VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #1618/01 1421722
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221722Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8811
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8916
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 2283
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAY 0135
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 7589
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUY'QEIH PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001618 

SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM KJUS CO
SUBJECT: DAS REVELATIONS KEEP COMING 

REF: A. 09BOGOTA1506 
     ¶B. 09BOGOTA1412 
¶C. 09BOGOTA569 

Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer 
Reasons 1.4 (b and d) 


SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1. (C) The DAS scandal returned to the headlines on May 13 
with media reports that the Department of Administrative 
Security (DAS) had spied on leading opposition figures in the 
2006 elections and that a former DAS official linked 
high-ranking GOC officials to the illegal surveillance of 
Supreme Court magistrates.  The GOC continues to deny 
involvement and has offered a reward for the capture of the 
rogue DAS officials it claims were behind the spying.  The 
Fiscalia (Prosecutor General) has refused to confirm any of 
the media stories, but a former DAS director told us some top 
Uribe aides are involved--and that more explosive revelations 
are still to come.  End Summary 

MEDIA REPORT ILLEGAL ELECTION SPYING, 
HIGH-LEVEL GOC INVOLVEMENT 
------------------------------------- 
¶2. (U) Leading Colombia media reported on May 13 on evidence 
that the DAS (Department of Administrative Security) had 
spied on leading opposition presidential candidates and other 
political figures during the 2006 elections.  Radio station 
"La FM" played intercepted conversations of opposition 
presidential pre-candidates Carlos Gaviria Diaz and Antonio 
Navarro Wolf, claiming two DAS technicians had turned them 
over along with records showing DAS had monitored other 
pre-candidates, politicians, and journalists.  The records 
also allegedly show that DAS was alerted every time Gaviria
turned on his cellular phone. 

¶3. (C) That night, most leading media outlets reported that 
former DAS deputy counterintelligence chief Jorge Lagos--who 
resigned February 22 due to the scandal--had testified that 
former senior Uribe advisor Jose ObdulioGaviria and 
Secretary of the Presidency Bernardo Moreno were involved in 
the DAS's illegal surveillance and harassment of Supreme 
Court Magistrates (refs A&B).  Leaked versions of Lagos's 
testimony to the Fiscalia (Prosecutor General) suggest Lagos 
claimedGaviria had instructed him to investigate potential 
links between Supreme Court magistrate Yesid Ramirez and 
narcotrafficking-affiliatedAscensio Reyes.  Lagos also 
allegedly testified about meetings with Moreno and Mario 
Aranguren, head of the GOC's Financial Intelligence Unit 
(UIAF), in which Aranguren turned over sensitive financial 
information on five magistrates and their families. 

GOC CONTINUES TO DENY... 
------------------------ 
¶4. (U) The Uribe administration continues to deny 
involvement, and has offered a 200 million COP (approx
$90,000 USD) reward for the capture of the "bad apples" at 
DAS responsible for the surveillance.  A Casa de Narino
communique on May 18 called the reports of Lagos's testimony 
inaccurate and cited--or leaked--other Lagos testimony that 
appeared to contradict the original story.  The communique
said the story had caused "serious damage" and noted the Casa 
deNarino had merely cooperated with a DAS investigation into 
Reyes. 

¶5. (C) Gaviria went on the offensive, telling reporters that 
the opposition had infiltrated the DAS to embarrass the GOC. 
He initially publicly denied meeting with Lagos, but conceded 
privately to us on May 14th that he had met with Lagos and 
former DAS deputy intelligence chief Fernando Tabares to 
discuss the Reyes issue.  Still, he denied giving orders or 
doing anything improper.  Gaviria recognized the argument 
that the GOC was a victim of the scandal "strained 
credulity," but said the GOC would maintain that stance. 
Moreno told us on May 22 that the media had blown the DAS 
scandal out of proportion in an effort to block President 
Uribe's reelection effort, adding that the Fiscalia has yet 
to find any evidence of DAS intercepts of magistrates' 
communications. 
... BUT PENATE SUGGESTS OTHERWISE 
--------------------------------- 
¶6. (C)  Penate--DAS chief from 2005-2007--publicly denied any 
knowledge of the election surveillance, said the Casa de 
Narino was not involved, and suggested Carlos Arzayus, his 
then-deputy in charge of interceptions, may have been 
responsible.  Penate reiterated to us on May 19 that 
President Uribe never pressured him to report on the domestic 
opposition, but did encourage him to coordinate with Gaviria
in 2006 when the GOC began to encounter political problems 
because of the reelection debate.  Penate claimed he resigned 
from the DAS rather than deal with the pressure to use the 
DAS for domestic political purposes from Gaviria, Moreno, and 
other presidential advisors. 

¶7. (C) Penate added that Gaviria and Moreno had been 
"obsessed" that the Supreme Court was involved in a plot with 
former paramilitary figures to undermine Uribe's government 
through the parapolitical investigation.  Their suspicions 
vis-a-vis the court intensified after the Court's April 2008 
arrest of Uribe cousin and political associate Senator Mario 
Uribe.Penate said Gaviria and Moreno used information that 
Reyes--who has been linked to extradited former paramilitary
leader Salvatore Mancuso--had sponsored a banquet for Ramirez 
as justification to investigate numerous magistrates and 
their families.  They subsequently leaked the investigation's
results to the media. 

IGUARAN, CTI MUM ON EVIDENCE 
---------------------------- 
¶8. (C) Meanwhile, Fiscal General (Prosecutor General) Mario 
Iguaran refuses to publicly discuss the evidence in the DAS 
cases, telling reporters on May 20 that it remains 
confidential.  Magistrates and other officials asked the DAS 
and the UIAF to turn over information on their investigators, 
but the Fiscalia will not release the files because they are 
part of an ongoing investigation.  Constitutional Court 
magistrate--and former Uribe legal advisor--Mauricio Gonzalez 
told us on May 19 that the delay in obtaining these records 
was exacerbating the judicial-executive feud that has 
reignited since the judicial surveillance was revealed (see 
septel). 

¶9. (C) Still, the evidence could be explosive.  Penate told 
us Uribe had overreacted to the DAS scandal by opening the 
DAS's doors to the CTI without limit.  CTI, the Fiscalia's
investigative unit, now has files showing illegal DAS 
scrutiny of the financial records of the magistrates and 
their families.  Penate said the files also show while Moreno 
andGaviria did not order the DAS to spy on Supreme Court 
magistrates DAS officials understood what was being asked and 
yielded to the pressure.  Penate remains skeptical that DAS 
intercepts of the magistrates exist, since he has not seen 
any.  Still, auxiliary Supreme Court magistrate Velazquez 
told us privately he has "physical proof" that the DAS 
intercepted his communications. He also claimed CTI has a DAS 
order instructing personnel to destroy the evidence of those 
intercepts. 

CTI NOW HAS "TOXIC" NOGUERA FILES 
--------------------------------- 
¶10. (C) Penate also claims the CTI now has what he called the 
"toxic" files of former DAS director (2002-2005) Jorge 
Noguera. These files show DAS surveillance of Penate, Vice
President Santos, journalist Hollman Morris, and others by 
DAS's disbanded "G-3" unit. "G-3" was set up by Noguera's
deputy Jose Narvaez to conduct "political warfare" against 
opposition figures and GOC officials whom Narvaez considered 
"soft" in the GOC's fight against the FARC (see ref B). 

¶11.  (C) Penate said the "toxic" files also confirm public 
reports that Narvaez ordered DAS to provide an armored car to 
former paramilitary leader Jorge 40 and passed "hit lists" to 
paramilitary forces.  Other information now in the CTI's 
possession confirms the role of senior DAS official in Santa 
Marta in the 2004 murder of Alfredo Correa de Andreis, a 
union official and professor in Barranquilla. Penate
attributed the slowness of the Fiscalia's prosecution of 
Noguera to GOC pressure on Iguaran not to proceed.Penate
believes the pressure reflects the fact that Noguera provided 
political intelligence to the GOC during the first reelection 
effort, including intercepts of two Constitutional Court 
magistrates. 

Brownfield