GON WILL RE-SEND REQUEST FOR DOMINICAN ASSISTANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000277 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN TREASURY FOR OASIA-JLEVINE DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2021 TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM KCOR DR NU SUBJECT: GON WILL RE-SEND REQUEST FOR DOMINICAN ASSISTANCE IN ALEMAN CASE--THIS TIME WITH DIP NOTE REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 287 ¶B. SANTO DOMINGO 344 Classified By: AMBASSADOR PAUL TRIVELLI. REASONS 1.4 (B,D). ¶1. (C) The Nicaraguan government will re-send its June 2005 Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) request for Dominican assistance in the money laundering investigation of ex-President Arnoldo Aleman. This time the request will be accompanied by a GON diplomatic note to the Dominican Foreign Ministry formally requesting the assistance. ¶2. (C) On February 3, poloff and RLA met MFA Americas Director Domingo Salinas and Attorney General for Criminal Affairs Ivan Lara to discuss the issues raised in reftels and emphasize the need for a Nicaraguan diplomatic note formally requesting the assistance of the Dominican government. Lara explained that under the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, no diplomatic note is necessary; for that reason his office had simply submitted an MLAT request via diplomatic channels in June 2005. Lara added that his office has received excellent cooperation in the Aleman investigation from the USG and the Government of Panama without such formalities. However, Lara is willing to work with the MFA to re-submit the 2005 MLAT request along with a diplomatic note if it would facilitate cooperation with the Dominican government. Lara promised to deliver the MLAT documents to the MFA on February 6, and Salinas will have the diplomatic note ready and send the entire package to the Nicaraguan Embassy in Santo Domingo during the week of February 6-10. ¶3. (C) Lara told emboffs that when he met Dominican Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito to request assistance in the Aleman case in May 2005, he received the impression that Dominguez Brito was not interested in investigating the case, possibly because evidence might arise of prominent Dominicans being involved with Aleman's illicit transactions. Lara speculated that Dominguez Brito might now have had a change of heart because of his senate run, and might be seeking to protect himself from allegations of inaction in the Aleman case. Once the diplomatic note and MLAT request are formally received by the Dominican government, Lara suggested that subsequent bilateral cooperation should be less formal, and more analogous to that between his office and its counterparts in the U.S. and Panama. ¶4. (C) Post will follow up with Lara and the MFA to ensure that the diplomatic note and MLAT request are sent, and would appreciate Embassy Santo Domingo's follow up thereafter to confirm that the documents have been received by the appropriate Dominican government offices. TRIVELLI