VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHBO #1535 1151945
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241945Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2507
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8163
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0312
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 6137
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 1582
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 6789
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS BOGOTA 001535
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PREF PHUM PTER CO
SUBJECT: URIBE REBUTS QUESTIONABLE ARO MASSACRE TESTIMONY
1. President Alvaro Uribe told the media on April 23 that
testimony by convicted criminal Francisco Villalba that Uribe
was involved in the 1997 paramilitary El Aro massacre was not
credible and invented to obtain judicial benefits. On
October 22, 1997, 15 people in Ituango, Antioquia were
massacred by paramilitaries with support from elements of the
military. Colombian Courts and the Inter-American Court for
Human Rights found the GOC liable in the massacre and ordered
restitution paid to victims' families. Uribe was governor of
Antioquia at the time. Villalba claims Uribe and his brother
Santiago met with the paramilitaries to discuss the rescue of
eight kidnap victims, and later congratulated them on a
successful operation. He said the paramilitary leaders who
met with Uribe included Salvatore Mancuso and Carlos Castano.
2. Uribe and the news media have pointed out numerous,
significant inconsistencies in Villalba's story. Uribe said
that at least one of the supposed participants that Villalba
placed at the massacre--General Manosalva--died three months
before the event occurred. Fondelibertad reports that there
is no record that the kidnappings described by Villalba took
place, and no other paramilitaries have referred to the
existence of a "Toledo Bloc" which Villalba claims was the
group responsible for the massacre. Presidential legal
advisor Edmundo del Castilllo told us Villalba's testimony in
two other cases has been discredited, and that several
witnesses, including Mancuso, have rebutted his claims about
Uribe's involvement in El Aro.
3. "El Tiempo" reported April 23 that FARC member Lidya Alape
("Jessica"), now in jail and reportedly involved in several
mysterious bombings in Bogota in July, 2006, had several
conjugal visits with Villalba and may have helped him invent
his testimony. Villalba was sentenced to 33 years in prison
for his involvement in the El Aro massacre and 37 years for
his participation in the Balsita massacre. Prior to his
testimony against Uribe, he applied for benefits under the
Justice and Peace law that would reduce his sentence to 8
months. The Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) heard
Villalba's testimony, but it is the Congressional Commission
of Accusations that would hear any criminal case against the
president.
BROWNFIELD