UPDATE ON VIOLENT POLITICAL PROTESTS IN GUATEMALA

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 001906 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2013 TAGS: PGOV ASEC PHUM KDEM PINR PINS GT SUBJECT: UPDATE ON VIOLENT POLITICAL PROTESTS IN GUATEMALA REF: A. GUATEMALA 1904 ¶B. GUATEMALA 1900 Classified By: A/PolCouns Robert E. Copley for reason 1.5 (b). ¶1. (U) At 2:00 PM local time on July 25, the disturbances seem to be winding down. In a second day of protests, pro-Rios Montt demonstrators focused their morning activities around the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and Supreme Electoral Tribunal buildings--all related to Rios Montt's efforts to register his Presidential candidacy. Riot police and combined police/military patrols were seen moving in the area, but took no action. Four journalists were beaten by demonstrators, who also destroyed their cameras and other equipment. ¶2. (U) Rumors circulated that the demonstrators were being relieved by fresh replacements in a synchronized fashion and seemed to be confirmed by reliable reports that some 80 bus-loads of protesters were bound for the capital. By 12:30 PM, new rumors circulated that Rios Montt had released a tape recording asking the demonstrators to cease action and go home. Journalist broadcast images of protesters boarding buses near the Constitutional court and by 1:30 PM, the area was nearly deserted. The inbound buses have not appeared. We continue to monitor the situation. ¶3. (C) A haggard Minister of Interior admitted to the Ambassador and RSO that police had not always carried out his orders and that the FRG's purpose was sheer intimidation. Minister Calderon agreed that heads should roll within the police once the immediate situation is contained. Calderon was ambivalent at best about the President's July 24 order for joint police/military forces to restore order, pointing out that the Minster of Defense is outside the country and arguing that the Chief of Staff (son of Rios Montt) was not providing much assistance. ¶4. (U) Legal questions about Rios Montt's ability to campaign may not be resolved soon. The President of the Supreme Court, Carlos Larios Ochaita, announced in a noon press conference that the Court was closing because of the protests and had evacuated its personnel due to complete lack of security. Ochaita called the response to bomb threats and the level of police protection outside his building "completely inadequate." HAMILTON