NEW MINISTER OF DEFENSE CESAR MENDEZ: BIOGRAPHICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000026

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2014
TAGS: PREL PINR MOPS MARR GT
SUBJECT: NEW MINISTER OF DEFENSE CESAR MENDEZ: BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION


Classified By: Poloff Robert E. Copley for reason 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Brigadier General Cesar Augusto MENDEZ Pinelo
(53) was named to be the next Minister of Defense by
President-elect Berger on January 7. Mendez is a protege of
former General Otto Perez Molina, a ranking member of
Berger's GANA coalition. Embassy databases contain no
derogatory information related to Mendez. Human rights
groups view his appointment as positive. In recent years,
Mendez has kept a low profile and faces mandatory retirement
in September 2004. End Summary.


2. (C) Mendez was part of the military's peace commission,
headed by Perez Molina, and he assisted in the negotiation of
the Peace Accords that put an end to the 36-year internal
conflict. He was Director of Operations for the Chief of
Staff in 1996 when the final accords were signed. Mendez has
spent the last few years out of the limelight as Defense
Attache in Spain and, until recently, Honduras. As a General
Officer, Mendez held major (post-conflict) commands in Quiche
and Quetzaltenango, the two most important military zones in
the largely indigenous highlands. Mendez was Deputy Director
of Intelligence and Assistant Chief of Staff for the
Presidential Military Staff (EMP) when Perez Molina headed
those units. Mendez has also served as Director and Deputy
Director of the Military Academy (Escuela Politecnica),
positions that provide substantial influence through shaping
new officers.


3. (C) Mendez's curriculum vitae, obtained by the DATT, lists
substantial human rights training inside and outside of
Guatemala. Although Mendez commanded troops in combat during
the worst years of the war, rising from platoon commander to
battalion executive officer before moving into logistics in
1985, our databases contain no derogatory information. Frank
LaRue, Director of CALDH, a major human rights NGO in
Guatemala, told the Ambassador that, as Guatemala military
officers go, Mendez was one of the most interested in human
rights. LaRue added that Mendez's absence from the country
in recent years gives him a relatively fresh perspective on
the military's role in a democracy and suggests that he was
not a part of the corrupt clique of military and former
military officers who had significant influence with the
Portillo Administration.


4. (U) Mendez speaks fluent German and Italian, which he
picked up while training in those countries. Mendez returned
to Germany in 1989 for Command and General Staff College.
His English is described as "conversational." Mendez is a
practicing Catholic. He does not drink alcohol and is
considered to be very religious. He has four adult children,
all studying in Guatemala. Mendez's tenure as MOD will be
short as he faces mandatory retirement in September 2004
after 33 years of service.


5. (C) Comment: Berger's appointment of Mendez was almost
certainly due to the influence of Mendez's long-time ally
Perez Molina, who heads Berger's security portfolio. Perez
Molina had other choices for MOD, such as the higher-profile
General Bustamante. In picking Mendez, Perez Molina has
opted for an apparently squeaky-clean, quietly competent, and
loyal protege that he can replace without a ripple in less
than a year. Mendez's short tenure will provoke immediate
jockeying to replace him.
HAMILTON