PARAGUAY: MOI "MEDDLING" PROMPTS RESIGNATION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000593 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/BSC NSC FOR KIM BREIER TREASURY FOR OSIA MAUREEN WAFER TREASURY FOR OTA WARFIELD, VAN KOCH, MILLAR SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015 TAGS: PGOV KCRM PINR PA SUBJECT: PARAGUAY: MOI "MEDDLING" PROMPTS RESIGNATION OF POLICE CHIEF REF: ASUNCION 557 Classified By: Political Chief James P. Merz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ). ¶1. (C) On 4/21, Carlos Zelaya, Paraguay's Police Chief resigned and was replaced by Fidel Isasa Palacios, Paraguay's fourth officer to lead the police since Duarte became President in August 2003. According to SENAD Director Ibarra, Zelaya resigned over frustration with "meddling" in internal police affairs by Interior Minister Benitez. On 4/19, Benitez made an unannounced visit to a police station and observed several off-duty police officers drinking beer. Instead of taking up the matter directly with Zelaya, however, he called President Duarte. When Duarte, in turn, called Zelaya to ask, "Why are your folks getting drunk on the job?" Zelaya could only reply, "I have no idea what you are talking about." Zelaya was embarrassed and furious. Two days later, he resigned. ¶2. (U) Ibarra maintains this experience speaks volumes about the institutional culture disconnect between the Chief of Police and the Minister of Interior. While the latter retains some administrative authority over the Police Chief, the Chief is ultimately responsible to the President who can hire and fire him. Ibarra flags as equally important the fact that senior police officials do not respect the authority of a civilian with no military/police experience as is the case with Benitez. To that end, Ibarra thought selection of Mario Agustin Sapriza Nunez as the Interior Ministry's new deputy minister for internal security a wise one. Sapriza Nunez is a former Police Chief himself and will serve as liaison between the Interior Minister and the Police. Given his experience and rank as a police official, Sapriza should likely command far greater respect and authority than Benitez in his relations with the Police. ¶3. (U) On a broader scale, Ibarra spoke to the problem police and military officials have exercising authority over their peers. Police and military officials come in together as a class and are promoted through the ranks together as a class. When one of them becomes the Chief of Police, it is not unusual that he has working under him many of the classmates with whom he has passed through the ranks over the past 25 years. While his title would suggest he exercises authority over them, Ibarra maintained that Paraguayan culture dictates he treat them as his friends rather than his subordinates. Such a relationship undercuts his authority. The conclusion Ibarra draws is that it is better that your subordinates fear you than like you and as such that senior ranking officials should not hire their friends. Ibarra retired from the military as a colonel and many of the folks with whom he served in the military have asked him for a job. As a rule, however, Ibarra maintains that he has refused to hire them out of concern his friendship with them would undercut his authority. ¶4. (C) Comment: The Paraguayan National Police have a well-deserved reputation for being incompetent and corrupt. Benitez, a young and pro-active former mayor, relatively green to politics on the national scale and under pressure from the President to improve the reputation of the police, has adopted an aggressive stance in his dealings with the police issuing high-handed directives and outing bad practices such as drinking on the job. In so doing, he rubs up against what is perceived as the institutional culture and domain of the National Police. He is also vulnerable to accusations of seeking photo-op opportunities by addressing relatively small police sins while deeper problems remain. Isasa Palacios spoke vaguely to this issue when, upon taking office, he announced his first priority was to "rebuild the morale" of the police corps. Isasa may have found himself swimming against the tide of public opinion as well as the President, however, as both the public and the President are far more concerned about the state of public security than the morale of the police. Several days later, Isasa Palacios affirmed it was essential the police take measures to reestablish a sense of public security as its leading responsibility. KEANE