PARAGUAY: UPDATE ON CUBAS KIDNAPPING CASE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 001329

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA A/S NORIEGA AND PDAS DERHAM
STATE ALSO FOR DS/T/ATA
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA
BUENOS AIRES FOR LEGAT WILLIAM GODOY
NSC FOR SUE CRONIN
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINR KCRM PA
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY: UPDATE ON CUBAS KIDNAPPING CASE

REF: ASUNCION 01119 AND PRECEDING


1. (U) Summary: On October 13, a Paraguayan judge indicted 15
suspects in the kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas.
Several of the defendants have ties to the leftist Free
Fatherland Party (Partido Patria Libre, or "PPL"). The judge
stayed the proceedings with respect to three individuals who
were accused in the early stages of the investigation. The
Cubas family reportedly has received death threats in recent
weeks. PPL faction leader Osmar Martinez repeated earlier
admissions that he has amicable relations with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and supports
armed struggle as a means to overthrow elected governments.
End Summary.


2. (U) On October 13, a Paraguayan judge indicted 15 suspects
in the kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of
former President Raul Cubas (reftels). All 15 of the
suspects were indicted on charges of kidnapping, murder, and
criminal association. Two of the suspects were also indicted
on documents charges. The various defendants' involvement in
the case ranged from masterminding the crime, to conducting
surveillance of the victim, to making logistical arrangements
in connection with the house where the victim was held and a
safe house for members of the criminal gang.


3. (U) Several of the defendants have ties to the PPL. At
least one of them, Aldo Meza, appears in a PPL kidnapping
rehearsal video seized in 2003 during the investigation of
the 2001 kidnapping of Maria Edith Bordon de Debernardi
(reftels). Meza and at least two other suspects in the Cubas
case have been implicated in the Debernardi kidnapping.
Meza's sister, Magna Meza, is serving time for her conviction
in the Debernardi case.


4. (U) The following 15 suspects were indicted on October 13:

-- Osmar Martinez, leader of a militant PPL faction and
suspected mastermind of the Cubas kidnapping
-- Anastasio Mieres, a PPL member
-- Jose Martinez, a PPL member and Osmar Martinez's brother
-- Francisca Andina, a PPL member
-- Asael Salas, a PPL member
-- Aldo Meza, who appears in the PPL kidnapping video
-- Vaciano Acosta, alias "Luciano"
-- Manuel Portillo, alias "Saul"
-- Pedro Chamorro, alias "Emilio"
-- Lidia Samudio, alias "Tania"
-- Rosalba Jara Drakeford, alias "Ana Rosa"
-- Jose Hidalgo Ayala, a former policeman
-- Sebastian Osorio Gonzalez
-- Jose Domingo Martinez Duran
-- Roberto Otazu Busto


5. (U) The judge stayed the proceedings with respect to the
following three individuals who were accused in the early
stages of the investigation:

-- Marciana Amalia Benitez, whose stolen identification card
apparently was used by a member of the criminal gang to
obtain a cellular phone;

-- Hernan Nunez Sanguina, whose stolen identification card
also apparently was used by a member of the criminal gang to
obtain a cellular phone;

-- Emilio Rojas Garcete, whose stolen identification card
apparently was used by a member of the criminal gang to
purchase the house where Ms. Cubas was held.


6. (U) The Cubas family reportedly received death threats in
recent weeks. The authorities believe the threats were
related to the former First Lady's public support for the
prosecution in her daughter's case. The family has filed a
criminal complaint against the perpetrators of the threats,
but their identity remains unclear.


7. (SBU) In statements to the press, Osmar Martinez repeated
earlier admissions that he has amicable relations with the
FARC and supports armed struggle as a means to overthrow
elected governments. Despite also repeating incriminating
statements that he communicated with FARC leaders by means of
an email account that has been connected to the kidnappers,
Martinez denied any involvement in the kidnapping and
asserted that he and his fellow PPL members were being
persecuted because of their leftist ideology. (Comment: The
evidence against Martinez and other members of his militant
PPL faction seems irrefutable and Martinez's claims of
political persecution frivolous.)
KEANE