Raul Reyes" identified her as a member of the FARC's 
international front.  Press reports on March 3 suggest that 
the same files show ties between Mendoza and the FARC.  End 
note.) 
 
¶5. CUT President Tarsicio Mora would not vouch for Mendoza, 
telling the media Mendoza needed to clarify his presence in 
the camp and that the Prosecutor General (Fiscalia) should 
fully investigate the case.   Mora told Radio "W" that 
Mendoza would have to answer to judicial authorities, who 
would ultimately determine why he was there.  Mora denied any 
CUT connections to illegal armed groups, and he condemned 
violence. 
 
 
BROWNFIELD