Cablegate: President Uribe Revokes Farc Outreach, Urges
O 231700Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0114
INFO AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY LA PAZ PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY
UNCLAS BOGOTA 009779
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV MARR KJUS CO
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT URIBE REVOKES FARC OUTREACH, URGES
CAPTURE OF PARAS
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Summary
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1. On October 20, President Alvaro Uribe publicly held the
FARC responsible for an October 19 car bomb attack in Bogota
and revoked GOC outreach efforts to the terrorist
organization. He called for the military to redouble efforts
to rescue hostages and urged security forces to capture
paramilitaries who had not turned themselves in. He also
denounced continuing corruption within the security forces.
Bogota-based media criticized Uribe's decision to break off
outreach, a position echoed most strongly by families of the
FARC hostages, but public opinion is behind the decision.
End summary.
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Uribe Blames FARC for Attack, Cuts Outreach
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2. On October 20, President Uribe revoked GOC outreach
efforts to the FARC as long as they committed terrorist
actions. Uribe delivered his remarks from the Neuva Granada
military university in Bogota, the location of a car bomb
explosion the previous day that left 23 injured and which
Uribe attributed to the FARC. On October 23, Defense
Minister Juan Manuel Santos said intelligence information
left no doubt that a FARC urban militia was responsible for
the attack. Uribe said the FARC had misinterpreted his
moderate language on the possibility of pursuing a
"humanitarian exchange" of hostages for imprisoned FARC
terrorists as a sign of weakness.
3. The President called on the security forces to strengthen
intelligence and military operations to rescue all of the
FARC's hostages. He urged them to clear out FARC militia
from the Valle municipalities of Florida and Pradera,
frequently discussed as the site of a possible GOC-FARC
negotiation.
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Action Required Against Paramilitaries, Narcos
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4. Uribe also denounced paramilitaries who had not yet
turned themselves in as part of the peace process and urged
the security forces to capture them. He specifically called
for Vicente Castano's capture. Uribe also insisted the
security forces pursue the emerging criminal groups active in
the wake of demobilization and ex-paramilitaries who commit
new crimes, saying, "Their total defeat is required." Using
language similar to that against the FARC, Uribe said the GOC
had been generous with demobilization terms and now had to be
severe on ex-paramilitary recidivists. Uribe praised the
recent seizure of a large shipment of cocaine but said it was
more important to dismantle the cartels that produced the
drugs.
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Colombian Democracy Deserves Support
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5. The President said Colombia's democracy deserved
neighboring countries' support; if Colombia did not defeat
terrorism, neighbors would have to confront terrorists more
directly. He urged the international community to focus
assistance on military and intelligence cooperation. Uribe
will reportedly immediately move forward with plans to seek
congressional approval of an additional 1.2 percent temporary
war tax on assets in excess of USD 200,000 to raise about USD
4 billion for the security forces.
6. Uribe said members of the security forces who were not
committed to the fight against terrorism and narcotics
trafficking must resign; any of them involved in criminal
activities must be jailed. He emphasized that the hard work
of the security forces would not be deflected or undermined
by those isolated cases.
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Media Critical, Public Favors
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7. Most Bogota-based media commentary criticized Uribe's
revocation of GOC outreach to the FARC, saying he should not
have closed the door to further discussions. French Foreign
Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy was quoted as saying France
opposed attempts to rescue the hostages by force. Families
of FARC hostages were most critical and promised a protest
march. Still, polling data showed the public largely
supported Uribe's decision.
DRUCKER