Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04GUATEMALA30
2004-01-09 17:03:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

BERGER NAMES PROFESSIONAL, EXPERIENCED CABINET

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR EAID SNAR GT 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 000030 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EAID SNAR GT
SUBJECT: BERGER NAMES PROFESSIONAL, EXPERIENCED CABINET

REF: GUATEMALA 0022

Classified By: PolCouns David Lindwall for reason 1.5 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 000030

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EAID SNAR GT
SUBJECT: BERGER NAMES PROFESSIONAL, EXPERIENCED CABINET

REF: GUATEMALA 0022

Classified By: PolCouns David Lindwall for reason 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary and introduction: On January 7,
President-elect Oscar Berger announced the members of his
cabinet. He also named eight "policy coordinators"
(super-ministers) to head functional areas. It is not clear
what their relationship will be to the ministers, but Berger
has described them to us as his policy advisors with
responsibility for coordinating implementation by the Cabinet
ministries and independent agencies. The Berger team is made
up of experienced professionals drawn from the private sector
and civil society groups that supported his campaign.
Several are former ministers and some are his personal
friends. Very few professional politicians were named to the
Cabinet, as Berger's electoral coalition (GANA) was made up
of three small parties that had no previous presence in
Congress or the Executive. Two women and two Mayan
indigenous representatives were named. Berger scored a major
coup in recruiting CALDH Director LaRue to head the
Government's human rights office, assuring implementation of
a progressive human rights policy. Press commentary has been
largely favorable. End summary and introduction.

The Inner Circle
--------------

2. (C) Executive Secretary for Coordination - Eduardo
Gonzalez Castillo. Gonzalez is a prominent banker and former
Minister of Economy who coordinated the GANA presidential
campaign. Gonzalez is Berger's closest advisor, and was the
architect of GANA's campaign platform. He is a member of
Guatemala's economic elite (his father is a major coffee
exporter and bank owner and his mother is from the Castillo
family that owns the largest brewery),and his presence in
the government is a guarantee that private sector interests
will not be ignored. Gonzalez, who holds a degree in
business administration from the University of Pennsylvania,
is an advocate of trade liberalization and modernization of
the state. He is dynamic, self-confident and views
Guatemala's interests as inextricably linked to the United

States. He speaks fluent English.


3. (C) President's Private Secretary - Alfredo Antonio Vila.
Vila is a businessman (sugar producer) and long-time
associate of Berger who held important jobs in the Municipal
Government of Guatemala City while Berger was Mayor (heading
the water and public transportation services). He holds a
law degree, but has never practiced. He served as Director
for the Chamber of Free Enterprise. Vila served as Berger's
private secretary during the campaign, and maintained
communication with the Embassy.


4. (C) Secretary General of the Presidency - Jorge Arturo
Arroyave. Like Vila, Arroyave was a close collaborator of
Berger's during his tenure as Mayor of Guatemala City.
Arroyave, who holds a law degree from the public University
of San Carlos, was Secretary General of the Municipality of
Guatemala under Berger, and served previously as the head of
the Civil Registry.

Policy Co-ordinators
--------------

5. (C) Implementation of the Plan of Government Coordinator -
Richard Aitkenhead Castillo. Aitkenhead (47) is an economist
who served as Minister of Economy and later as Minister of
Finance for Presidents Serrano and De Leon. In the
center-right Arzu administration, Aitkenhead served as head
of the Peace Commission and Coordinator for International
Assistance. Aitkenhead holds a masters degree in public
administration from Harvard. He is a supporter of free
trade, is pro-U.S. and is expected to be the coordinator of
economic policy in the Berger government. Aitkenhead speaks
fluent English.


6. (C) Coordinator for Security and Defense - Otto Perez
Molina. Former General Perez Molina is the Secretary General
of the Patriotic Party, one of the three parties that made up
Berger's electoral coalition (GANA). Perez Molina was forced
to retire from the military by President Portillo (who
retired all 20 generals when he assumed office). Perez
Molina served as Army intelligence chief in 1992-1993, and
represented the military during negotiations with the
guerrillas that led to the signing of a comprehensive peace
accord in 1996. The Archbishop's Human Rights Office (ODAG)
told the Embassy in 1994 that they had no evidence of Perez
Molina's involvement in human rights abuses. Perez Molina is
not a personal friend of Berger's, but was a key ally during
the campaign. Berger has delegated to Perez Molina
coordination of all security matters, including
responsibility for the Ministries of Defense and Government
(i.e. the police). Perez Molina does not speak English.


7. (C) Coordinator for Political Reform and the Institutions
of the State - Mario Fuentes Destarac. Fuentes Destarac is
the Dean of the Law School of the Jesuit Rafael Landivar
University, and was the legal advisor to Berger's
presidential campaign. He writes a weekly op ed in daily "El
Periodico," and was an outspoken critic of the Portillo
Government. Fuentes Destarac was the Secretary of the
Constitutional Court and is considered one of Guatemala's
leading constitutional lawyers.


8. (C) Coordinator for Investment and Competitiveness -
Miguel Fernandez. Fernandez is a prominent businessman who
owns Guatemala's largest in-bond processing plant. His
company employees 14,000 workers and produces clothing for
Levis and the Gap, among others. A classmate in elementary
and high school, he is one of Berger's closest friends.
Fernandez is also the Director of the Guatemalan branch of
the Harvard-affiliated business school INCAE.


9. (C) Coordinator for Modernization of the State - Harris
Whitbeck. Whitbeck (69) is a prominent businessman
(construction),former American citizen and founding member
of the FRG, who quit the Portillo government in 2002 to join
the Partido Patriota. The Partido Patriota originally named
Whitbeck its presidential candidate in the 2003 elections,
but when Berger threw his hat in the ring, Whitbeck
graciously declined his nomination and supported the Berger
campaign. Whitbeck coordinated rural development projects
for two FRG governments (1983-4, 1999-2002),and got to know
many mayors and rural community leaders. He was able to
build on these contacts to increase Berger's support in rural
areas during the campaign. Whitbeck (like Berger) is a
strong supporter of decentralization. His son, Harris
Whitbeck Jr., is a correspondent for CNN.


10. (C) Coordinator for Megaprojects and President of the
Social Investment Fund - Luis Flores Asturias. Flores (56)
was Vice President in the government of Alvaro Arzu
(1996-2000). Flores' first career was dentistry, where he
rose to be professor in Guatemala's leading public and
private universities. He studied dentistry at the University
of Alabama. He got into politics in 1987, when he became one
of the founders of the center-right National Action Party
(PAN),and was elected to Congress for PAN in 1990. Flores
is a life-long friend of former President Alvaro Arzu, and
was drafted into politics by Arzu. When Arzu's faction of
the PAN lost the party leadership in 2001, Flores Asturias
got out of politics, but returned in 2003 to support another
friend, Oscar Berger.


11. (C) Coordinator for Local Development - Rodolfo Paiz
Andrade. Rodolfo "Fito" Paiz is one of the heirs to
Guatemala's largest supermarket fortune, and has been active
in politics since the restoration of democracy in 1984. The
Harvard-educated Paiz served as Minister of Economy for the
Christian Democratic government of Vinicio Cerezo
(1986-1990),and was candidate for President for his own
small party (DIA) in the 2003 elections. When he lost the
first round election, he publicly endorsed Berger in the
runoff election. Paiz is articulate and speaks English
fluently.


12. (C) Coordinator for Tourism - William Kaltschmitt.
Kaltschmitt was the President of Guatemala's Olympic
Committee and first Guatemalan Ambassador to Cuba after the
restoration of diplomatic relations in 1998. He comes from a
prominent business family and owns a business that imports
agricultural chemicals.

Ministers
--------------

13. (U) Foreign Affairs - Jorge Briz Abularach (see reftel).


14. (U) Defense - BG Cesar Augusto Mendez Pinelo (see septel).


15. (C) Minister of Government - Manuel Arturo Soto Aguirre.
Soto was Berger's third choice for Minister of Government,
after human rights activist Helen Mack (although Mack is
prepared to serve on a Security Advisory Council Berger
intends to establish) and businessman Carlos Vielman turned
down the offer. Soto is a long-time judge and former
magistrate of the Supreme Court. He served as a congressman
for the FRG in 1991-1995, and joined the Partido Patriota in

2002. He was considered briefly as a vice presidential
running mate to Harris Whitbeck for the Partido Patriota in
the 2003 elections. His selection as Minister of Government
was a concession to Otto Perez Molina, who has been put in
charge of security policy.


16. (C) Minister of Finance - Maria Antonieta del Cid. One
of two women on Berger's team, Del Cid is the Director of the
Monetary Board, Director General of the (private) Banco del
Quetzal, has worked on Central American issues for the IMF,
and is a former Vice President of the Bank of Guatemala. She
is highly respected in banking circles in Guatemala. She
holds a degree in economics from the University of Illinois.


17. (C) Minister of Economy - Marcio Cuevas. Cuevas is a
prominent businessman (textiles) and the Chairman of the
Non-Traditional Exporters Association. He is a long-time
contact of the Embassy, a supporter of free trade, and was an
active opponent of the FRG government. He served as Vice
President of the private sector umbrella organization (CACIF)
until recently. He is positively disposed towards the U.S.


18. (C) Minister of Agriculture - Alvaro Aguilar. Aguilar is
a non-traditional exporter who served as General Manager of
the Non-Traditional Exporters Association. He is an engineer
by training. Aguilar worked on the unsuccessful Berger
presidential campaign in 1999, and was a major supporter in
the 2003 campaign.


19. (C) Minister of Health - Marco Tulio Sosa. Sosa is a
businessman and chemical engineer whose tenure as Minister of
Health under Alvaro Arzu (1996-1999) was viewed as highly
successful. Though not a health professional, Sosa
introduced innovations in the Health Ministry during his
first term (including introducing public-private partnerships
and reducing corruption in the purchase of medicines and
equipment) which gained the Arzu administration a positive
image in providing public health. Sosa served as a
congressman for the center-right PAN party in 1991-1995.


20. (C) Minister of Communication and Public Works - Eduardo
Castillo. Castillo was the Deputy Mayor for Guatemala City
during Berger's terms as Mayor. He is an architect by
training and managed the infrastructure and construction
projects for the capital.


21. (C) Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources -
Manuel Salazar Tezaguic. Salazar Tezaguic is one of two
Mayan Indigenous representatives in the cabinet. He is a
cultural anthropologist, musician and professor of philosophy.


22. (C) Minister of Energy and Mines - Roberto Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is a consultant for private energy companies in
Guatemala. He worked closely with Berger in the municipal
government of Guatemala City, where he served as deputy
director of the waterworks (EMPAGUA) and general manager of
the municipalities public transportation system.


23. (U) Minister of Education - not yet named.


24. (C) Minister of Labor - not yet named. We have heard
that Jorge Lewis, General Manager of Fritolay's Guatemalan
subsidiary, has been offered the position, but that he has
not made a decision yet on whether he will accept.

Other Berger Team Members
--------------

25. (C) Presidential Spokesperson - Rosa Maria de Frade. De
Frade was the press spokesperson for Berger's presidential
campaign and was the architect of his public affairs
strategy. She has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University
of Madrid, and served as Guatemala's Ambassador to Costa Rica
and Venezuela during the Arzu Administration. Most recently
she was the director for human resources for Pepsico's
regional operations.


26. (C) Peace Secretary - Victor Montejo. Montejo is a
naturalized U.S. citizen of Jacalteco Maya origin. He holds
a Degree in Anthropology from the University of California.
He was elected as a Congressman for the GANA coalition in the
2003 election.


27. (C) Secretary for the Presidential Commission for Human
Rights (COPREDEH) - Frank LaRue. LaRue, an American citizen,
is a prominent human rights activist and is the founder and
director of the Legal Action Center for Human Rights (CALDH).
He is also a professor of human rights at the Jesuit Rafael
Landivar University. Berger had long told us that he wanted
to include human rights leaders to serve in his government,
and his recruitment of LaRue is a major coup for civil
society groups that have for many years watched governments
assign a low priority to advancing human rights. Along with
the nomination of other representatives of civil society, the
LaRue nomination demonstrates Berger's genuine interest in
having a socially and politically progressive government,
belying the characterization carried by the U.S. press of a
"return to the conservative governments of the last 20 years."
HAMILTON