Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 08BOGOTA1966, COLOMBIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AXES FORESTRY LAW

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.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

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. #08BOGOTA1966.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BOGOTA1966 2008-05-28 18:18 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Bogota
VZCZCXYZ0008
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #1966/01 1491818
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281818Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3001
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0490
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 6231
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 1786
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 6889
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8211
UNCLAS BOGOTA 001966 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR SENV ECON PGOV CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AXES FORESTRY LAW 
 
REF: A. (A) 07 BOGOTA 6535 
     B. (B) 07 BOGOTA 5444 
 
1.  (U)  SUMMARY:  Colombia's Constitutional Court issued a 
decision overturning a controversial Forestry law for failing 
to adequately consult with "affected" Afro-Colombian and 
indigenous groups on the law's impact.  While proponents 
claimed the law strengthened sustainable forest management, 
opponents argued timber companies would use it to exploit 
Afro-Colombian and indigenous lands.  The decision will 
likely lead to challenges to other laws that impact 
Afro-Colombian or indigenous groups and fuel controversy over 
the GOC's consultative process.  The decision also throws the 
commercial forestry sector into disarray without an overall 
legal framework.  In response, the Uribe administration has 
introduced a new forestry law intended to have no effect on 
Afro-Colombian or indigenous lands.  END SUMMARY 
 
Court Finds Consultations Insufficient 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U)  On April 28 Colombia's Constitutional Court voided 
Colombia's Forestry law.  The Court held that the GOC failed 
to have "open, frank and meaningful" consultations with 
Afro-Colombian and indigenous groups on a government action 
that could "affect" them as required by International Labor 
Organization Convention 169 and Colombian law (ref A). 
Neither the Convention nor Colombian law state that the GOC 
must avoid actions that negatively affect Afro-Colombian or 
indigenous groups, but rather require a formal legal 
consultation process between the GOC and affected groups. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Afro-Colombian organizations that had opposed the 
law praised the court's decision.  Some political analysts 
also see a positive side to the decision.  Rafael Nieto, a 
former Vice-Minister of Justice and legal analyst, said the 
decision showed the GOC's increasing sensitivity to 
Afro-Colombian and indigenous issues.  Marcela Prieto, the 
head of the Institute of Political Science, told us the 
decision demonstrated the robustness of the 
checks-and-balances between the executive and judicial 
branches. 
 
4.  (SBU)  The Court's decision surprised Lorena Garnica, a 
special advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural 
Development (MinAg), who worked on drafting the law and on 
the constitutional case.  Garnica said the decision suggested 
the Constitutional Court was a "wild card."  Garnica pointed 
out that the GOC held extensive consultations on the proposed 
law, including over 30 public forums with more than 2,500 
Colombians in a dozen cities around the country (28 funded by 
USAID). 
 
Sustainable Forestry Management or Uncontrolled Exploitation 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
5.  (U)  Garnica said the Forestry law, approved in April 
2006 after extensive congressional debate and input from 
environmental groups, created a stable investment environment 
for sustainable forest management.  She noted that the law 
allowed Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, who own 
the majority of Colombia's 50 million hectares of forests, to 
harvest their forests themselves or contract third parties to 
manage them.  USAID provided technical assistance in 
developing the law and implementing regulations. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Still, many Afro-Colombian, indigenous and 
environmental groups complained that the law favored private 
timber companies.  Constanza Ussa, an anthropologist who 
works with Afro-Colombian and indigenous groups, said such 
groups worried that the law's creation of a new legal 
mechanism allowing timber companies to harvest or manage 
communally-owned forests made it easier for the companies to 
exploit them.  Afro-Colombian and indigenous groups also 
argued that the law focused on the economic aspects of 
forests to the detriment of their environmental, spiritual 
and cultural values. 
 
Decision Creates Uncertainty; Could Fuel Illegal Logging 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  The Court's decision will likely generate future 
lawsuits as it leaves uncertain what constitutes an adequate 
"consultation process" and an "affected" group.  Lawyers for 
indigenous groups told us they plan to challenge other laws, 
including last year's Rural Development law (ref B), based on 
a failure to adequately consult.  In addition, Ussa said 
Afro-Colombian and indigenous groups are likely to interpret 
the decision's language as support for their position that 
the GOC must avoid all actions that negatively affect them. 
 
8.  (SBU)  Garnica said the patchwork regulatory structure on 
forest management that existed prior to the Forestry law now 
returns to life.  Since the previous regulations lacked 
well-defined conservation measures and penalties, Garnica 
said the decision could increase the likelihood of illegal 
logging. 
 
9.  (SBU)  Rafael Mejia, head of the Colombian Agricultural 
Association (SAC), an umbrella association of agricultural 
producers that includes some timber companies, strongly 
criticized the court's decision.  Legal logging generated 
about USD 100 million per year prior to enacting the law, but 
the number began climbing in 2005 and jumped to USD 150 
million in 2006 and almost USD 200 million in 2007.  Mejia 
said the legal forestry industry was now "on hold" and would 
have to wait and see what happened. 
 
New Forestry Legislation in Process 
----------------------------------- 
 
10.  (SBU)  The MinAg submitted a new bill on commercial 
forestry to Congress which explicitly does not apply to 
Afro-Colombian and indigenous lands.  The bill permits the 
government to offer concessions to commercially reforest 
government-owned lands.  Garnica admitted the bill, as 
submitted, does not create an overall legal framework for 
forestry or strengthen enforcement measures against illegal 
logging.  She noted however, that such measures might be 
added before it becomes law.  Garnica expects Congress to 
enact the bill prior to the end of 2008. 
BROWNFIELD