Embassy Information Campaign Spotlights Connections

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 000355

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA A/S NORIEGA, PDAS DERHAM, DAS JEWELL; WHA/PD
(GOULD); IIP (JORIA, MANES); R/PPR
LAC/AA FRANCO
NSC FOR KIM BREIER, TOM SHANNON

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP PTER PGOV SNAR PREL PA
SUBJECT: Embassy Information Campaign Spotlights Connections
Among FARC, Kidnappings, Drug Traffickers, Local Subversives
and Police Corruption


1. SUMMARY: Paraguayan law enforcement and the judiciary
suffer from widespread public distrust. Moreover, few
people in this remote outpost at the end of a spur line are
informed about Colombia and the insidious and powerful mix
of insurgency, drug trafficking, kidnapping and other
crimes. Post decided that a forceful, factual campaign
publicizing the GOP's findings regarding the FARC role in
the Cubas kidnapping/murder, and drawing attention to FARC
narcotics smuggling in Paraguay, would also advance US
objectives to secure the extradition of Ivan Mendes Mesquita
and reduce the promotion chances for drug-connected police
commissioner Aristides Cabral. END SUMMARY.


BASIC FACTS
--------------

2. On 9/21/2004, Cecilia Cubas, daughter of Paraguay's ex-
president Raul Cubas, was kidnapped in Asuncion. Cecilia's
abduction and the subsequent highly publicized search for
her came to symbolize the violence and insecurity that
plague Asuncion's residents. Numerous individuals were
arrested in connection with her kidnapping in the ensuing
months although no trace of Cecilia was found. On 2/14 news
broke that investigators had established a link between her
kidnappers and the FARC using evidence from email and cell
phone communications. On 2/16 her body was found in a
tunnel underneath a home in the Asuncion area. Drug-
trafficker Mendes Mesquita, a prominent Beira Mar
collaborator with FARC connections, was apprehended in
Paraguay on 11/24/2004 and is currently being held under
charges here. His extradition has been requested by the
U.S. Aristides Cabral is a police officer who has protected
drug traffickers for at least 4 years and is awaiting
potential promotion by the Senate to the most senior ranks
of the police. His promotion would set back our CD program
and call into question the GOP's seriousness about fighting
corruption when it involves those linked to the most
powerful Colorado Party politicians.

REVIEW OF MEDIA COVERAGE
--------------

3. Cecilia's kidnapping was front-page news in all of
Asuncion's three major dailies for weeks after her
abduction. During the intervening months each paper
dedicated multiple pages to the story every day. Radio and
television coverage throughout this time was equally heavy.
With the February 14 revelations of the role of the FARC in
the crime media coverage skyrocketed. Finally, after her
body was found, the story completely dominated all media
outlets for weeks. It was the only story covered on radio
and television while the three dailies devoted an average of
20 pages in each edition to the events surrounding the
kidnap and murder. Paraguay's media closely followed the
Colombian press throughout the ordeal (and continue to do
so) often running stories reporting on coverage in Bogota.

EMBASSY PD EFFORTS
--------------

4. Over the years, FARC involvement in criminal activity,
particularly drug trafficking, in Paraguay has been
downplayed or ignored by Paraguayan officials and media. In
addition, widespread public sympathy for leftist
organizations and distrust of government institutions makes
belief in the GOP's claims of FARC activity difficult in
many quarters. The Embassy public affairs effort aimed to
underline the reality of FARC involvement.


5. The week of the FARC revelations and discovery of the
body, the Ambassador had made himself available to media
after a previously-arranged press conference with visiting
Millennium Challenge Account officials. The orchestrated
second press availability focused on the link between the
FARC and various criminal elements in Paraguay. The
Ambassador specifically addressed FARC ties to drug-
trafficker Mendes Mesquita and encouraged government
officials and the public to take the necessary measures to
improve public security.


6. On 2/25 Radio Nanduti broadcast a live interview with
the Ambassador during its most popular morning program that
centered on the same themes. During that interview, the
Ambassador underscored the modus operandi of the FARC, that
is, the nexus among FARC subversives, kidnappers, drug
traffickers, and the police and other officials they bribe.
This led into a discussion of Mendes Mezquita and Cabral.
The interview was subsequently published repeatedly in
newspaper coverage. Paraguayan daily "ABC Color" also
interviewed the Ambassador regarding the FARC and organized
crime in Paraguay and published the interview in its 3/1
edition. Nanduti is the most influential radio station in
Paraguay with approximately one million listeners while "ABC
Color" is the most widely-read and influential newspaper,
with a daily press run of 50,000. PAS Asuncion arranged
both interviews.


7. In addition, PAS and the Front Office verbally and
electronically distributed open-source information on how
the FARC operates. This information was disseminated both
in response to requests from journalists and policy-makers
and at our own initiative.


8. COMMENT: A diplomatic mission taking a strong public
stance is a two-edged sword in Paraguay. Harsh criticism
and vehement condemnation from knee-jerk anti-Americans,
blind followers of leftist doctrine, and those who are paid
by the traffickers or are beholden to politicians who
benefit from the country's pervasive lawlessness, (whether
land invasions, cattle rustling, contraband, embezzlements,
shakedowns, drug trafficking, money laundering or
kidnapping) is immediate. Getting the truth out and in
front of reasonable people, however, is more than worth the
backlash in the short term. In the long haul, the
assistance of Chile, Colombia and perhaps others is vital in
our struggle against criminal elements in Paraguay. The
more others are involved and our hand is less visible, the
fewer risks there are for success by opponents of change who
seek to brand President Duarte's security and public safety
drive as capitulation to alleged U.S. designs.

KEANE