Wikileaks Cables of Interest on Latin America, released April 10-24, 2011

[dawn paley]

Note: Wikileaks experienced a 15 day backlog recently, which they cleared with the release of a whole bunch of cables about a week ago. I haven't gotten through the entire batch, but here's a selection of cables from the last two weeks.

Cables of Interest on Latin America, released April 10-24, 2011

ARGENTINA

USG: Argentina quit publishing crime stats cuz "most of the statistics provided by the provinces were false" http://bit.ly/eMmpvl #cablegate

Earl Wayne, former US Ambassador to Argentina, writes the most boring cables ever. Is Kabul a promotion or a demotion? #cablegate

Argentina plays along with DEA's efforts to show "concrete progress" on drug policy http://bit.ly/fApBNQ #cablegate

US post in BsAs asks US Treasury to come down for a visit before linking tri-border area groups to Hezbollah http://bit.ly/hP88Ic #cablegate

US makes it clear that DEA funded/led policing must be integrated with general law enforcement http://bit.ly/hd5I99 #cablegate#Argentina

COLOMBIA

 

Colombian Minister of Defense, 2009: officials responsible for false positives still holding office http://bit.ly/hjtiTe #cablegate

USG: Israeli contractor promised cheaper version of USG assistance "without our strings attached" http://bit.ly/h16RRV #cablegate #Colombia

Member of Israeli defense firm stole intel from GoC and tried to sell it to the FARC http://bit.ly/gQ7Ap3 #cablegate #Colombia

Must read cable for anyone wondering how involved Israel is in the conflict in Colombia: http://bit.ly/elUMam #cablegate

USG: Through 80s and 90s, "Israeli mercenaries reportedly helped train paramilitary forces in Colombia" http://bit.ly/fYxNIs #cablegate

Colombia sought to share intel with Israeli contractors, sent counter narcotics officers to Afghanistan http://bit.ly/i6QbuG #cablegate

Santos & Wood clink their glasses, and make a toast to glysophatehttp://bit.ly/i6YZtm #cablegate #colombia

2006, Santos asks US how to spend wealth tax, considered Israeli training program http://bit.ly/gjTwFP #cablegate #Colombia

Colombian Embassy in Lima staffed by individuals as a reward for political support for Uribe http://bit.ly/gcpf2p #cablegate

Cable on ELN negotiations ends with major chisme: a guerrilla commander who will only wear Yves St. Laurent http://bit.ly/ftN9uz #cablegate

Extensive description of Plan Colombia Phases I and IIhttp://bit.ly/gTBz9c #cablegate

US wanted Uribe to change extradition law to include demobilized paracos http://bit.ly/i8zHTq #cablegate #looksafterhisown

Ex-IDF soldier recalls his kidnapping by ELN http://bit.ly/hVXLfb#cablegate #Colombia

US training of Colombian police & army, circa 2004:http://bit.ly/esX418 #cablegate

2004 cable outlines Colombia's privatization policies:http://bit.ly/dPKCBA #cablegate

Cold war era cable (1987) on guerrilla movements in Colombiahttp://bit.ly/f3MvP6 #cablegate

USG playing collections agent for Nortel in Colombia http://bit.ly/gSdSaQ #cablegate

Colombian Trade Min on FTA: Farm workers who lose jobs growing corn & rice likely to turn to illicit crops http://bit.ly/fFfMTf #cablegate

USG: Of 17,607 of new asylum seekers in Ecuador in 2008, 85% were Colombian http://bit.ly/f43knc #cablegate #displacement #drugwar

CHILE

Chile set to remain world's #1 producer of lithium http://bit.ly/ey8dmd #cablegate

Bachelet gov't in Chile asked USG for help w energy policy, US mentions the possibility of nuclear power http://bit.ly/h4IAgP #cablegate

Between 1994 and 2003, Chile's exports to China grew by 1,299 percent, primarily copper, fish, paper http://bit.ly/go0bMF #cablegate

ECUADOR

USAID funded Participacion Ciudadana is Ecuador's most influential elections monitoring organization http://bit.ly/ekS8yP #cablegate

Gov't appointed commissioner in Ecuador says the country is becoming a "narco-democracy" http://bit.ly/fOksTR #cablegate

Gov't named commissioner into Colombian bombing in Ecuador promises USG he won't bring up Manta http://bit.ly/hFgQQ2#cablegate

And then, the same Ecuador Commissioner proceeds to link Manta to the bombing. Good talker, this one. http://bit.ly/dYKmdk #cablegate

USG supports limiting free movement of people in interior of Ecuador "for reasons of national security" http://bit.ly/hD1pmc #cablegate

Bonus: Ecuador Expels U.S. Ambassador Over WikiLeaks Cable http://nyti.ms/gAdbar #cablegate

Ok no wonder Ecuador booted the US ambassador, these cables show utter contempt for Correa's govt http://bit.ly/eVG97g #cablegate

GoE objected to "significant USG control over the actions of Ecuadorian law enforcement personnel and teams"http://bit.ly/ginzAM #cablegate

Limits of host country leadership for USAID spending revealedhttp://bit.ly/ewmD8k #cablegate #Ecuador

USG: "Sovereignty: GoE Code for Collaborating on Its Terms"http://bit.ly/i9b3Z7 #cablegate

While they're at it, AFL-CIO delegates in Ecuador also talk smack about unions http://bit.ly/h1sN7K #cablegate #nakedemperor

NDI hack tells USG that Correa has to continue to manage Indigenous groups with a "mano duro" [sic] http://bit.ly/eu545e #cablegate

USG: Correa's divide and conquer strategy towards social movements "good for Ecuador" http://bit.ly/hc0uUB #cablegate

Cable demonstrates USG and Correa's contempt for Indigenous folks in Ecuador: http://bit.ly/h5FubS #cablegate

2006: Colombia gets intel about Ecuador from USG: http://bit.ly/eqJebi #cablegate

2005: Former Ecuadorian Prez tells USG his predecessor is responsible for unrest in oil producing areas http://bit.ly/f7HgGC #cablegate 

USG kissed up to Ecuador's military so that they'd put pressure on Correa gov't. Hodges sure was wily http://bit.ly/eQW7Mr #cablegate

USG had their underpants in a knot about selling fighter jets to Ecuador http://bit.ly/fGWwvF #cablegate

USG makes Ecuador aware that risks of $150 mil loan from Iran outweigh benefits http://bit.ly/gmY2E0 #cablegate

Another conniving cable from Hodges, former US ambassador to Ecuador, on money laundering/terror finance http://bit.ly/edB76d #cablegate

Central Bank of Ecuador manager cowers to US for bank dealings with Iran http://bit.ly/fUoDhj #cablegate

 

Correa called Ecuadorian private TV network Teleamazonas "a sewer with antennas" http://bit.ly/dHEhLr #cablegate #gooddis

Detailed cable on US reading of the state of the media in Ecuador http://bit.ly/e0y1zr #cablegate

USG encourages disgust at Guayasamin mural in Ecuador Nat'l Assembly. Mural: http://bit.ly/hqpTum Cable: http://bit.ly/i7GKC6 #cablegate

USG calls Correa's openness to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence "intellectual hypocrisy" http://bit.ly/epAa3O #cablegate

USG on $1bn advance payment by PetroChina for oil from PetroEcuador http://bit.ly/hfki9z #cablegate

USG obviously pleased by February 2010 protest against Correa led by Guayaquil mayor Nebot http://bit.ly/ht7FvH #cablegate

USG: Yasuni-ITT initiative in Ecuador "fully consistent" with REDD http://bit.ly/dX2B1m #cablegate

PANAMA

April 2009: Panama hands over alleged FARC members to USG, bypassing Panamanian legal system entirely http://bit.ly/f7l3Co #cablegate

US Embassy pushes Martinelli to get his head around counterinsurgency http://bit.ly/fce3XE #cablegate

Martinelli on choosing btween USG and Israeli military assistance: "We don't want to change friends" http://bit.ly/ikxLDm #cablegate #Panama

USG "frequently acts as the GOP's strategic planning and analysis arm" on security affairs http://bit.ly/hRxcQO #cablegate #Panama

US bent on showing close correlation between Panama's domestic crime & international drug trafficking http://bit.ly/e1lzG1 #cablegate

Gov't of Colombia won't bomb Panama without US blessing http://bit.ly/hYiFXn #cablegate

USG pissed that head of Panama's intel agency doesn't trust DEA, prepared to "work around" him http://bit.ly/h2Rs9q #cablegate

USG: potential Colombian mil action in Panama violation of intl law. Didn't say that w/Ecuador bombing http://bit.ly/i9RnSS #cablegate

US calls Colombian army off Darien region in Panama cause a raid would impact US military ops http://bit.ly/hjiWwU #cablegate

USG calls Martinelli's candidates for supreme court appointment corrupt & blackmailer http://bit.ly/exR1Yv #cablegate

Panama City mayoral candidate Roberto Velasquez funded by alleged Colombian money-launderer David Murciahttp://bit.ly/eJQYre #cablegate

Panama-US FTA is "not centrally about trade" but instead "an investment in a partnership with the US" http://bit.ly/ihw2w7 #cablegate

USG: Panamanians take to the streets often, and winhttp://bit.ly/ef1UF7 #cablegate

US Embassy in Panama sought funds from Dept. of Defense for counter-insurgency program in Darien region http://bit.ly/hje3yJ

USG looks to use Merida Initiative funds to set up a "tattoo data bank" for tracking gang members in Panama http://bit.ly/fFBcBw #cablegate

The U.S. Coast Guard has the right to enter Panama's territorial waters in pursuit of drug traffickers http://bit.ly/eSBUYZ #cablegate

Panama lies at the junction of five high bandwidth submarine fiber optic cables http://bit.ly/eQl8Hn #cablegate

USG: Merida Initiative has an "image problem" in Panamá http://bit.ly/eQqwr1 #cablegate

USG: Panama think tank FUDESPA "has potential to be a solid catalyst for U.S. programs and priorities" http://bit.ly/f2C60D #cablegate

USG: Panama's political parties have no real policy differences other then how to treat Torrijos/Noriega era http://bit.ly/hLmkBj #cablegate

USG: Institutionalizing community policing is the "best way to respond" to Panama's crime/gang problem http://bit.ly/eytvA5 #cablegate

A note on US SOUTHCOM Joint Planning Assistance Team and Counter Narco-Terrorist training teams in Panama http://bit.ly/eytvA5 #cablegate

Minister of Gov't "complained that Panama was being overwhelmed by the effects of 'Plan Mexico.'" http://bit.ly/gdS68N #cablegate

 

USAID money considered to be well spent when funded local groups begin to demand militarization http://bit.ly/hdBsev #cablegate #Panama

To catch these updates as they're posted, follow Dawn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/dawn_