Cablegate: Demarche Request: Ofac Narcotics Kingpin Act
O 111532Z SEP 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS IMMEDIATE
EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
OPEC COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY BEIJING IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE
USEU BRUSSELS IMMEDIATE
INFO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE
USINT HAVANA IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS STATE 097316
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTFN PTER PINR EFIN VE LE SNAR AND KCRM PREL
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST: OFAC NARCOTICS KINGPIN ACT
DESIGNATION OF THREE SENIOR VENEZUELAN OFFICIALS
1. (SBU) This is an action request; see paragraph 3.
2. (SBU) Summary. On September 12, 2008, the Department of
the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will
designate two senior Government of Venezuela (GOV) officials
and one former official under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin
Designation Act ("Kingpin Act")for materially assisting the
narcotics trafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC). This designation triggers
mandatory "blocking" or "freezing" of these individuals'
assets within the United States. The FARC was named by the
President as a Significant Foreign Narcotics Trafficker
("Tier I Kingpin") under the Kingpin Act on May 29, 2003.
Action addressees are requested to demarche host governments
and banking authorities and seek their support by taking
three specific actions noted in para 4. End Summary.
3. (SBU) (Releasable only to host governments at action
Posts. Demarche is embargoed until 9am EST on September 12.
Action request: We are requesting that Embassies Caracas,
Bogota, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Ottawa,
Santiago, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Brussels and posts at
OPEC member countries share this information with host
government on September 12, the day of OFAC's public
announcement. At post's discretion, Bogota may demarche host
government on September 11. Posts may draw from the key
objectives in para 4 in preparing demarches (as well as paras
7-12). Points may be adapted to local circumstances. End
action request.
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Key Objectives
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4. (SBU)
-- Inform host government that on/about September 12, 2008,
OFAC will publicly designate two senior GOV officials and one
former senior official, under the Kingpin Act, for materially
assisting the narcotics trafficking activities of the FARC.
They are: (1) Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, Director of the
Venezuelan Directorate General of Military Intelligence
(DGIM); 2) Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva, Director of the
Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP);
and, (3) Ramon Emilio Rodriguez Chacin, former Minister of
Interior and Justice. Emphasize that these three FARC
supporters join 23 Colombian nationals and 10 Colombian
entities that were designated under the Kingpin Act this year
and that there will be more designations to follow. In other
words, this is fundamentally an effort against the FARC and
not against any particular government. Once the designation
is announced, OFAC will have designated 78 individuals and
entities as derivative Tier II designations of the FARC under
the Kingpin Act.
-- Express to host government that even though this is a U.S.
domestic designation, we hope host government undertakes
similar measures by freezing the assets of the three named
individuals under their own domestic authority.
-- Request that host government share with us information
concerning any actions that they undertake, including the
blocking of assets, to enforce domestic sanctions against the
named individuals and entities. In addition, welcome any
information that host government would like to share with us
regarding the activities of the named individuals in their
country.
-- To avoid the flight of assets that might otherwise become
subject to freezing, strongly urge host government not to
disclose publicly or privately the proposed U.S. designation
until the public announcement has been made.
-- Remind host government that the FARC was named a
significant foreign narcotics trafficker (or Tier I Kingpin)
by the President on May 29, 2003 pursuant to the Kingpin Act.
U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in unlicensed
transactions with these as well as previously named Tier I
and Tier II designees under the Kingpin Act, and U.S. persons
face criminal and civil penalties should they violate this
prohibition. Foreign companies that continue to deal with
Tier I and Tier II designees are subject to OFAC
investigation and could be designated as Tier II's
themselves. This action is part of an ongoing inter-agency
effort to carry out the Kingpin Act, 21 U.S.C. 1904(b)(2).
-- Remind host government that the Secretary of State
designated the FARC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
("FTO") in 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global
Terrorist ("SDGT") in 2001. While the FARC is also listed as
an FTO and SDGT, this action is taken solely under the
authority of the Kingpin Act.
-- Share the identifiers and background information in
paragraph 6 as a non-paper.
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Reporting Deadline
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5. (SBU) Posts should report on any host government response
no later than September 19.
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Identifiers and Background
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6. (SBU)
-- Hugo Carvajal Barrios, Director of Venezuela's Directorate
General of Military Intelligence (DGIM). His assistance to
the FARC includes the following: protecting narcotics
shipments from seizure by the Venezuelan anti-narcotics
authorities, providing weapons to the FARC, which allows them
to maintain their stronghold in the coca cultivation and
production areas along the Colombia/Venezuela border, and
providing the FARC official Venezuelan government
identification so FARC members can travel easily to and from
Venezuela. He has also held numerous meetings with FARC
leaders such as Noe Suarez Rojas (a.k.a. Grannobles), Luciano
Marin Arango (a.k.a Ivan Marquez), and Rodrigo Londono
Echeverry (a.k.a. Timochenko, Timoleon Jimenez), all of whom
were indicted in March 2006 on charges relating to their
narcotics trafficking activities by the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia. In February 2004 OFAC
designated Noe Suarez Rojas (a.k.a. Grannobles), Luciano
Marin Arango (a.k.a Ivan Marquez), and Rodrigo Londono
Echeverry (a.k.a. Timochenko, Timoleon Jimenez) pursuant to
the Kingpin Act for acting for or on behalf of the FARC.
The FARC's 10th front is heavily involved in narcotics
trafficking from its base in the Colombian Department of
Arauca, which borders the Venezuelan state of Apure. The
Arauca Department is known for its coca cultivation and
cocaine production. The FARC has engaged in combat with
rival groups in order to control the significant narcotics
trafficking activities in Arauca. The border and airspace
between Arauca (Colombia) and Apure (Venezuela) is a major
smuggling route for cocaine and arms as it is difficult for
Colombian authorities to patrol.
-- Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva, the Director of Venezuela's
Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP).
The DISIP is the GOV agency in charge of intelligence and
counterintelligence activities, and has been managed by
Rangel Silva since 2005. Rangel Silva has held meetings with
FARC secretariat member Ivan Marquez on multiple occasions.
Rangel Silva has also pushed for greater cooperation between
the GOV and armed allies, including the FARC, on the
Colombia/Venezuela border. This region is a key stronghold
for the FARC's narcotics trafficking activities.
-- Ramon Emilio Rodriguez Chacin, former Minister of Interior
and Justice. Rodriguez Chacin, who stepped down as minister
September 8, is also the GOV's weapons contact to the FARC,
which uses its proceeds from drug sales to purchase weapons
from the Venezuelan government. He has held meetings with
FARC secretariat member Ivan Marquez and FARC international
representative Rodrigo Granda Escobar. OFAC designated
Rodrigo Granda Escobar pursuant to the Kingpin Act on
September 28, 2006 for acting for or on behalf of the FARC.
Rodriguez Chacin also assisted the FARC by trying to
facilitate a $250 million dollar loan from the Venezuelan
government to the FARC in late 2007. We cannot confirm that
the loan was, in fact, made.
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For Embassy Info
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7. (U) All Tier I and Tier II designees now on the Kingpin
list have been determined by the Department of the Treasury,
in consultation with the Departments of Justice, State,
Defense, Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement
Administration, to materially assist in or provide financial
or technological support for, or goods or services in support
of the narcotics trafficking activities of persons designated
in or pursuant to the Kingpin Act.
8. (U) All Tier I and II designees' property and interests in
property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked. U.S.
persons doing business with a Tier I or Tier II designees
face criminal penalties of up to $5,000,000 per violation for
corporate officers and $10,000,000 per violation for
corporations, as well as imprisonment of up to 30 years for
corporate officers and imprisonment of up to 10 years for
individuals. Civil penalties of up to $1,075,000 per
violation may be imposed administratively. Under the Kingpin
Act, a U.S. person is any U.S. citizen or national, permanent
resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the U.S.
(including foreign branches), or any person in the United
States.
9. (U) U.S. persons must cease all dealings with Tier I and
Tier II designees immediately. If there are particular
circumstances involving the "U.S. person," such as
outstanding contracts, or Tier I or Tier II designee property
or funds in that person's possession, the funds and property
are "blocked" and may not be transferred or otherwise dealt
in, and the U.S. person should contact OFAC Compliance
Division immediately at phone: 202-622-2490.
10. (U) American subsidiaries incorporated outside the of the
United States are not defined as U.S. persons under the
Kingpin Act. However, all U.S. citizens or permanent
residents working in those subsidiaries are bound by the
Kingpin Act. Furthermore, any U.S. subsidiaries with ties to
Tier I or Tier II designees are subject to designation
criteria and the relationship between the subsidiary and its
parent U.S. company will be examined by OFAC.
11. (U) The new Tier II list will be available for download
at OFAC's web address www.treasury.gov/ofac on the day of the
announcement. The official Treasury press release will be
posted at: www.treasury.gov/press. All press inquiries should
be directed to the Treasury Department's Office of Public
Affairs at 202-622-2960.
12. (U) Should posts have questions regarding any matter
raised in this cable, please contact OFAC Associate Director
of Investigations and Enforcement, J. Robert McBrien, at
202-622-2420.
RICE