PARAGUAY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UPDATE, JUNE 4-10

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 000767 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/BSC AND EB/IFD/OIA STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/AA STATE PASS TO USTR FOR SCRONIN AND LYANG NSC FOR KIM BREIER TREASURY FOR OSIA MAUREEN WAFER TREASURY FOR OTA WARFIELD, VAN KOCH, MILLAR COMMERCE FOR ITA SARAH COOK SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KWMN MARR OVIP SUBJECT: PARAGUAY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UPDATE, JUNE 4-10 REF: A. ASUNCION 744 ¶B. ASUNCION 357 ¶1. (U) Summary -------------- -- Rehabilitation Center Opens to Aid TIP Victims -- Duarte's New Appointments -- Council of Magistrates Administers New Testing Process -- Military Changes of Command -- Visit of Massachusetts State Senator Brown Rehabilitation Center Opens to Aid TIP Victims -------------- - ¶2. (U) On June 8, the Ministry of Women inaugurated a new center for the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking in persons (TIP). The Center is funded in part through the memorandum of understanding, signed last September, which granted USD 155,000 to assist the GOP in combating TIP. The center will be staffed with psychologists, sociologists, and attorneys to assist victims who have been recently repatriated to Paraguay. The Ministry will also sponsor training seminars for local authorities to raise awareness about TIP issues and how the Center can assist victims, including the filing of criminal charges. The Minister of Women, Maria Jose Argana Mateu, and the Ambassador both spoke at the event highlighting the importance of combating Trafficking in Persons in Paraguay. The Center will open this month. Duarte's New Appointments -------------- ¶3. (U) On June 7, President Duarte appointed former Vice Minister of Agriculture, Gustavo Nelson Ruiz Diaz, as the new Minister of Agriculture, replacing Antonio Ibanez who resigned on June 5 after allegations regarding his involvement in illicit meat sales to the National Police became public (ref A). Diaz, a recognized engineer in rural development who holds a Master's degree in agronomy from Oklahoma State University, asserts that he will modernize and enhance the technical profile of the ministry, replacing administrative personnel with experts in agriculture. Publicly, President Duarte charged him with combating corruption in the ministry as well as producing a favorable cotton crop in the upcoming harvest season. ¶4. (U) President Duarte,s former private secretary and the son of Antonio Ibanez, Jose Maria Ibanez, announced on June 9 that he would accept a new position as Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. Local press reported that Duarte had originally looked to Ibanez to replace Leila Rachid as the next Foreign Minister. However, during a press conference yesterday, Ibanez claimed that he could not accept the Foreign Minister position due to pressing family obligations. (Note: It is understood he is referring to allegations regarding his father's involvement in the meat scandal. End Note.) Duarte had paved the way for Ibanez to become the next Foreign Minister by appointing him as his political and international affairs advisor last week, despite criticism that he needed more international experience and was too junior for the position (ref A). (Note: Ibanez is 37 years old.) Council of Magistrates Administers New Testing Process -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) Per reftel (B),on February 16, the Council of Magistrates, a constitutionally mandated institution with the authority to nominate and select members of the judiciary, adopted a series of criteria to make the selection process more transparent and just. As part of the process, an examination was administered by the Judicial School under the Council to account for 20 percent of the score used to fill 31 vacancies for criminal judges, of which 28 were new positions and 3 were existing seats. There were 535 applicants, of which 186 signed up for the exam and 175 actually took the exam. The questions were selected at random from a pool of 600 pre-selected questions covering the Constitution, penal and procedure codes, Public Ministry Organic Law, and issues related to money laundering. Critics have voiced concern that the test score represents only 20 percent of the selection criteria and there is no feedback regarding the remainder of the scoring, noting specifically the ambiguity of the evaluation of the interview and the low weight given to experience and Doctorate Degree. Comment: While the selection criteria still afford opportunities for influence peddling, the test represents a noteworthy step in the right direction towards introducing fairness and transparency. End comment. Military Changes of Command -------------- ¶6. (U) During a press conference on June 9, Minister of Defense Gonzalez announced that the Commander of the Army, General Luis Nicanor Bareiro Spaini will be replaced by Division General Ruben Alviso Gonzalez (current Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff) and that the Commander of the Navy, Admiral Julio Cesar Baez Acosta, will be replaced by Rear Admiral Miguel Caballero Dellaloggia (current Commander of the Navy,s War Fleet). General Jose Key Kanazawa Gamarra, Commander of Military Forces, and General Roberto Vera Ortega, Commander of the Air Force, will remain in their positions. Changes of command are to take place the morning of June 10. Though the press had been discussing the possibility of military leadership changes throughout the week, the actual announcement still came as a surprise. Unsubstantiated rumors indicated that Admiral Baez was let go because of recent increased media coverage over alleged corruption at the navy,s repair facility; General Bareiro was let go because he allegedly was not in agreement with the military,s increased support of law enforcement activities. Additional leadership changes at lower levels are scheduled to take place in the near future. Visit of Massachusetts State Senator Brown -------------- ¶7. (U) From June 6 - 10, post,s Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC),in coordination with the Paraguayan chapter of the Center of Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS), hosted a visit by Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown as part of its State Partnership Program. Brown participated in a series of conferences with civil society and military leaders promoting greater transparency between civil society and the military in debating the role of the military in a democratic society. Brown, a member of the Massachusetts National Guard, in addition to being a State Senator, also met leading members of Paraguay,s Congress stressing the importance of transparency and challenging them to provide the military the resources it needs to meet the tasks it is assigned, including disaster relief, road construction, and police support. The visit was well received by military and Congressional leaders reinforcing the merits of the strong exchange program post has created between the Massachusetts National Guard and the Paraguayan military. WILLIAMS