Cablegate: (C) Colombia's Strategy to Exploit Info From Farc

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id: 147556
date: 3/27/2008 22:45
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SIPDIS

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2018
TAGS: PTER PREF PREL PHUM MOPS VZ EC CO
SUBJECT: (C) COLOMBIA'S STRATEGY TO EXPLOIT INFO FROM FARC
ON VENEZUELA AND ECUADOR

Classified By: Ambassador William R. Brownfield
Reasons 1.4 (b and d)

SUMMARY
-------
1. (C) Defense Minister Santos and Vice Minister of Defense
(VMOD) Jaramillo told the Ambassador the GOC plans to
selectively leak information from FARC computers connecting
Presidents Chavez and Correa and their Governments to the
FARC over the next 4-6 weeks, as INTERPOL completes its
verification procedures. Once verified, the GOC wants
INTERPOL or another respected international organization to
publish the materials on a web site. The GOC plans to
provide 90 documents to Venezuela and 30 to Ecuador from the
Reyes materials as early as March 27, but will not provide
full sets now. The GOC provided us with full sets of the
hard drives, but Santos told us they were doing so on the
condition that we not release any information without first
consulting with the GOC. End summary.

GOC STRATEGY FOR REYES INFORMATION
----------------------------------
2. (C) Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos told the
Ambassador generally, and VMOD Sergio Jaramillo more
specifically March 18, that the GOC plans to use materials
seized from Raul Reyes' FARC computers to link Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa,
and their Governments to the terrorist group. Jaramillo has
been designated by the GOC to develop the computer
exploitation strategy. He emphasized on March 26 that the
strategy is not yet complete, but 95 percent of its outline
is clear. The GOC would wait to dump the data onto a public
web site until INTERPOL verifies the integrity of the
computers and no tampering with the information therein, a
process expected to be completed by late-April.

3. (C) In the 4-6 week interim, the GOC plans to selectively
provide intelligence from the computers to carefully chosen
North American, Colombian, Spanish, and Latin media tied to
specific themes. Jaramillo thought the most logical themes
were: the FARC and President Chavez, the FARC and President
Correa, the FARC and drug trafficking, and the FARC and
hostages. The GOC would carefully review all material before
release to filter material that could be damaging to the GOC.

4. (C) Once INTERPOL completes its review, the GOC intends to
turn over the Reyes computer materials to an independent
organization not identified with either the GOC or USG for
release on a public internet web site. The GOC would prefer
that INTERPOL, the OAS, or another respected international
organization manage the site, but Jaramillo suspected
INTERPOL and the OAS would be unwilling to host the
information, and that an NGO will end up with the task.

SHARING WITH GOV/GOE
--------------------

5. (C) Santos said the GOC would provide approximately ninety
documents from the Reyes computers to Venezuela and thirty
documents to Ecuador on March 27, but would not provide them
with full sets of information prior to completion of the
INTERPOL review.

GOC SHARES INFO WITH USG--WITH A CONDITION
------------------------------------------

6. (C) Santos promised us full sets of the hard drives
(subsequently provided), but emphasized to the Ambassador
that the GOC was providing the materials on the condition
that the USG not/not release any information publicly or for
attribution without prior consultation and agreement with the
GOC.

BROWNFIELD

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