VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #3582/01 3142152
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 102151Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0807
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0169
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0641
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003582 

SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PTER PHUM EAID SNAR CO
SUBJECT: OCTOBER COLOMBIA STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT INTIATIVE UPDATE 

REF: A. BOGOTA 3262; B. BOGOTA 2904 

SUMMARY 

------- 



¶1. (U) At a senior level coordinating meeting, Diego Molano, 
civilian lead of the National Consolidation Plan (PNC), set goals 
for consolidation and attempted to reinvigorate the interagency 
coordinating mechanism.  The military is still playing a large role 
in Montes de Maria.  USAID held 11 town hall meetings to select 
small infrastructure projects in Montes de Maria communities that 
are beginning the consolidation process.  Town councilors in Puerto 
Rico commented on consolidation in their community.  An Embassy 
Colombia Strategic Development Initiative (CSDI) team traveled to 
Buenaventura to evaluate security, economic, and social conditions.
Presidential candidate Rafael Pardo criticized the GOC's current 
efforts to expand state presence and called for "ad hoc 
institutionality" in remote areas.  The departmental government of 
Antioquia is leading consolidation efforts in Bajo Cauca.  The 
Choco police academy graduated 147 new police and looks forward to 
future participation in NAS' scholarship program.  End Summary. 



Diego Molano Sets Interagency Goals for Year-End 

--------------------------------------------- --- 



¶2. (SBU) On October 21, Diego Molano, new Director General of the 
President's Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation, 
and Vice Minister of Defense Sergio Jaramillo attended the GOC 
monthly executive committee meeting of the Coordination Center for 
Integrated Action (CCAI).  Their participation was an attempt to 
reinvigorate senior-level PNC coordination and increase involvement 
of GOC line ministries in implementing programs to support 
consolidation efforts.  Molano told interagency representatives 
that they need to review how their agencies were complying with 
Presidential Directive 001 -- the March 2009 decree that ordered 
all agencies to support the PNC -- particularly with respect to 
resources, since the funding to implement consolidation programs 
must come from existing ministry budgets. 



¶3. (SBU) Molano tasked the interagency with four objectives to 
complete by the end of the year: 



-- Determine priorities:  There are 100 municipalities that are now 
part of the consolidation plan and the GOC needs to determine which 
are the most critical.  The border areas have risen in importance, 
particularlyTumaco and the Catatumbo. 



-- Define interagency roles and how to better manage coordination 
and follow-up between agencies:  Jaramillo asked the Ministry of 
Agriculture if their Vice Minister could participate in the 
executive committee in the future.  Molano also increased the 
frequency of executive committee meetings to every two weeks rather 
than once a month. 



-- Find areas where the GOC can achieve quick wins and publicity: 
Montes de Maria and eastern Antioquia were both mentioned as 
possibilities. 



-- Organize a strategy for public outreach to explain and defend 
the PNC in light of the upcoming political season and recent 
criticism that the PNC is "too militaristic." 



Military Still Playing Large Role in Montes de Maria 

--------------------------------------------- ------- 



¶4. (SBU) According to Juan Carlos Vargas, GOC regional coordinator 
for Montes de Maria, his zone has not reached post-conflict status 
yet.  Vargas told us the region remains vulnerable due to criminal 
bands that still operate south of Sincelejo, the Sucre departmental 
capital, and the area's role as a transit corridor for 
narcotrafficking.  He added that any crackdown against the criminal 
bands would result in retaliation against the populace.  Presently, 
the military is the dominant force but is coordinating with the 
police who are just starting to establish a presence in the region. 
Vargas said that if the military were to leave, Montes de Maria 
would become even more vulnerable.  The military presence consists 
of a marine infantry brigade (1,200 personnel) while the police 
number about 250 in the four municipalities targeted under CSDI and 
the PNC.  The military is extending its reach into more rural areas 
while the police are primarily operating in urban centers. 



Immediate Impact Projects Extend State Presence 

--------------------------------------------- -- 



¶5. (U) USAID implementers in Montes de Maria held 11 town hall
meetings in targeted communities to select small scale 
infrastructure projects such as health posts, school classrooms, 
and community soccer fields to begin establishing state presence. 
The projects are intended as a first step in building confidence in 
the state and will be implemented over the next six months.  An 
integral part of the projects will be increasing municipal 
administrative capacity through training and technical assistance. 



¶6. (U) On October 22, Emboffs observed a town hall meeting in La 
Pelona, a community recently reconstituted by returned internally 
displaced persons and identified as a priority by the municipal 
administration.  In the meeting, an elderly community member 
complained that neither the national government nor the mayor were 
there to hear their needs.  Pointing to Embassy personnel, he said 
that even foreign strangers came to listen and cared more about La 
Pelona than their own government.  Still, by the completion of the 
process, the municipal administration had promised to send a health 
professional to the community once a month and made a monetary 
commitment to the selected project, a school.  Participants seemed 
to appreciate the transparency of the town hall process and were 
guardedly optimistic about their future school. 



Town Council Describes Consolidation in Puerto Rico 

--------------------------------------------- ------ 



¶7. (U) On October 7, Emboffs visited the municipality of Puerto 
Rico in Meta Department, an area targeted for assistance under the 
Plan for the Integrated Consolidation of the Macarena (PCIM) pilot 
project.  Town council members described the state's presence in 
the former coca growing area as "complete abandonment" prior to the 
start of the project in 2007.  The commanding military officer in 
the area said that security improvements had caused land values per 
hectare to rise dramatically since the beginning of the GOC 
intervention. 

¶8. (SBU) Though appreciative of military presence in the area, 
council members said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(FARC) had not been defeated but continued to operate in groups of 
five or ten dressed as civilians.  The council members cited a lack 
of infrastructure (roads, warehouses, and trucks) and credit to get 
their agricultural products to market.  A lack of opportunity for 
higher education, they asserted, left their youth with the choice 
of joining the army or the guerrillas.  One council member 
complained that GOC welfare programs lacked sustainability and had 
the effect of making them "mendicants of state charity." 



Liberal Party Candidate Criticizes PNC to Diplomats 

--------------------------------------------- ------ 



¶9. (SBU) At a breakfast with diplomats on October 28, Liberal Party 
candidate Rafael Pardo said the GOC's efforts at consolidation were 
incomplete.  He said the GOC cannot project state presence into the 
poor barrios in Bogota, let alone into the remote areas dominated 
by illegal armed groups.  Pardo suggested the state adopt an "ad 
hocinstitutionality," which he left undefined other than an 
injunction not to try to recreate every ministry in every 
consolidation area.  He said the GOC was mistaken over who are the 
beneficiaries of consolidation, granting land concessions to large 
agro-businesses in conflict areas rather than implementing policies 
to help small landowners.  In the Macarena, Pardo said the GOC 
needs to grant more land titles and establish democratic mechanisms 
for determining priorities rather than leaving it to state 
bureaucrats. 



Buenaventura: Security Improved but Unemployment High 

--------------------------------------------- -------- 



¶10. (SBU) A CSDI team traveled to Buenaventura in Valle de Cauca on 
October 29-30.  The Pacific coast port city is part of the CSDI 
"Central Band" consolidation zone.  The team noted significant 
security improvements including a major drop in homicides and an 
85% drop in terrorist incidents this year.  The CCAI has been in 
Buenaventura since 2007 and has staffed civilian, police, and 
military coordinators.  The military coordinator told emboffs that 
the Colombian Navy is ready to turn over responsibility for the 
urban areas of Buenaventura to the police sometime next year. 
Because of a relatively advanced security situation, the primary 
need appears to be in the social and economic development phase of 
consolidation, more akin to a traditional development project than 
a counter-insurgency strategy.  The GOC is embarking on several 
mega projects including two new ports (one with significant 
Philippine funding), the relocation of 3,500 families, and major 
improvements to the highway to Cali.  Still, the unemployment of 
40% is a major problem in Buenaventura.  The regional coordinator 
told us that GOC support for consolidation in Buenaventura seems to 
be "business as usual," meaning they have seen no additional 
resources despite being designated a priority consolidation zone. 



Regional Government Leads Effort in Bajo Cauca 

--------------------------------------------- - 



¶11. (SBU) On October 23-24, USAID officers went to Caucasia in 
northeastern Antioquia to assess consolidation efforts in the Bajo
Cauca region.  The area is part of the "Northern Band," one of the 
two CSDI regions slated to begin receiving larger Embassy 
involvement after the launching of the initial three zones.  In 

Bajo Cauca, the departmental rather than the national government is 
the driving force behind consolidation and has dedicated resources 
and assembled various partners for the effort (including a working 
group of private sector stakeholders and NGOs).  The department is 
also coordinating with numerous military and police commands.  In 
particular, the police have created a special jurisdiction for the 
PNC zone.



¶12. (SBU) Antioquia, as a major hub for industry and commerce, is 
one of the wealthier departments in Colombia and has budgetary 
resources to commit to consolidation unlike the departments of Meta 
andNarino.  Governors of Antioquia also have a history of being 
politically powerful (President Uribe is a former governor) and a 
committed/capable department administration could be a potential 
CSDI partner if national civilian ministries continue to lag.  The 
department's efforts are still nascent but seem well organized and 
already include security, eradication, and economic development 
assessments, items that CSDI typically requests before beginning 
intervention in consolidation zones. 



Choco Academy Graduates 147 new police 

-------------------------------------- 



¶13. (U) On October 15, the Narcotic Affairs Section (NAS) Senior
Advisor attended the graduation of 147 new police from the 
Colombian National Police (CNP) Academy at Yuto, outside of Choco's
capitalQuibdo.  The academy was created five years ago with NAS 
Plan Colombia assistance to provide opportunities for 
Afro-Colombian youth, including women, to enhance citizen security, 
and to improve perceptions of the police in the marginalized 
Pacific Coast region.  The deputy governor, departmental 
legislators, mayors, and the department's chief of police attended 
the graduation ceremony.  The top graduate for the year was an 
impressive, dynamic female police officer (one of 19 women).  The 
Yuto School Commander, Major Cuesta, expressed interest in the 
participation of candidates from Choco in the NAS Police 
Scholarship Program next year, which currently has 100 slots with 
plans to increase to 300 next year.  The Yuto Police Academy will 
likely receive some of next year's batch of NAS-supported police 
recruits - many of them women - from the Afro-Colombian populations 
along the Pacific Coast. 
BROWNFIELD