August 6th, 2016
Embassy Bogota
CLASSIFIED REPORT

FROM: CIA STATION CHIEF
TO: US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

SUBJECT: OPERATION GREEN JAGUAR BRIEFING

CLASSIFIED: TOP SECRET

In a highly secured meeting at the CIA annex within the US DOS compound, the Colombian Minister of Defense (MOD) unveiled the details of OPERATION GREEN JAGUAR. Present were key figures, including USSOCOM and DOS ambassadors, with Colonel Ivan Serrano delivering a comprehensive briefing on the operation.

OPERATION GREEN JAGUAR OVERVIEW:

1. Reconnaissance Phase:

• Four 16-man Special Operations teams from the 106th Special Jungle Warfare Division will be deployed via MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
• Teams, codenamed GREEN VIPER, will conduct reconnaissance and provide target designation for subsequent artillery strikes.

2. Artillery Strike Phase:

• Two separate artillery teams, codenamed BLACK ANVIL, will be inserted the following evening.
• 8x MH47 Chinook helicopters, equipped with M777 155mm lightweight howitzers and CIA-supplied Excalibur guided shells, will cross the border.
• Coordination between reconnaissance teams and artillery strikes will be facilitated using US-provided communication gear.
• Strikes are scheduled for the evening following reconnaissance, targeting FARC dissident narco-camps inside the PLNC national park.

3. Air Support and Quick Reaction Force (QRF):

• A29 SuperTucano aircraft, armed with ground attack munitions, will provide air support. Departure from the Air Force base is planned 3 hours before the operation.
• Puma unmanned drone platforms will offer real-time ISR support.
• Ground-based Quick Reaction Force (QRF) composed of 200 Commandos from the CCUA National Guard stationed 10 miles from the border.

OPERATIONAL TIMELINE:
Mission commencement is scheduled for 740 Zulu time. Transport helicopters carrying commandos will fly low, under 100 feet, through dense jungles and mountains to remain undetectable by Venezuelan radar and air defense systems.

REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT:
The MOD has requested additional satellite bandwidth to transmit real-time ISR feed to USSOCOM HQ.

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT – HANDLE WITH EXTREME CAUTION

Background

July 24th  2016

Embassy Bogota

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FLASH URGENT REQUEST

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FROM: US DOS Embassy Assistant Office of Ambassador

Last night at around 430 AM  large caliber (120mm) artillery rockets hit the city of Cucuta on the border of Colombia and Venezuela. The Colombians have a large military complex in Cucuta which was the target. 12 rockets in total are believed to have been fired from Parque Nacional Santos Luzardo Cinaruco National Park. This follows threats from former FARC splinter groups operating from sanctuaries provided by the Venezuelan government that they would carry out these attacks that the Colombia government did not continue negotiations. The evidence is overwhelming as the Colombian air force tracked the rockets shortly after they launched and triangulated back their point of origin to deep in Venezuela’s Amazon rainforest. The rockets damaged several buildings inside the military complex and a building in the town square which was used as sleeping quarters for truck drivers. 23 civilians and 16 soldiers were killed. The intended target for the rocket attack is believed to be a covert surveillance radio station inside the complex which is used by the Colombians to monitor cell phone activity in the region while they hunt for FARC dissident rebels.

The use of these rockets is seen as a total violation of the peace accord signed in 2017 and the disarmament agreement that FARC reached with the government to end the majority of armed conflict. FARC senior leadership has largely become legitimate political parties and the remnants of FARC dissidents operate now as a mercenary force employed by cartels seeking to control the cocaine route to Africa and Europe. The US DOS Ambassador has asked for a meeting with the Colombia Army general staff and minister of defense. The rocket’s origins are based on Chinese copies of Russian design but manufactured in Iran as recently as 2010. The accuracy suggests on-the-ground intelligence which could have been obtained organically from local supporters or from military intelligence assets working for the Venezuelan government. 

The US government’s response to this should be solidarity with our Colombian allies. The use of long-range missiles by Venezuela-backed rebels to destabilize the border is a clear red line for the Colombians. The use of these artillery rockets is an escalation in the traditional narco conflicts in the region’s history. FARC is believed to only have limited heavy infantry weapons and not conventional heavy military hardware and is largely a light infantry force, composed of medium and heavy caliber machine guns, RPGs, and jungle warfare weapons. They processed a limited number of light trucks and military-grade equipment. But the introduction of Iranian-made artillery rockets represents a clear and present danger to the government of Colombia which will not allow itself to be the subject of repeated long-range rocket attacks. It also suggests that Iran is clearly supplying weapons to Venezuela.

July 25th  2016

CIA STATION CARACAS

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FROM Captain  ###########;

TO DOS/DOD/CIA/DIA/NID

The USS Gerald Ford radar last night tracked 8 Colombian unmanned drones taking off from an airbase in eastern Colombia, They flew across the border into Venezuelan and returned around 45 minutes later, The Colombia media has not reported this event and there is even no coverage of the event in the Venezuelan media this morning which would indicate that the drones were undetected by the Venezuelan government.  A source inside the Colombian military codename SERPENT has collaborated information told to us through official military liaison channels that the Colombians are conducting ISR missions to build intelligence for a military strike on these rebel camps on the Venezuelan side of the border. The risk of all-out war in South America is extremely high, as the UEAS military pact could draw the entire region into war. Venezuelan created UEAS to shore up support for its failed state, drawing Cuba, Iran, and Russia as allies, Colombia is not part of UEAS and is linked directly to military assistance from the US which could draw the US into conflict to protect military hardware and government of Colombia, if the UEAS respond militarily to GOC actions.

The lack of reaction from Venezuela over its airspace being violated by unmanned aircraft is calculated and should not be misinterpreted.  In 2006 Venezuela bought S 300 missile system from Russia, while this missile can be jammed by our US hardware, the Colombian 2nd generation indigenous designed unnamed drone the Puma is easy prey for the S300, the Venezuelans have a limited but effective integrated air defense network along their border which extends roughly 45 miles into Colombia, the Venezuelan Air Force would be able to and could have shot down these drones before they crossed the border. This is further confirmed by US Navy ships detecting the activation of the S300 radar during the night before and during the ISR missions, this shows an obvious tactical knowledge of what they Colombians were attempting to find in the jungle, FARC rebel camps which GOV denies exist; the Venezuelans by allowing the surveillance sortie to return do not draw attention to the issue which had they choose to shoot down. Which now includes FARC’s use of and storage of long-range artillery rockets.

These rockets we believe have been supplied via Iran or purchased directly from China via the GOV, while the Chinese government has not commented on the issue when asked our network inside Venezuela has initially reported that they are “Chinese made but were shipped from the middle east”. This further points to the origin of the rockets from Iran. These rockets are believed to be upgraded Fadjr-5 or a domestically produced variant which have been modified with cellphone GPS guidance chips. These rockets have a range of roughly 45 km and have a 50 kg warhead. A simple guidance system that plugs into an off-the-shelf GPS chipset. The coordinates are punched in and the rocket can be fired remotely off a timer or electronic trigger. The launch system is simple and requires no external power source and can be deployed in the jungle easily.

July 27th 2016

Embassy Bogota

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FROM CIA STATION CHIEF

TO DOS

July 28th 2016

Reporting on the FARC bombing of downtown Bogota Ministry of Defense Offices, yesterday morning at 1134AM a series of explosions ripped through downtown Bogota, the strikes targeted two MOD buildings near the presidential regional complex and US embassy. The blasts could be heard and felt from the Embassy and interrupted a meeting between the Colombian Army General and the DOS Ambassador, who had to evacuate the complex. The blast is believed to be from a car bomb that was parked in an underground garage near the complex. The blast collapsed the guard house, walls around the complex, and two smaller buildings adjacent to the main MOD building, While no one was killed in the blast it did damage the security wall and injured two guards at the gate. Had an infantry assault occurred they would have quickly overwhelmed the local troops.

While the blast did not kill anyone FARC dissidents claimed a response for it, and cited the GOC’s recent cross-border activity as the reason, claiming, that GOC;

“Crossed the border several days ago using drones in order to kill us in our sleep, and we have reminded them that for every action there is an equal reaction.”

The GOC DAS intelligence service has indicated that two FARC agents parked the car in the garage and then used a cell phone timer for the detonation.  Shortly before the blast, two men are seen on CCTV leaving the garage one of these men has been identified as Manuel Santos Recazan a known FARC dissident, the other man was photographed nearly 20 hours later at a border crossing on a bus for Ecuador. These two events, the rocket attack on Sunday and the bombing today all but assure a response from Colombia.

Embassy Caracas

FROM GOV MOD TO US DOS

RE: CIA/NDI

The FM of Venezuela asked the US Ambassador for a meeting today. He told the DOS that the GOV was seeking clarification of GOC and USG in response to the recent FARC dissidents attacks, the GOV MOD claimed that the FARC dissidents force was acting without any assistance from GOV and that they wanted the USG to understand that while the GOV does not admit the existence of these camps, it does not support the killing of civilians and non-military targets when confronted with the obviously natural of GOV support for FARC including supplying artillery rockets the GOV MOD told the DOS that FARC was a problem for both GOV and GOC and that rogue elements inside the DISIP are responsible for supplying the weapons to FARC. The GOV policy regarding FARC dissidents had not changed, it supported their struggle as a Marxist Resistance group, but attempts to integrate FARC dissidents’ senior leadership into the GOV security infrastructure had failed. Maduro himself no longer supports the armed struggle of FARC dissidents and has attempted to bring them into the security fold of Venezuela, but FARC dissident’s senior leadership has rejected any notion of surrendering their weapons and joining any government as has offered their services to cartel factions.  The DOS replied to the GOV MOD that the US will support any action that the GOC chooses including the right to respond, and that if the GOV wishes to continue to improve relations with USG it would condemn the attacks and provide the GOC with any intelligence as to the location of the FARC dissidents camps.

28th July 2010

Fort Meade Maryland

NSA Secure Compound Eplison Data Center

INTERCEPT TRACE FROM GOV TO FARC

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FROM GOV MOD DISIP

[US SUGGEST] The Government of Colombia (GOC) will attack dissident bases within the next 30 days, they told the GOV FM MOD that the Colombians would respond to any future attack by FARC dissidents as an attack from GOV and that the GOV only options are to turn over FARC dissidents rebels or to eradicate them, this we believe might be a pretext for a cross border raid by the GOC to seize control of the Cinaruco Amazon basin, The GOV believes the GOC seeks to create a buffer zone along its border. GOV requested assistance from UEAS members, Brazil and Argentina to block the UN from any security council actions against the GOV for its support of FARC dissidents. The GOV will invoke its UEAS security rights which require all members to respond to military action against the GOV as an attack on all members of the alliance if the GOC crosses the border into Venezuela to attack the rebel camps.

July 30th 2016

Embassy Buenos Aires, Argentina

Meeting Between GOA FM and US Ambassador

The GOA FM met with the US Ambassador to talk about the rocket attack/bombing in Colombia which happened over the weekend, The GOA stated that the US should not get involved in UEAS internal matters and that the UEAS could deal with the FARC problem, both Brazil and Argentina’s military could root out FARC bases without the need for US or GOC intervention, and that if the Colombian Air Force cross the border into Venezuelan that UEAS would shoot them down, and log it as a violation of its sovereign. An attack against all of its members which include 8 of the 13 countries of South America. The GOA told the US Ambassador that GOC’s refusal to join UEAS was also part of the problem, that while UEAS was ready to deal with the FARC dissidents problem, FARC only targets the GOV, not other UEAS members and thus is not a legal target for the UEAS. 

The US DOS told the FM that if the UEAS was able to stop FARC it should act unilaterally before the GOC decided to respond on its own, that both the USG and GOC’s patience for these games was over, and that it would not tolerate repeated rocket attacks from the other side of the border. The GOA, while understanding the complexity of removing FARC from the jungle, reiterated to the US Ambassador that this was a South American matter and the US should not involve itself.

August 1st 2016

Embassy Bogota

MOD REQUESTED A MEETING WITH CIA STATION CHIEF US DOS

The MD of the GOC has requested US assistance with striking FARC dissident’s rebel camps, The MD requests the use of MQ-9 Reaper drones to attack the camps which their surveillance Puma drones identified. The USAF air base in Colombia’s central region has enough security for us to deploy Reaper drones to the region without anyone knowing.  The drones can be flown in cargo aircraft in shipping containers and assembled behind closed doors. The use of Reaper drones to strike targets would be kept classified and the GOC air force would fabricate a cover story claiming their own aircraft conducted the operation. The Air Force of Colombia recently purchased several new F-16 fighters and A-29 strike aircraft. Which it would say were used in the strike. The US, while keen to support the GOC in the struggle against FARC, will not risk being dragged into a war in South America. 

The CIA was quite aware that GOC had been penetrated by UEAS counterintelligence in both the Army and DAS. The ability of the Colombians to keep a secret was dubious at best. The moment Reaper drones touched down in Colombia, the information would flow back to the UEAS and become a headache for the State Department. The GOC request for Reaper drones was denied. Disappointed the MOD official asked if there was anything the US could do unofficially to help them. The CIA station chief replied that the US could provide satellite imagery of the camps if the GOC gave us a rough idea of their location. The MOD official then lied to the CIA station chief and said that the current locations of FARC camps had not been determined and that this was part of the reason why they wanted Reaper drones specifically, they could loiter over the jungle for hours using advanced jungle penetrating radar to locate the camps. The CIA station chief was still willing to recommend a covert action plan be detailed which they would recommend an action using Colombian Army Special Forces and coordinated artillery strikes on the camps. The US could provide the Colombians with a M982 Excalibur GPS-guided 155mm artillery shell in place of Reaper drones. These shells have a rocket-assisted range of over 70km and can hit targets within 4 meters. The GOC approved of the idea and accepted US assistance, the CIA arranged for the artillery rounds to be shipped via FedEx to the MOD offices in Colombia using trusted personnel, this would avoid the large logistic footprint of US aircraft.

August 4th 2016

Embassy Bogota

The US DOSA held a meeting today with the GOC MOD and DISP intelligence service. The CIA station chief was also at the meeting. They discussed the planning and execution of the raid on the FARC base. The GOC wanted to launch the operation within the next 24 hours on Friday. But the USDOSA recommended they wait until after the visit of the UEAS defense minister to his Venezuelan counterpart. The trip was reported by a CIA source in Venezuela who said that the meeting was to discuss how to deal with the FARC problem. The UEAS had been told by the US the week before in the United Nations to make a decision on the matter or risk isolation.  Sources inside this meeting state that UEAS MOD was divided between Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela and was given clear guidelines to the GOV MOD, that both Brazil and Argentina were not willing to risk economic isolation from the US over the FARC issue. Venezuelans were told outright they could no longer provide a safe haven for a terrorist organization that continues to cross the border into another foreign nation and bomb civilians in downtown Bogota. The UEAS MOD was instructed to tell the GOV that UEAS would remove or relocate FARC camps further into the Brazil rainforest away from the Colombia border. The relocation of FARC dissident camps while not ideal is the only option to avoid military action, it was up to the GOV to convince the FARC dissidents to relocate, and the UEAS which they have attempted numerous times to seek diplomatic support for total disarming would likely lead to the further fractionations of the groups into the hands of the cartels. The UEAS is aware of the unique situation FARC presents for the GOV but needs to understand that the UEAS can not be seen by the world publicly as an organization that supports rebel groups or narco-terrorists.  The response from the GOV was to eject the UEAS MOD representative from the country. The UEAS had told the GOV to stop supporting FARC narcos, but it was the GOV was too entrenched in supporting them as proxies against an invasion of its country by the Colombians. This risk of invasion fueled an expanded military program, and modernization which lasted for nearly 15 years as the huge humanitarian cost collapsed the GOV economy. The GOC witnessed this collapse with alarm as thousands of Venezuelans fled into neighboring countries seeking a better life.

The government of Colombia requested satellite imagery of four possible FARC bases inside the PLNC national park. They requested satellite data link time and access to NSA wiretaps. The request indicates a clear intent that the Colombian military intends to strike these FARC narco camps. Chatter inside the MOD and DISP both indicated a great deal of activity towards pre-planning. CIA sources inside the military’s special operations units are telling back channels that the Colombians have already constructed mock-ups of the camps and have units rehearsing daily. The MOD has indicated that they will launch a single raid rather than a series of attacks in order to better catch the FARC rebels off guard. The force involved will range from 200 to 500.

August 6th 2016

Embassy Bogota

The FM of the GOC requested a meeting with both USSOCOM and DOS ambassadors for a classified briefing on what they are calling OPERATION GREEN JAGUAR. The meeting took place roughly 2 hours later at the US DOS compound in the CIA annex. The meeting was attended via telemeeting using real-time data routed by acting US Southern command generals in North Carolina. The MOD Under Secretary and US Ambassador along with various aides and Senior Colombian Special operation mission commanders. A Colombian Colonel named Ivan Serrano gave the briefing in English to the virtual audience.

“In the early morning, the GOC will deploy four 16-man Special Operations teams via MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. The teams are reconnaissance Marine units from the 106th Special Jungle Warfare Division and will provide target designation for two separate artillery teams which will be inserted the following evening. Roughly the same time; the following night 8x MH47 Chinook with an M777 155mm lightweight howitzer slung and the CIA-supplied Excalibur guided shells will fly across the border. The GOC will use US-provided communications gear to coordinate actions between recon CODE NAME GREEN VIPER and artillery fire teams CODENAME BLACK ANVIL. Once all SO teams are in place the artillery strike will commence. After strikes conclude SOF teams will enter camps for BDA and confirm KIA and recovery of intelligence. The GOV will provide a QRF force, composed of ground and air support for this phase. Two A29 SuperTucano fitted with ground attack munitions will leave the Air Force base 3 hours before allowing enough time for them to travel the 450km from the airbase. The A29 will also be supported by Puma unmanned drone platforms providing real-time ISR. The MOD has requested additional satellite bandwidth to support to allow for the transmission of the feed to the USSOCOM HQ. 200 Commandos from the CCUA National Guard will provide backup forces stationed 10 miles from the border, they will take up to 4 hours to reach the artillery sites but will provide the on the ground quick reaction force. 

The mission starts at 740 Zulu time. The commandos board the transport helicopters and fly deep into the PLNC jungle. They cross into GoV territory roughly 90 minutes later flying under 100 feet. Through dense jungles and mountains that run the length of the insertion route, they will be undetectable to Venezuelan Radar and Air defense systems.