![Keep Us Strong](../../../static/gfx/ja-cg.jpg)
![WikiLeaks logo](../../../static/gfx/WL_Hour_Glass_small.png)
Currently released so far... 3954 / 251,287
Articles
Browse latest releases
2010/12/01
2010/12/02
2010/12/03
2010/12/04
2010/12/05
2010/12/06
2010/12/07
2010/12/08
2010/12/09
2010/12/10
2010/12/11
2010/12/12
2010/12/13
2010/12/14
2010/12/15
2010/12/16
2010/12/17
2010/12/18
2010/12/19
2010/12/20
2010/12/21
2010/12/22
2010/12/23
2010/12/24
2010/12/25
2010/12/26
2010/12/27
2010/12/28
2010/12/29
2010/12/30
2011/01/01
2011/01/02
2011/01/04
2011/01/05
2011/01/07
2011/01/09
2011/01/10
2011/01/11
2011/01/12
2011/01/13
2011/01/14
2011/01/15
2011/01/16
2011/01/17
2011/01/18
2011/01/19
2011/01/20
2011/01/21
2011/01/22
2011/01/23
2011/01/24
2011/01/25
2011/01/26
2011/01/27
2011/01/28
2011/01/29
2011/01/30
2011/01/31
2011/02/01
2011/02/02
2011/02/03
2011/02/04
2011/02/05
2011/02/06
2011/02/07
2011/02/08
2011/02/09
2011/02/10
2011/02/11
Browse by creation date
Browse by origin
Embassy Athens
Embassy Asuncion
Embassy Astana
Embassy Asmara
Embassy Ashgabat
Embassy Ankara
Embassy Amman
Embassy Algiers
Embassy Addis Ababa
Embassy Accra
Embassy Abuja
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Embassy Abidjan
Consulate Amsterdam
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura
Embassy Buenos Aires
Embassy Budapest
Embassy Bucharest
Embassy Brussels
Embassy Bridgetown
Embassy Bratislava
Embassy Brasilia
Embassy Bogota
Embassy Bishkek
Embassy Bern
Embassy Berlin
Embassy Belgrade
Embassy Beirut
Embassy Beijing
Embassy Banjul
Embassy Bangkok
Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan
Embassy Bamako
Embassy Baku
Embassy Baghdad
Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen
Embassy Conakry
Embassy Colombo
Embassy Chisinau
Embassy Caracas
Embassy Canberra
Embassy Cairo
Consulate Curacao
Consulate Casablanca
Consulate Cape Town
Embassy Dushanbe
Embassy Dublin
Embassy Doha
Embassy Djibouti
Embassy Dhaka
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Embassy Damascus
Embassy Dakar
Consulate Dubai
Embassy Kyiv
Embassy Kuwait
Embassy Kuala Lumpur
Embassy Kinshasa
Embassy Kigali
Embassy Khartoum
Embassy Kampala
Embassy Kabul
Embassy Luxembourg
Embassy Luanda
Embassy London
Embassy Lisbon
Embassy Lima
Embassy Lilongwe
Embassy La Paz
Consulate Lagos
Mission USNATO
Embassy Muscat
Embassy Moscow
Embassy Montevideo
Embassy Monrovia
Embassy Minsk
Embassy Mexico
Embassy Maputo
Embassy Manama
Embassy Managua
Embassy Malabo
Embassy Madrid
Consulate Munich
Consulate Montreal
Consulate Monterrey
Embassy Pristina
Embassy Pretoria
Embassy Prague
Embassy Port Au Prince
Embassy Phnom Penh
Embassy Paris
Embassy Paramaribo
Embassy Panama
Consulate Peshawar
REO Basrah
Embassy Rome
Embassy Riyadh
Embassy Riga
Embassy Reykjavik
Embassy Rangoon
Embassy Rabat
Consulate Rio De Janeiro
Consulate Recife
Secretary of State
Embassy Stockholm
Embassy Sofia
Embassy Skopje
Embassy Singapore
Embassy Seoul
Embassy Sarajevo
Embassy Santo Domingo
Embassy Santiago
Embassy Sanaa
Embassy San Salvador
Embassy San Jose
Consulate Strasbourg
Consulate Shenyang
Consulate Shanghai
Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis
Embassy Tripoli
Embassy Tokyo
Embassy The Hague
Embassy Tel Aviv
Embassy Tehran
Embassy Tegucigalpa
Embassy Tbilisi
Embassy Tashkent
Embassy Tallinn
USUN New York
USEU Brussels
US Mission Geneva
US Interests Section Havana
US Delegation, Secretary
UNVIE
Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Browse by tag
AF
AM
AE
AG
AR
ASEC
AS
AU
AORC
AJ
AMGT
AGMT
AFIN
APER
ABUD
ATRN
AEMR
ACOA
AEC
AO
AX
AMED
ADCO
AODE
AFFAIRS
AC
AL
ASIG
ABLD
AA
AFU
ASUP
AROC
ATFN
CH
CE
CA
CASC
CU
CLINTON
CO
CI
CVIS
CDG
CIA
CACM
CDB
CS
CBW
CD
CV
CMGT
CJAN
CG
CF
CN
CAN
COUNTER
CIS
CM
CONDOLEEZZA
COE
CR
CY
CTM
COUNTRY
CLEARANCE
CPAS
CWC
CT
CKGR
CB
CACS
COM
CJUS
CARSON
COUNTERTERRORISM
EUN
EG
EAID
ENRG
ETTC
EFIN
ECON
ETRD
EPET
EINV
EMIN
ECIP
ECPS
EINDETRD
EAGR
EU
EN
EZ
ELAB
ER
ET
ES
EUC
EI
EAIR
EIND
EWWT
ELTN
EREL
ECIN
EFIS
EINT
EC
ENVR
ECA
EXTERNAL
EINVETC
ENIV
EINN
ENGR
EUR
ESA
ENERG
EK
ELECTIONS
ECUN
EINVEFIN
IR
IS
IZ
INRB
IAEA
IN
IT
ID
IO
IV
ICTY
IQ
ICAO
INTERPOL
IPR
IRAJ
INRA
INRO
IC
IIP
ITPHUM
IWC
ISRAELI
IRAQI
ICRC
IMO
IF
ILC
IEFIN
INTELSAT
IL
IA
IBRD
IMF
ITALY
ITALIAN
KCOR
KDEM
KNNP
KU
KWBG
KPAL
KN
KS
KZ
KAWK
KISL
KPAO
KCRM
KJUS
KSEC
KIPR
KGHG
KIFR
KTFN
KDRG
KV
KSUM
KWAC
KAWC
KDEMAF
KFIN
KGIC
KTIP
KOMC
KHLS
KSPR
KGCC
KPIN
KG
KBIO
KHIV
KSCA
KE
KFRD
KPKO
KNUC
KMDR
KPLS
KOLY
KUNR
KIRF
KIRC
KACT
KRAD
KCOM
KMCA
KHDP
KVPR
KDEV
KWMN
KTIA
KPRP
KCIP
KCFE
KOCI
KTDB
KMRS
KLIG
KBCT
KICC
KGIT
KSTC
KPAK
KNEI
KSEP
KPOA
KFLU
KNUP
KNNPMNUC
KO
KTER
KHUM
KRFD
KBTR
KDDG
KWWMN
KFLO
KSAF
KBTS
KPRV
KMPI
KNPP
KNAR
KWMM
KERG
KTBT
KCRS
KRVC
KR
KPWR
KMIG
MOPS
MZ
MO
MNUC
MASS
MARR
MY
MEPP
MCAP
MA
MR
ML
MX
MIL
MTCRE
MPOS
MOPPS
MTCR
MAPP
MU
MG
MASC
MCC
MK
MTRE
MP
MDC
MAR
MEPI
MRCRE
MI
MT
MQADHAFI
MD
MAPS
MUCN
PREL
PTER
PGOV
PO
PHUM
PINS
PARM
PK
PINR
PINT
PBTS
PROP
PE
PL
PREF
POGOV
PINL
POL
PBIO
PSOE
PHSA
PKFK
PGOF
PARMS
PA
PM
PMIL
PTERE
PF
PALESTINIAN
PY
PGGV
PNR
POV
PAK
PAO
PFOR
PHALANAGE
PARTY
PNAT
PROV
PEL
PGOVE
POLINT
POLITICS
PEPR
PSI
PU
POLITICAL
PARTIES
PECON
SNAR
SA
SY
SOCI
STEINBERG
SP
SENV
SCUL
SF
SO
SR
SG
SW
SU
SL
SMIG
SN
SHUM
SZ
SYR
ST
SANC
SC
SAN
SIPRS
SK
SH
SI
UNSC
UP
UK
USEU
UG
UNMIK
UV
UZ
UY
UN
US
UNGA
UNO
USUN
UE
UNESCO
UAE
UNEP
USTR
UNHCR
UNDP
UNHRC
USAID
UNCHS
UNAUS
Browse by classification
Community resources
courage is contagious
Viewing cable 06BRASILIA1910, BRAZIL: GOB OFFICIALS COMMENT ON REFUGEE CASE OF SUSPECTED FARC TERRORIST
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #06BRASILIA1910.
Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
06BRASILIA1910 | 2006-09-12 13:01 | 2011-01-04 00:12 | SECRET | Embassy Brasilia |
VZCZCXRO3666
OO RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1910/01 2551320
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 121320Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6608
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION PRIORITY 5652
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 3918
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 4256
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 3427
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE PRIORITY 5410
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 2830
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO PRIORITY 7982
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
USMISSION USUN PRIORITY
USMISSION GENEVA PRIORTY
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001910
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D COPY - INFO ADDRESSEES ADDED
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER SNAR BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: GOB OFFICIALS COMMENT ON REFUGEE CASE OF SUSPECTED FARC TERRORIST
REF: A. STATE 139878 B. BRASILIA 1511 C. BRASILIA 1613
BRASILIA 00001910 001.2 OF 003
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR DENNIS HEARNE. REASONS: 1.4 (B)(D).
¶1. (S/NF) Summary. Charge and PolCouns delivered ref A demarche to senior GOB officials, stressing USG concerns about the 14 July 2006 decision by Brazil's national refugee commission (CONARE) to grant refugee status to suspected FARC terrorist Francisco Antonio Cadena Collazos (refs B and D), despite an outstanding extradition request for Cadena from Colombia's government (GOC) and Brazil's obligation to deny safe haven to terrorist under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Antonio de Aguiar Patriota and other senior Ministry of External Relations (MRE) officials said the decision by CONARE had been complex and laborious, with "humanitarian" factors weighing heavily. They indicated CONARE, with strong encouragement from the UNHCR representative, had not regarded Cadena as a "terrorist" but as a refugee from an "internal armed conflict," which they claim is the approach that consistently has been taken by CONARE to more than 300 other Colombians settled in Brazil as refugees. Luiz Paulo Barreto, CONARE's president and the second-ranking official in Brazil's Justice Ministry, told PolCouns that the committee had deliberated for nearly a year (vice the 30 days typical in other refugee cases), had considered the GOC legal case against Cadena as weak, saw the timing of the 2005 extradition request for Cadena (who has lived in Brazil since 1992) as driven by election politics in Colombia, and had researched Cadena's history in vain for any indication that he was a FARC military commander instead of the ideological commissar, priest and political representative he claims to be. Despite credible reporting to the contrary, Barreto denied there had been political pressure on CONARE to grant refugee protection to Cadena, and said he would be prepared to revoke Cadena's refugee status "in a minute" if (1) Cadena is caught in a lie in his petition, (2) does not fulfill the conditions of his status, (3) the GOC appeals to CONARE with compelling additional information. Barreto also said he would be willing to personally receive and assume responsibility for protecting any USG intelligence information regarding Cadena that has a bearing on his refugee claim and his history with the FARC in Colombia. End summary.
Foreign Ministry Demarches ----------------------------------
¶2. (SBU) DCM (serving as Charge at the time) made ref A demarche to Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, MRE Under Secretary for Political Affairs, on 4 September. DCM SIPDIS stressed that the CONARE decision appeared at odds with Brazilian commitments under UNSCR 1371. Patriota did not appear to be very familiar with the details of the Cadena decision, but indicated he had discussed it with Foreign Minister Amorim and others. He said that, according to the MRE representative in CONARE, the UNHCR representative in CONARE had pressed hard to grant refugee status, in what had been an extensive and "impassioned" process in the commission. He noted that some of the key considerations were "humanitarian" -- i.e., that Cadena has lived in Brazil peacefully for over 15 years and has a Brazilian wife and child.
¶3. (SBU) PolCouns followed up with a second demarche on 5 September to the MRE's Assistant Secretary for International Organizations, Ambassador Maria Luiza Veotti. Veotti was joined by Marcus Fagundes, Chief of the OAS Division and an alternate representative for the ministry on the CONARE board. PolCouns emphasized that the USG had no intent to interfere in Brazilian legal processes, but noted USG dismay with the Cadena decision and questioned how the GOB could square this decision in view of its obligations under UNSCR 1371.
¶4. (SBU) Veotti emphasized that CONARE classified Cadena as a refugee, and is not a beneficiary of political asylum. Refugee status is granted solely and independently by CONARE,
BRASILIA 00001910 002.2 OF 003
which includes GOB representatives from the justice and foreign ministries, as well as UNHCR and civil society and faith-based NGOs. Political asylum is a national process, in which the GOB would be directly involved, but Cadena's request was for refugee status, and was sent to CONARE. As a refugee in Brazil, Veotti affirmed that Cadena cannot be extradited, and the judiciary's role at this stage is essentially passive, she said. If refugee status is revoked for any reason by CONARE, extradition can again be contemplated by the courts. Veotti reiterated Patriota's description of the CONARE deliberation as a laborious one in which humanitarian issues emerged as paramount. She said it was important to note that CONARE "never defined or characterized Cadena as a terrorist," but rather as a Colombian "involved or affected by the internal armed conflict in his country, and who feared death, harm or persecution, in accordance with the 1951 UN definition on which CONARE bases its proceedings. " This is the same context in which CONARE has approached other Colombian refugee seekers in Brazil, she added. PolCouns noted that he would be seeing the president of the CONARE board that adjudicated Cadena's appeal, and Veotti urged poloff to seek more detailed clarifications in that meeting.
CONARE President ----------------
¶5. (C) Justice Ministry Executive Secretary (Deputy Minister-equivalent) Luiz Paulo Barreto met with PolCouns on 6 September to receive ref a demarche and discuss the Cadena issue. Barreto, in addition to being the senior career legal officer at the ministry, is the President of CONARE and chairs its deliberations. Barreto is a long-time and cooperative contact of the Embassy on a range of law enforcement and counter-terrorism issues. Requesting confidentiality on our part, and breaking the official SIPDIS silence that normally surrounds CONARE decisions on refugees, he outlined the factors weighing in CONARE's handling of Cadena's refugee appeal: -- Barreto said the committee regarded the GOC allegation and extradition request against Cadena as legally specious. Noting that the crime alleged had been committed in 1991, and that the extradition request to Brazil had been lodged only in 2005, Barreto claimed the case appeared to hinge entirely on the testimony of one recently-revealed witness, who Brazilian sources indicate has had his sentence reduced in Colombia and received financial compensation in exchange for accusing Cadena. CONARE interviewed Cadena extensively, and he denied the murder allegations and claimed that he was in Venezuela on the date of the 1991 attack on the Colombian National Police base in which the murders occurred. Barreto acknowledged that Cadena had no one to corroborate his denials. -- Barreto said CONARE viewed the GOC's interest and timing in pursuing Cadena's extradition as being driven by domestic political factors in Colombia. Barreto said that Cadena had resided in Brazil since 1992, but that during that time he had returned on occasion to Colombia, in some cases with the consent of the GOC. Barreto said the GOB had official information, supported by Cadena's own testimony, that Cadena has occasionally served in a negotiator role between the GOC and FARC, most recently in 2000. CONARE questioned why previous GOC administrations had seemed to regard Cadena as innocuous or even tacitly supported his role as a dialogue facilitator, allowing him to enter and leave Colombian territory, but the Uribe government -- in an election year -- had suddenly sought extradition. Barreto claimed that the GOC and Colombian Embassy's interventions with CONARE regarding the case had virtually ceased when Uribe was re-elected. (Comment: That is a specious argument given the fact that refugee status was granted to Cadena less than 2 months after Uribe's re-election. End comment.) -- Barreto said the GOB, including its intelligence service and military, had assisted CONARE over several months in "exhaustively researching" Cadena's history in Colombia with the FARC, and had found no information that supported GOC allegations that Cadena was a FARC field commander capable of
BRASILIA 00001910 003.2 OF 003
leading an attack on a military base. Cadena claims to have been a political commissar, teacher, and priest for FARC in Colombia, and later an informal representative for the group in Brazil, but not a combatant, much less a commander. Barreto claimed the information developed by CONARE and the GOB could not disprove that position (he noted the only picture the GOB had obtained of Cadena in FARC uniform is 30 years old and shows him holding a bible in one hand and a gun in the other). -- Barreto noted that there are 350 Colombians living in refugee status in Brazil, re-settled after successfully convincing CONARE that they faced threats related to the country's internal conflict if they returned. Some have been resettled at GOC requests, others have applied for refugee status on their own, and they come from the ranks of the Colombian security forces, paramilitaries and guerrillas, as well as ordinary citizens. These include, Barreto said by way of a contrasting example to Cadena, two former Colombian army soldiers who killed FARC commanders during a fire fight, but who could not be guaranteed safety from reprisals by the GOC once they demobilized. Noting that CONARE took nine months to consider the Cadena case - versus the one month timeframe for most refugee decisions - Barreto said the committee had painstakingly weighed all the information. But in the end, he claimed Cadena had made a convincing case to CONARE that he faced a well-founded fear of death at the hands of paramilitary elements should he return to Colombia, which overshadowed the GOC allegation and extradition request, which appeared questionable on several points to CONARE, as noted above.
¶6. (C) In response to a direct question from PolCouns, Barreto indicated that CONARE had not suffered political pressure from any source in evaluating the case. He added that Cadena's status in Brazil is contingent on his fulfilling his obligations as a refugee (i.e., no further political activism on Brazilian soil, rupture of his ties to FARC), and that if CONARE were to be presented with compelling evidence that Cadena had lied in any aspect of his petition, Barreto would recommend to the committee "in a minute" that his status be revoked and the legal path opened for extradition. Barreto indicated CONARE is open to further appeals and new information from the GOC about the case. He also invited the USG to provide any relevant information it might have regarding Cadena directly to Barreto, undertaking to personally assume responsibility for appropriate security and handling of the information should it involve intelligence sources and methods.
¶7. (S/NF) Comment. The GOB officials demarched, especially Barreto, provided a cogent explanation for the Cadena decision, although from our perspective not a particularly credible one. They evidenced understanding for the points in our demarche, were frank and not defensive in their reactions, and had ready answers that seemed to reflect an exhaustive deliberative process conducted within the expected UNHCR parameters. None of that changes our view, per previous sensitive reporting, that the CONARE decision was driven largely by heavy pressure from the very top of the Brazilian government, and that the GOB members of CONARE ultimately yielded to that pressure (we think the UN and NGO members were likely disposed in that direction in any event). That said, if the GOC is prepared to fight this, it needs to develop the strongest, most detailed possible legal case against Cadena on the specific charges relating to his alleged command of the attack on the CNP base in 1991 and the two deaths that resulted. Coupling that with any further information or intelligence that the GOC or USG assets can develop on Cadena's history in FARC military actions would also be useful.
Sobel