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UNCLAS BOGOTA 000238 
 
CODEL 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR EAID ETRD PHUM MOPS OREP CO
SUBJECT: CODEL ENGEL DISCUSSES FTA AND DCA, ENCOURAGES COLOMBIAN 
LEADERSHIP IN REGIONAL COUNTERNARCOTICS EFFORTS 
 
REF: 09 BOGOTA 3635 
 
SUMMARY 
 
---------------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) House Foreign Affairs Committee Western Hemisphere 
Subcommittee Chairman Eliot Engel led a Congressional delegation to 
Cartagena and Monteria, Colombia from January 7-10, 2010.  At his 
private ranch in Monteria, President Uribe outlined Colombia's 
progress, with U.S. support, on counternarcotics efforts but 
cautioned that much remains to be done.  Uribe addressed human 
rights violations, violence against labor unions, and social and 
economic development.  He thanked the Members for extending 
unilateral trade preferences for Colombian exports under the Andean 
Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) and asked them to 
expedite ratification of the bilateral U.S.-Colombia Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA).  The Defense Minister highlighted Colombian 
assistance to a number of governments in the region in building 
their capabilities to combat narco-trafficking.  In meetings with 
the Government of  Colombia and in remarks to the press, Chairman 
Engel praised the GOC as a close and reliable ally in the region, 
highlighted the important gains made under the Uribe 
administration, and clarified misconceptions about the recently 
signed U.S.-Colombia Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA).  He told 
President Uribe that there are many merits to the FTA but warned 
that U.S. domestic political issues would prevent the legislation 
from being passed immediately.  Engel also explained his efforts to 
create a commission to comprehensively review U.S. counternarcotics 
policy with a focus on reducing demand and developing a broader 
regional approach to eradication and interdiction.  The 
delegation's agenda also included: a meeting with the Mayor of 
Cartagena; a visit to a vocational center for demobilized child 
soldiers; a maritime interdiction briefing at the Colombian Navy 
base (one of seven included in the DCA); a roundtable discussion 
with Afro-Colombian leaders; and finally, briefings from the 
Colombian Narcotics Police on seaport counter-narcotics efforts, 
and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel about 
implementation of the U.S. Container Security Initiative.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
PRESIDENT URIBE HIGHLIGHTS RESULTS, ASKS FOR APPROVAL OF FTA 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) In an unprecedented meeting at his private ranch in the 
cattle-growing area of Monteria, during which his wife personally 
prepared and served breakfast and his two sons assisted with maps 
and flow charts, President Alvaro Uribe interrupted his vacation to 
host HFAC Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman Eliot Engel 
(D-NY), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), and Pedro 
Pierluisi (D-PR), accompanied by Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Christopher McMullen.  Uribe 
was joined by Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva, Vice Minister of 
Trade Gabriel Duque, High Commissioner for Peace and Reintegration 
Frank Pearl, Social Action Director Diego Molano, and Colombian 
Ambassador to the United States Carolina Barco. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Uribe presented his model of building confidence in Colombia 
based on the three pillars of security with democratic values, 
investment with social responsibility, and social cohesion.  He 
underlined that, with the essential support of the United States, 
the State has recovered its monopoly to fight criminals and 
administer justice, has built confidence in democratic 
institutions, and has provided assistance and reparations to the 
 
 
victims of conflict.  Uribe highlighted social investments in 
education, health, and housing, while conceding that the government 
was still lagging in providing housing for internally displaced 
persons.  Regarding the DCA, Uribe said the majority of Colombians 
support it and he hoped neighbors would eventually recognize how 
the agreement benefits the region. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Uribe thanked the Members for extending unilateral trade 
preferences for Colombian exports under the ATPDEA and asked them 
to expedite ratification of the bilateral U.S.-Colombia FTA, noting 
that Colombia had been and would remain an important regional ally 
and could serve as a counterweight to the growing relationship 
between Venezuela, Bolivia, and Iran.  He said that by the end of 
January, the GOC hopes to sign an FTA with the European Union and 
that the Colombia-Canada FTA would be presented soon in the 
Canadian Parliament.  He said the lack of an FTA with the United 
States made it difficult to finalize agreements with other trading 
partners. 
 
 
 
URIBE AND DEFENSE MINISTER EMPHASIZE HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) President Uribe emphasized the importance of protecting 
human rights, which he described as essential to maintaining 
confidence in the government and public support for its Democratic 
Security policy.  Citing government statistics supporting 
significant reductions in murders, kidnappings, and attacks on 
labor union leaders, 2,000 of whom are now under direct government 
protection.  Uribe acknowledged that much work remains to be done. 
He said he would not be satisfied until the number of labor union 
homicides was zero.   He referred to increases in the 
investigations and prosecutions related to the homicides of 
unionists and noted that in many cases these murders appeared to 
have nothing to do with the victims' affiliation with organized 
labor. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) Referring to "false positive" killings - military murders 
presented as killed in combat - Defense Minister Silva said that no 
cases of "false positives" were presented in 2009.  He added that 
all cases of combat killings were now sent directly to the Office 
of the Prosecutor General (Fiscalia) for investigation rather than 
being processed through the military justice system.  He 
acknowledged that the Fiscalia had received 39 complaints of 
alleged human rights abuses by members of the armed forces in 2009. 
Silva said that in each of these cases, the military personnel 
involved were removed from their units pending the results of the 
investigations. 
 
 
 
COLOMBIA AS REGIONAL LEADER IN COUNTERNARCOTICS EFFORTS 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Defense Minister Silva discussed Colombia's assistance to 
Mexico in building its capacity to combat narco-trafficking, money 
laundering and hostage taking.  He further explained that Colombia 
now provides training to investigators, and anti-narcotics police 
in, Guatemala, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay. 
He said the GOC engages in joint counternarcotics activity with 
Peru and intelligence sharing with Chile.  Silva said he had also 
 
 
met recently with his Ecuadorian counterpart to lay the groundwork 
for intelligence cooperation. 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) President Uribe remarked that Colombia faces new challenges 
as a consumption country, with one million Colombians now 
classified as consumers.  He cited a recent constitutional 
amendment making it illegal to possess small quantities of drugs 
for personal consumption and said the GOC would devote more 
resources to prevention, education, and rehabilitation. Referring 
to the Copenhagen climate change summit, Uribe said he hopes to 
raise awareness of the environmental impact of illicit crop 
cultivation which contributes to climate change as 
narco-trafficking organizations clear the Colombian rainforest to 
grow coca. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) At the Cartagena Navy Base, Navy Commander Admiral 
Guillermo Barrera expressed his gratitude for the "essential 
partnership of the U.S." and briefed the delegation on the record 
number of cocaine seizures achieved by international cooperation, 
improved intelligence sharing, and the deployment of aerial 
surveillance and his-speed interdiction boats.  He claimed that, in 
aggregate, 31 dollars in cocaine had been seized for every dollar 
invested in resources since the U.S.-Colombia Maritime Interdiction 
Agreement was signed in 1997.  He highlighted that the Colombian 
Navy's School of Maritime Interdiction hosted students from 12 
partner countries.  An International Maritime Analysis Center, in 
which 17 countries will participate, is scheduled to be based in 
Cartagena. 
 
 
 
MEMBERS UNDERSCORE ANTI-DRUG COOPERATION, DCA AND FTA 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10.  (U) In meetings with President Uribe and Admiral Barrera, 
Chairman Engel outlined his Western Hemisphere Drug Policy 
Commission legislation (HR 2134) that passed the House of 
Representatives in December. The legislation is modeled after the 
9/11 Commission and intends to establish an independent commission 
to comprehensively review U.S. counternarcotics policy.  He said 
the United States needed to focus more on demand reduction and take 
a broader regional (versus bilateral) approach to eradication and 
interdiction.  Engel praised Colombia as a "remarkable success 
story" and thanked the GOC for exporting its knowledge and 
experience to the region.  Representative Pierluisi echoed the 
Chairman's remarks, describing the domino effect of 
counternarcotics policy; as soon as drug activity is reduced in one 
area, it simply migrates to another, more permissive environment. 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) Speaking to the press, Chairman Engel described Alvaro 
Uribe as an "extraordinary president" and praised Colombia a close 
friend and key ally in the region, adding that reliable allies 
should be rewarded.  Stating that Colombia has good friends in both 
parties, he offered to discuss with his colleagues in Congress and 
President Obama the strategic implications of the FTA with 
Colombia.  He cautioned, however, that domestic political 
considerations and competing priorities in the United States made 
it unlikely that the FTA would be ratified imminently.  Turning to 
the DCA, Engel emphasized that the agreement does nothing more than 
modernize, consolidate, and codify existing agreements without 
threatening Colombia's neighbors or increasing the presence of U.S. 
military personnel in Colombia. 
 
 
EMPHASIS ON AFROCOLOMBIANS AND CHILD SOLDIERS 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
------------- 
 
 
 
¶12.  (U) Over lunch, the Members engaged in a discussion with 
Afro-Colombian leaders in Cartagena representing the community, 
civil society and the business sector.   Despite their diverse 
backgrounds, the leaders were unanimous in arguing that 
Afro-Colombians are disproportionately affected by displacement due 
to the armed conflict, unemployment and sexual tourism.   They also 
criticized the GOC for its lack of support for land titling 
initiatives.  Several participants emphasized how plans to 
privatize beaches in Cartagena would exacerbate the economic 
challenges Afro-Colombian small business owners already confront. 
The leaders offered minimal feedback, however, in response to 
Chairman Engel's question on how the United States could better 
support Afro-Colombian communities.  Separately, during the meeting 
in Monteria, President Uribe mentioned that the GOC was in the 
process of designing a Colombian version of Affirmative Action and 
would seek advice from the United States.  (Note: On January 12, 
during his visit to Colombia, Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg 
signed an Action Plan on Racial and Ethnic Equality with Foreign 
Minister Jaime Bermudez.  End note.) 
 
 
 
¶13. (U) Cartagena's dynamic mayor, Judith Pinedo, herself an 
Afro-Colombian, shared her vision of reuniting the two 
Cartagenas--rich and poor--divided by a social and economic gap. 
Pinedo noted that the poor are predominantly members of the 
Afro-Colombian community.  She highlighted the growing role of 
Cartagena as an international gateway to Colombia. 
 
 
 
¶14. (U) The delegation also met with youth at risk of recruitment 
by illegal armed groups and former child soldiers who receive 
assistance from Colombia's Escuela Taller, a vocational skills 
training center for underprivileged youth supported through USAID's 
Child Soldiers Program.  The program provides income generation 
opportunities for participants while helping them to reintegrate 
socially into the community.  Several youth participating in the 
program shared with the Members their emotional stories of 
recruitment (frequently by coercion) into armed groups, life in 
those groups (often marked by abuse), and their subsequent 
desertion and gradual rehabilitation through Escuela Taller. 
 
 
 
¶15.  (U) CODEL Engel cleared this cable. 
NICHOLS