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