The cable, dated February 13, 2007
Infiltration, Gomez said, was a particularly serious problem because it meant that the groups could receive information from their contacts in the armed forces about planned operations against them, allowing them to flee.
An anonymous Intel officer said that this network of military collaborators with the gangs stemmed from the fact that many members of these groups were former military personnel who could use their relationships with former colleagues.
It further highlights issues with the government’s interpretation of the threat posed by these new criminal groups, which emerged from the flawed demobilization of the paramilitaries, choosing to see them more as an issue of law enforcement than a problem of national security due to their decentralized structure.
In a report last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned this attitude, arguing that the government had not done enough to combat the rise of these organizations and was too complacent in rooting out corrupt officials who continue to collaborate with the organizations.
Last week, the U.N. added its concerns
In a separate cable released last month, government failures during the demobilization of the AUC