Cablegate: Plan Colombia Implementation Meeting Round-Up,

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 009093

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR MASS PREF EAID KJUS CO KPRM
SUBJECT: PLAN COLOMBIA IMPLEMENTATION MEETING ROUND-UP,
AUGUST, 2004

1. The following is an update of some Plan Colombia-related
activities reported during the Embassy Plan Colombia
Implementation Meetings of August, 2004.

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RSO
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2. Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) Program Managers Ed Lee
and Jim Schnaible visited post from August 16-21. The
purpose of their visit was to renew the tactical training
program and the AKI database. They met with the Ambassador,
Vice President Francisco Santos and Minister of Defense Jorge
Uribe and briefed them on plans to recommence training for
FY2005 and problems/issues surrounding the database program.
The ATA team also met with the in-country contractors for
both programs to establish training schedules and address
coordination and administration issues on both the U.S. and
GOC sides. ATA will advise Post, the VP, and MoD (through
RSO) regarding issues requiring action and outline its plan
for CRT training to include the number of GAULA units to be
trained during FY2005. A separate report on the database
design and needs will also be provided. The report will
outline the contents of the database, the designated GOC
users, and the projected timeline for delivery of the
database in phases.

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DOJ
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3. From August 1-13, DOJ conducted two Expert Witness
Training Courses for 20 forensic examiners per course in
Bogota and Pereira. The course is designed to train crime
lab forensic examiners in the skills required to testify and
present evidence in an accusatory (oral trial) system. Each
student gets realistic experience by testifying as a witness
in a simulated "mock trial."

4. From August 9-13, DOJ conducted a Money Laundering Course
for Judicial Police training in Bogota. Twenty-five officers
from the National Police (CNP), Fiscalia, the Technical
Investigative Corps of the Office of the Prosecutor General
(CTI), and Department of Administrative Security (DAS)
attended the course. They received specialized instruction
in current money laundering trends, financial analysis,
banking compliance operations, money exchange house
regulations, and general legal aspects of money laundering.

5. From August 23-25, DOJ conducted the first of eight Police
Ethics/Anti-Corruption Seminars in Bogota. Forty CNP
Commanders and supervisors attended. The seminar focused on
leadership, discipline, and transparency within the police
ranks. Through December 2004, this seminar will be conducted
on seven more occasions at police training sites throughout
Colombia.

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USAID
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6. USAID's efficiency and accountability program presented
its recommendations on accounting and internal control
practices to the Colombian National Council for Internal
Control (NCIC). The recommendations were based on a
USAID-designed internal control model that was tested in 26
national entities. On the basis of this presentation, the
NCIC established a committee that will draft a framework to
standardize and implement new internal control principles in
other public entities. It is highly likely that the NCIC
committee will follow USAID's proposed parameters and
eventually make the standards mandatory for all public
entities, both national and sub-national. The implementation
of these standards will be key to improving efficiency and
transparency in Colombia's public management system.

7. Ambassador Wood and Colombia's first lady Lina Moreno de
Uribe dedicated the first Handicraft Fair in support of
alternative development programs. The event, organized under
USAID's Colombian Artisan Enterprise Initiative, generated
nearly US $15,000 in sales. The Colombian Artisan Enterprise
Initiative is a five-year, US $4.26 million project that
promotes licit employment and income opportunities for
artisans by strengthening their capacity to produce and
market crafts. Activities are primarily focused in
departments (similar to a U.S. state) with strong potential
for artesanal development. Since September 2002, the project
has benefited over 350 artisan households and generated
roughly US $190,000 in sales. It is estimated that the
project will produce roughly US $1.75 million in sales over
its five-year time frame.

8. Ambassador Wood and President Uribe launched the joint
USAID/Plan Colombia "Convocatoria Conjunta" rubber projects
in Cimitarra, Santander. The "Convocatoria Conjunta" is an
agro-industrial development program implemented in
partnership with the private sector. Under the project,
USAID funding of roughly US $16 million is leveraging over US
$78 million in private sector resources. The projects --
which will benefit 4,520 families -- will support the
cultivation of crops such as coffee, rubber, cocoa and palm
oil. Activities will be implemented in the Departments of
Antioquia, Bolivar, Caldas, Cauca, Cordoba, Cundinamarca,
Huila, Narino, Norte de Santander, Santander, and Tolima. The
projects will expand alternative and sustainable economic
options for small producers and will increase private sector
investment in targeted growth corridors vulnerable to illicit
crop production.

9. USAID financed a regional workshop to support the
establishment and management of plant quarantine and
inspection activities in accordance with international
standards. The workshop provided key plant health and
inspection officials from the Andean countries with technical
information and training sampling methodologies for
phytosanitary inspections and quarantine treatments. It also
addressed new international phytosanitary norms regarding
wood packaging in international trade, emergency programs for
quarantine pest outbreaks, and technical aspects of
developing manuals for plant quarantine and treatment
activities.

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NAS
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10. On August 13, NAS Director accompanied Victoria Restrepo,
the GOC's Plan Colombia Alternative Development Coordinator,
on an inspection of manual coca eradication operations in
Pauna, Boyaca Department. NAS has provided technical support
and equipment to various Colombian National Police units who
are undertaking manual eradication operations, while the
Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) has provided training
in equipment operation and the manual application of
herbicides.

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DEA
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11. Related activities reported in septels.
DRUCKER

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