Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03GUATEMALA1435
2003-06-05 14:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

ASSISTANT SECRETARY STRUBLE'S MAY 29-31 VISIT TO

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB ETRD CASC GT 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 GUATEMALA 001435 

SIPDIS

HARARE FOR BRUCE WHARTON
USTR FOR BUD CLATANOFF
USDOL FOR ILAB: JORGE PEREZ-LOPEZ AND ROBERT WHOLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2013
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB ETRD CASC GT
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY STRUBLE'S MAY 29-31 VISIT TO
GUATEMALA

Classified By: Political Counselor David Lindwall. Reason 1.5 (b&d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 GUATEMALA 001435

SIPDIS

HARARE FOR BRUCE WHARTON
USTR FOR BUD CLATANOFF
USDOL FOR ILAB: JORGE PEREZ-LOPEZ AND ROBERT WHOLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2013
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB ETRD CASC GT
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY STRUBLE'S MAY 29-31 VISIT TO
GUATEMALA

Classified By: Political Counselor David Lindwall. Reason 1.5 (b&d).


1. (C) Summary: During a May 29-31 visit to Guatemala, to
participate in a WHA Entry Level Conference, Acting Assistant
Secretary Curt Struble met with Vice President Reyes Lopez,

SIPDIS
Acting Foreign Minister Aguilera and Minister of Interior
Reyes Calderon to discuss the full range of bilateral issues.
Vice President Reyes reiterated the Portillo
Administration's desire to complete free trade negotiations
with us by November, 2003, and said that the GOG would
conclude a maritime counternarcotics agreement with the U.S.
during the first week of June. In a call on human rights
leader Helen Mack, AA/S Struble expressed USG support for
Mack's efforts to obtain justice in the case of her sister,
who was murdered by security forces in 1990, and the creation
of an international mission to investigate the actions of
clandestine forces that have threatened human rights workers
in recent years. AA/S Struble and the Ambassador secured
assurances from Attorney General de Leon that greater
attention would be given to the investigation of the murders
of American Citizens and labor union members. De Leon also
described the ongoing investigation of a major corruption
case at the Social Security Institute that could implicate
important political sectors. Press attention during the
visit focused on USG concerns over a possible Rios Montt
presidency and satisfaction with improvements in
counternarcotics cooperation. The visit brought attention
both publicly and privately to the need for concrete actions
to advance critical issues on the bilateral agenda in the
remaining eight months of the Portillo Administration. End
Summary.

Vice President Anxious to Conclude Free Trade Negotiations
--------------


2. (C) Vice President Francisco Reyes Lopez, accompanied by
Acting Foreign Minister Gabriel Aguilera and Minister of

Interior Reyes Calderon, hosted a lunch at the Presidential
Palace for AA/S Struble, the Ambassador and PolCouns
(notetaker) on May 30. Reyes said that the Portillo
Administration is firmly committed to completing a free trade
agreement with the United States (CAFTA),and would like to
conclude the negotiation as soon as possible. Reyes noted
that President Portillo will be handing over power to a new
president in January 2004, and that by November 30, 2003,
Congress will out of session. He said the GOG is prepared to
increase the pace of negotiations in order to complete them
by the end of October, 2003, giving the Guatemalan Congress a
month to ratify the agreement. Reyes fears that if an
agreement is not concluded by then, it will be difficult to
get the current Congress to approve it, and the next Congress
is expected to be much more fractured than the current one.


3. (C) AA/S Struble and the Ambassador praised the Guatemalan
negotiating team, and said that Guatemala's positions at the
most recent round of talks had moved the negotiation
significantly forward. The Vice President agreed, but said
that the GOG still has some concerns over potential losses to
its agricultural sector. He described how, during a visit to
Iowa, he was amazed at the US potential for producing corn.
He said Guatemala could never compete against the US in corn
production, yet 50% of Guatemalans are corn farmers. Lopez
argued that an agreement that did not take into consideration
Guatemala's particular agricultural needs would only lead to
increased rural poverty and more immigration to the United
States. AA/S Struble commented that during the April 10
meeting between President Bush and the Central American
presidents, President Bush said emphatically that the US does
not want an agreement that disfavors Central America. USG
policy is to negotiate an agreement that is beneficial to
both sides. Struble also noted AID's efforts to coordinate
its development assistance strategy to the needs of CAFTA,
but he warned that inefficient producers are going to come
under pressure with or without CAFTA.


4. (C) The Ambassador told the Guatemalans that the USG was
pleased with the increase in counternarcotics cooperation in
recent months. He noted that we are close to signing a
maritime counternarcotics cooperation agreement, and
expressed hope that the GOG would ratify this agreement in
the coming days. Acting Foreign Minister Aguilera said that
the MFA expects to have an agreed text ready to send to
Congress for ratification by June 4 (Note: In Guatemala,
Congressional ratification of international agreements
precedes signature by the President. End note). Vice
President Reyes said that much has been done, but
acknowledged that much remains to be done to deny the use of
Guatemala to the traffickers as a transit point for drugs
heading north. He made a pitch for greater USG financial
assistance to the counter-drug effort in Guatemala. The
Ambassador commented that recently passed asset forfeiture
legislation, if properly applied, would generate far more
resources for the law enforcement purposes than the U.S.
would ever be able to provide. He urged the Guatemalans to
begin implementing this law and to use the proceeds
effectively to fight drugs.


5. (C) On other matters, AA/S Struble expressed concern for
the slow movement by GOG authorities to investigate the
murders of 13 AmCits in the past three years, and called on
the Vice President to use the Executive's influence with the
Attorney General and the Courts to give serious attention to
these cases. He noted that the USG is also concerned about
the recent murders of several labor leaders and the lack of
effective investigation of their cases. AA/S Struble told
Vice President Reyes that labor rights are a fundamental
concern of the U.S. in Guatemala, and that the potential GSP
review and ongoing CAFTA negotiations brought more attention
to Guatemala's labor situation. Vice President Reyes
acknowledged that more needs to be done to protect labor
rights, and went on to list the Portillo Government's
accomplishments in this field (e.g. passage of a new labor
code, increases in the minimum wage, lowering of requirements
for establishing new unions, etc.).

Helen Mack Describes Long Road Ahead for Human Rights
--------------


6. (C) Accompanied by Ambassador and PolOffs, AA/S Struble
visited the Myrna Mack Foundation to discuss with Foundation
Director Helen Mack recent developments in the Myrna Mack
case, progress in establishing the proposed commission to
investigate clandestine groups (CICIACS) and widespread
concerns about the failure of the justice system and
continuing impunity. Mack thanked AA/S Struble for his visit
and the sustained USG public support, both from Washington
and the Embassy. Mack said that she was disappointed by the
recent reversal of the October 2002 conviction that she and
her legal team had won against the alleged intellectual
authors of her sister's murder. She also explained the
appeal process before the Supreme Court, which she filed on
May 28, in which she asked the court to uphold the earlier
conviction of retired Colonel Valencia Osorio and his former
EMP (Presidential Military Guard) supervisor, retired General
Godoy Gaitan. Mack anticipates that no decision will be made
on her appeal until after the November 2003 elections and the
installation of a new government in January of 2004. AA/S
Struble expressed USG disappointment in the recent setback in
the Mack case, and the hope that the Guatemalan judicial
system would soon find the intellectual authors responsible
for the crime.


7. (C) In regard to CICIACS, Mack opined that the most
important effect the CICIACS could have would be to expose
publicly the existence of the organized criminal structures
that are undermining the rule of law in Guatemala, and
beginning to remove those structures from the positions of
power they currently enjoy, thanks to their connections in
the government. She thanked AA/S Struble for the commitment
of USG financial and political support for this endeavor.


8. (C) Mack said that she did not have high expectations that
the recent Consultative Group Meeting would spur the
government of President Alfonso Portillo to make significant
progress in implementing remaining elements of the peace
accords during its final eight months in office. She opined
that little improvement would be made in administration of
justice in Guatemala unless the international financial
institutions conditioned their loans on concrete improvement
in the administration of justice. Mack does not believe
sufficient incentives are currently in place to bring about
improvements in administration of justice, and that the only
tool that is likely to have sufficient leverage is
conditionality on IFI loans. She expressed thanks for the
support of the international community which used the
Consultative Group Meeting to press the GOG for concrete
reforms, but said that unless Guatemalans overcome their
apathy and begin to take ownership of resolving these
problems themselves, this government and future governments
would have little incentive to respond.


9. (C) Following the meeting, AA/S Struble spoke with
reporters and reaffirmed the priority the USG attaches to the
promotion and defense of human rights in Guatemala. Calling
Helen "a national treasure," Struble lauded her role in
seeking justice in human rights cases and working to end the
impunity that has long overshadowed human rights cases in
Guatemala.

Attorney General Promises Greater Attention to AmCit and
Labor Cases
--------------



10. (C) AA/S Struble and the Ambassador met on May 29 with
Attorney General Carlos de Leon Argueta to congratulate the
GOG on recent improvements in counter-narcotics cooperation
and to encourage stronger efforts by the Public Ministry to
investigate unsolved murders of U.S. citizens, Guatemalan
labor leaders, and to ensure the independence of a GOG
forensic laboratory which will receive USG funding. He told
de Leon that the USG, Congress and civil society are
concerned about unsolved murders of AmCits (13 in the past
three years) and lagging investigations of murdered labor
leaders in Guatemala. AA/S Struble requested that the GOG
make further efforts to combat and prevent these crimes by
ending the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators. AA/S Struble
further noted that an AFL-CIO petition to withdraw
Guatemala's GSP trade benefits is currently under review, and
Congressional approval of an eventual free trade agreement
with Central America will draw increased attention to labor
rights protections in the region. AA/S Struble noted a
growing recognition by some in Central America (he cited
Salvadoran President Flores in an April 11 meeting between
Central American presidents and President Bush) that Central
American governments need to do a better job convincing U.S.
NGOs and the AFL-CIO that a CAFTA will enhance protection of
labor rights in the region. The Ambassador went on to
encourage de Leon to devote more resources to combat money
laundering.


11. (C) De Leon said that he was reviewing the progress of
the special prosecutor investigating the murder of AmCits,
and will replace him if insufficient progress is revealed.
To combat impunity the Ministry had added 100 new
prosecutors, including six dedicated to money laundering
investigations. A new Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against
Trade Unionists and Journalists and supporting team had
recently been appointed, and is already making progress,
pursuing arrest warrants, judicial processes and trials.
Some of the crimes against union leaders, for example the
murder of the head of the municipal union of Nueva
Concepcion, Escuintla province in November 2002, were
motivated not by anti-union motives but by a power struggle
within organized crime, he said. Arrests have already been
made in that case, which involved 16 murders. De Leon
expressed GOG gratitude for support from the Ambassador and
DEA which has resulted in record seizures of drugs and cash
in recent months. He also cited the Ministry's efforts to
prosecute human rights crimes, citing the successful
prosecution of 16 former agents of the anti-narcotics police
for abuse of authority in the Chocon case.


12. (C) De Leon said he was optimistic about what the
Ministry could accomplish over the remaining three years of
his term. However, although the Public Ministry had
substantially improved its human resources since his arrival,
it still lacked sufficient funding to provide adequate
national coverage. The average prosecutor must handle 1,500
cases per year, and the Ministry budget can only afford an
average expenditure of $130 per case. Nevertheless, the
Ministry had launched low-cost initiatives to extend the rule
of law. For example, the ministry recently ran a public
information campaign to combat intra-family violence;
complaints by battered women shot up 400% as a result. De
Leon said his other priorities include the creation of a new
FBI-like institution within the Public Ministry and combating
corruption. He claimed to be resisting overtures from
corrupt elements within the Presidential Guard (EMP) and to
have instituted procedures to prevent the disappearance of
seized assets. "In this job I cannot have friends or
enemies, I must apply the law equally to everyone," he said.


13. (C) De Leon said that the current IGSS scandal (involving
the theft of over $30 million from the Social Security
Institute) shows that the GOG's system to detect and
investigate money laundering works. All the IGSS funds
diverted to illicit and overseas accounts have been
recovered, he said. He gave AA/S Struble a list of the banks
and sums of money identified (including Citibank) totaling
$17.4 million, and said that money laundering statues
provided the Public Ministry new powers to take measures to
freeze illicit accounts. The Ministry had executed over 20
raids and seized computer records and other evidence of the
fraud committed by IGSS officials. The Ministry will arrest
Carlos Wholers, an FRG Deputy and then-President of the IGSS
board of directors (named by President Portillo),as well as
the other members of the board of directors on May 30. AA/S
Struble encouraged the GOG to recoup workers' funds and
punish those responsible.

Press Questions Focus on Rios Montt Presidential Candidacy
--------------


14. (U) At a press roundtable attended by 20 reporters on May
30, most questions focused on a recent statement by State
Department Spokesman Boucher to the effect that if former
General Efrain Rios Montt were elected President in the
upcoming election, the United States would have a difficult
relationship with his government. Reporters also asked about
the status of Guatemalan counternarcotics cooperation (and
the possibility of Guatemala regaining certification as a
cooperating partner in the war on drugs) and USG objectives
in the ongoing free trade talks. AA/S Struble addressed the
question about Rios Montt by reading the State Department's
earlier statement and saying it speaks for itself. On
counternarcotics cooperation, AA/S Struble told reporters
that there have been several concrete improvements in
counternarcotics cooperation in recent months, and that the
USG would evaluate this progress at the appropriate time. In
response to questions about CAFTA, AA/S Struble noted the
firm commitment of President Bush to securing an agreement
that is good for both sides. AA/S Struble's statements
played prominently in all the papers and radio on May 31.

Comment
--------------

15. (C) The visit of Acting Assistant Secretary Struble
brought attention, both publicly and privately, to the need
for the Portillo Administration to focus efforts in a number
of concrete areas of our bilateral agenda in its remaining
eight months in office -- namely, successful completion of
free trade negotiations, continued progress in
counternarcotics cooperation, effective promotion of human
rights (including the establishment of CICIACS),and
investigation of the murders of American citizens and labor
union leaders. As national elections begin to distract the
Government and other political actors from the task of
addressing critical areas of our bilateral agenda, the
Embassy will press the government and Attorney General to
keep their eye on the ball to ensure that their commitments
result in concrete actions.


16. (U) This cable was cleared by AA/S Struble prior to his
departure from post.
MCFARLAND