Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ASUNCION1027
2006-10-10 21:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Asuncion
Cable title:  

PARAGUAY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UPDATE, SEPTEMBER

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL KCRM SNAR KWMN 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAC #1027/01 2832146
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 102146Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY ASUNCION
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4892
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL//SCJ3/SCJ33/SCJ34/SOCSO LNO//
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 001027 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/BSC, INL/LP (JIM HIDES),AND EB/IFD/OIA
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/AA
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR LYANG
NSC FOR SUE CRONIN
TREASURY FOR OSIA MAUREEN WAFER
TREASURY FOR OTA WARFIELD, VAN KOCH, MILLAR
COMMERCE FOR ITA SARAH COOK
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2026
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KCRM SNAR KWMN
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UPDATE, SEPTEMBER
29 - OCTOBER 6, 2006


Classified By: DCM Michael J. Fitzpatrick; Reasons: 1.4(b),(d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 001027

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/BSC, INL/LP (JIM HIDES),AND EB/IFD/OIA
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/AA
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR LYANG
NSC FOR SUE CRONIN
TREASURY FOR OSIA MAUREEN WAFER
TREASURY FOR OTA WARFIELD, VAN KOCH, MILLAR
COMMERCE FOR ITA SARAH COOK
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2026
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KCRM SNAR KWMN
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UPDATE, SEPTEMBER
29 - OCTOBER 6, 2006


Classified By: DCM Michael J. Fitzpatrick; Reasons: 1.4(b),(d).


1. (U) SUMMARY
-- Congressional Leader Indicted
-- Taking A Bite Out Of Crime
-- TIP: Promoting Interconnectivity
-- The Queen of Cosmic Peace Visits Asuncion

CONGRESSIONAL LEADER INDICTED


2. (C) Paraguay's anti-corruption prosecutor has picked a
fight he cannot win. Arnaldo Giuzzio, Chief of the
Anticorruption Unit in the Attorney General's Office,
indicted National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel)
President Omar Ramos Llano and his predecessor -- and current
President of the House of Deputies -- Victor Alcides Bogado
Gonzalez (plus six others) on October 4. The key charge:
defrauding Conatel of over three million dollars in the
purchase of equipment when the money really ended up in Grand
Cayman Islands bank accounts. Giuzzio asked the House of
Deputies to strip Bogado of his congressional immunity so he
can be sent to prison during the investigation. Bogado is
considered part of President Duarte's inner circle and was a
major fundraiser for the President's 2002-2003 campaign (the
timeframe Bogado is alleged to have committed the fraud).
While Vice-President Castiglioni called on Bogado to give up
his congressional immunity, several of his supporters
suggested political motiviations were driving this case.


3. (C) Giuzzio is known for his high-profile indictments but,
like most here, he has been unable to produce few high-level
corruption convictions. President Duarte has publicly blasted
Giuzzio, accusing him of (unspecified) prosecutorial
misconduct and abuse of power. Duarte has also criticized
this Embassy discussing Giuzzio in a meeting with opposition
members (including Bogado's Senate counterpart),claiming the

USG was interferring in the internal affairs of Paraguay.
USAID has been very active in judicial reform and is in the
process of conducting a survey of the anti-crime and
anti-corruption prosecutions since 2001. This report, due
out in November, will document cases opened, where they are
in the investigation or trial, and/or the number, and
results, of any cases resolved. In the meantime, Bogado has
relinquished his immunity -- but the betting is that Fiscal
Giuzzio will not have his five-year contract renewed when it
comes up for consideration in coming days.

TAKING A BITE OUT OF CRIME


4. (U) The National Anti-Narcotics Secretariat's (SENAD)
Canine Unit arrested Hugo Israel Benitez Sandoval (23) and
Maria Jose Benitez Sandoval (25) in Asuncion's Airport for
attempting to traffic cocaine on September 30. SENAD agents
captured the Benitez siblings upon discovering that their
water thermos contained 1.6 kilos of cocaine hidden within
the walls of the thermos. (NOTE: It is customary for
Paraguayans to carry water thermoses, containing their
traditional and popular "Terere" drink. END NOTE). COMMENT:
This seizure is further testimony of SENAD's effectiveness as
an institution and represents a return on our investment in
its canine program. Separately, SENAD has had great success
in the course of 2006 in arresting a record number of drug
traffickers and seizing significant quantities of drugs and
weapons. END COMMENT.

TIP: PROMOTING INTERCONNECTIVITY


5. (U) PolOff and INL Officer met with Information Technology
Consultant, Gustavo Cortese, and 3 GOP officals from the TIP
Inter-Agency Roundtable October 4 to discuss plans to
establish a database to monitor cases. This electronic
database will be designed to enable the Attorney General's
Office to gather more comprehensive data on trafficking cases
and monitor more effectively the progress of on-going
criminal cases. Representatives from the Secretariat of
Women, the Secretariat of Repatriations, the Secretariat of
Children and Adolescents, and the Foreign Ministry currently


transfer information to the AG's Office by messenger. Each of
the agencies represented were eager to see this project move
forward. Prosecutor Teresa Martinez expressed her
appreciation for the Embassy's initiative as she was
confident it would strengthen her ability to prosecute cases.
Under the present plan, Post projects having a workable
system in place by year's end.

THE QUEEN OF COSMIC PEACE VISITS ASUNCION


6. (U) The Unification Church's Universal Peace Federation of
Paraguay organized a rally under the banner, "The Victorious
Liberation of the Homeland for Cosmic Peace in Heaven and
Earth," October 3 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. More than 150
guests attended the rally and banquet, including Lilian
Samaniego, the Colorado Party Women's Commission Leader, who
spoke about peace and family. Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of
Unification Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon, spoke to the
participants for more than an hour about "God's Ideal Family
and the Kingdom of Peace." The celebration included an
induction ceremony for 6 new Paraguayan Ambassadors of Peace.
(NOTE: Reverend Moon and his wife refer to themselves as the
"True Parents of all Humanity." Organizers at the event
PolOff attended ran a video of a ceremony at which the
Reverend Moon and his wife were crowned the "King and Queen
of the Peace Kingdom" in front of the Dirksen U.S. Senate
Office Building in 2004. During Dr. Moon's visit, the
Unification Church's subsidiary, Victoria S.A. reiterated its
offer of 10,000 hectares to avoid the expropriation of 52,000
hectares previously seized in Puerto Casado. By offering the
land to the government, Post believes that the Moon Church is
trying to strike a deal with the government -- take only
10,000 hectares legally, and the Church won't insist on the
compensation it is otherwise legally entitled to claim for
the expropriation of 52,000 hectares. END NOTE).
CASON