October 10, 2005

InfoBrief is a weekly news summary of events in the U.S. and Colombia produced and distributed by the U.S. Office on Colombia. Colombia This Week is reproduced with the kind permission of the ABColombia Group in London. Other sources include U.S. and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-profit and grassroots groups. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Office on Colombia. If you would like to receive InfoBrief please contact jess_hunter@usofficeoncolombia.org indicating why you would be interested in this weekly news service. Previous editions of InfoBrief can be found at www.usofficeoncolombia.org

GAO Report Indicates Challenges Remain for Oil Pipeline Protection Program The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)—the investigative arm of Congress—has completed a report on U.S. military funding for the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline in Colombia. The report notes a reduction in attacks against the pipeline and decreased violence in the vincinity. Nevertheless, it also expresses concern about increased pipeline bombings outside the program’s 110-mile long protection zone and increased attacks against the electricity grid in the area. “Despite the delays in equipment deliveries, the number of attacks on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline has declined and security in the area has improved,” the report states. The report goes on to express concerns, noting “challenges to securing the pipeline remain. More attacks are occurring on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline outside the 110-mile long area originally addressed.” Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline, which begins in Arauca in northeast Colombia and carries oil close to 500 miles to the Caribbean port of Coveñas, transports almost 20 percent of Colombia's oil production. The Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline has been targeted by Colombia's insurgent groups for many years. Insurgents attacked the pipeline a record 170 times in 2001 leading the Colombian government to lose an estimated $500 million in revenues that year. The U.S. government has provided approximately $99 million since 2002 in equipment and training to approximately 1,600 members of the Colombian Armed Forces. According to the GAO, the 10 helicopters provided through the program did not arrive until mid 2005. Finally, the GAO report questions the sustainability of the program’s achievements without continued U.S. funding, pointing out that Colombia will not be able to maintain the U.S.-provided helicopters on its own. Similarly, the U.S. Special Forces based in Arauca, who training the Colombian Army, are reducing the number of trainers in Colombia. Read the full GAO report: http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/050906gao2.pdf

GAO Report Calls Results of Air Bridge Denial Program in Colombia Mixed The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a comprehensive review of the reinstated Air Bridge Denial program (ABD), calling the program’s results mixed while pointing out that the U.S. and Colombian governments have adopted additional safeguards in order to avert mistaken shoot-downs. The ABD targets drug traffickers that transport drugs by plane, forcing down suspicious aircraft, by force when deemed necessary. The GAO report suggests that the program may not be achieving its stated goal despite nearly $68 million in U.S. funding and a projected $26 million in 2006. The report indicates that “the stated objective for the program—for the Colombian National Police to take control of suspicious aircraft—seldom happens.” The GAO found that from October 2003 to July 2005 the program produced only one drug seizure out of 390 “suspicious tracks” pursued. U.S. and Colombian officials insist that the program is deterring drug trafficking. The program was temporarily suspended in 2001 when a civilian aircraft was shot down in Peru and a U.S. missionary and child were killed. The program was restarted in Colombia in 2003 with new safety measures. According to the report these safety measures “aim to reinforce and clarify procedures, bolster safety monitoring, enhance language skills of ABD personnel, and improve communication channels.” Read the full GAO report: http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/050906gao.pdf

U.S. Pleased with Militia Leader’s Detention but Militia Halts Disarmament AUC commander Diego Murillo Bejarano was abruptly transferred to Combita maximum-security prison in response to U.S. Ambassador William Wood’s public statement expressing disappointment with President Uribe’s choice not to extradite Murillo to the U.S. on narcotics charges. Ambassador Wood said the U.S. believed that the incarceration of Don Berna in Combita maximum security prison “is an important and courageous step.” Wood went on to say that “Don Berna's record has shown his disregard not only for the laws of decent society, but also for the peace process itself.” On October 6, right-wing AUC paramilitary fighters announced that they are suspending plans to demobilize their remaining fighters to protest the transfer of their commander Diego Murillo Bejarano from house arrest to a maximum-security prison. “The demobilization timetable is suspended until the government makes the rules of the game clear and offers the necessary guarantees to restore confidence” said AUC political chief, Ivan Roberto Duque.

Former Colombian Colonel Extradited to the U.S. On October 5, New York federal officials won the extradition of a former Colombian National Police colonel who allegedly led an international drug ring that smuggled $10 million worth of heroin into the U.S. The former colonel, Leonel Mendoza Aguirre, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Manhattan for trafficking heroin from Bogotá, Colombia, into the U.S. between March and October 2004. Corrupt employees at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá helped Mendoza’s organization bring luggage containing heroin onto flights bound for the U.S. When Mendoza was arrested in December 2004, authorities seized more than 30 kilos of heroin which has an estimated street value of $3 million dollars. If Mendoza is convicted he will serve a mandatory ten year sentence and possibly life imprisonment. Also on Monday October 3, another man who smuggled cocaine from Colombia was extradited. James Yezid Valencia Rugeles and four criminal associates were extradited to the U.S. for allegedly trafficking $88 million worth of cocaine. Valencia and two of his sons imported tons of cocaine to Curacao from the northern coasts of Venezuela and Colombia via container ship and high-speed motorboat. They then shipped the cocaine to St. Maarten, then Puerto Rico, and ultimately, the continental U.S., according to federal prosecutors and DEA officials.

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