PANAMA CABINET RESHUFFLE LEAVES TORRIJOS WEAKER

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 001044

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA CABINET RESHUFFLE LEAVES TORRIJOS WEAKER
WITHIN PRD, STRONGER AS PRESIDENT -- A LOOK INSIDE PRD
POLITICS

REF: A. PANAMA 0824

B. PANAMA 0919

Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM EATON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (C) The April 28 cabinet changes (Reftel A) exposed and
intensified a rift dividing President Torrijos's inner circle
from the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) rank and file.
Although Torrijos and Consejo (Intelligence Chief) Leonel
Solis succeeded in removing Minister of Government and
Justice (MOGJ) Hector Aleman, Aleman's ouster enraged
prominent PRD politicians, including Housing Minister Balbina
Herrera. Torrijos simultaneously gave a boost to the
leftist, pro-Cuba PRD "Tendencia" faction, by naming former
Dignity Battalions Chief Benjamin Colamarco as Public Works
Minister (Reftel B). Ex-convict Colamarco is known for his
efficiency, if not his probity. Aleman's former vice
minister -- now MOGJ -- Olga Golcher, is a loyal PRDista but
with little experience in security affairs. In effect, the
reshuffle makes MOGJ a branch of the Consejo. Torrijos
loyalist Solis, the shakeup's clear winner, will make the
major decisions at MOGJ, possibly with help from former PDF
Colonel Daniel Delgado, now customs chief, rumored to be
named as Golcher's vice minister. Torrijos eventually will
have to face the party's discontent for forcing Aleman to
step down, but probably not until 2007, when the PRD holds a
convention to choose a new secretary general. End Summary.

A Personal Matter
--------------

2. (C) The late-April cabinet shakeup gave the Palace and
Torrijos loyalists expanded powers but diminished the
President's standing in his party. Personal factors played a
big role in Aleman's dismissal. The pressure over control of
security policy that had been building for months between
Aleman and Consejo Solis, who Torrijos backed, finally boiled
over in late April. Torrijos tried to ease Aleman out of his
cabinet post and into a specially created job related to
Canal widening. According to PRD sources, when Aleman
refused to give up MOGJ, battle lines were drawn between the
Torrijos-Solis-Real "Team Martin" and Aleman and Herrera and
other PRD heavyweights, such as Labor Minister Reynaldo
Rivera.

Out of the Loop
--------------

3. (C) According to Embassy sources within the PRD, Minister
Aleman was unhappy at being left out of the loop on security
matters, particularly because Panamanian National Police
Director General Rolando Mirones, Solis, and Torrijos
habitually bypassed him. (Note: In August 2005 Solis had
been brought in from the SPI, the presidential bodyguard, to
replace then-Consejo Javier Martinez Acha, a former Texas A&M
roommate of Torrijos.

Personal Rivalry
--------------

4. (C) Aside from Solis and Aleman's evident dislike for
each other, a contributing factor, Embassy sources say, was
that Aleman and Torrijos both were competing to buy the same
piece of land on the Atlantic coast. Aleman allegedly made
disparaging comments to the Chinese Panamanian seller about
Torrijos. Word got back to Torrijos, who was not happy.

"Low Morale"
--------------

5. (C) A week before the shakeup in an April 20 meeting with
POL Specialist, Comptroller General Dani Kuzniecky complained
about low morale in the Cabinet, which he blamed on
Torrijos's "confusing" management style. Torrijos, Kuzniecky
continued, was not informing cabinet members about rumored
change and raising anxiety levels by sending mixed messages
to several Cabinet members who claim not to know what to
expect. "How does he expect people to respect him?"
Kuzniecky asked sarcastically.


"I Earned It"
--------------

6. (C) Four days before, Kuzniecky added, Hector Aleman --
"who is not my friend" -- for the first time opened up and
told Kuzniecky that he was "sick of Torrijos." Asked if he
really was leaving MOGJ, Aleman replied that Torrijos had
hinted at it in a conversation that was so confusing that
Hector did not understand whether Martin meant to remove him
from MOGJ and send him elsewhere, or to keep him there but to
give him extra responsibilities. Aleman allegedly told
Torrijos, "My position in the cabinet is not a gift from you.
I have a position on the party board. I earned it."

A Screaming Match
--------------

7. (C) Aleman was so upset after his conversation with
Torrijos that he shared it with "a few" PRD people, including
Housing Minister Balbina Herrera. According to Kuzniecky,
Balbina then went to the Palace to talk to Martin. When she
was barred from the President's office, she allegedly got
into a screaming match with Minister of the Presidency
Ubaldino Real, yelling and cursing that he and Torrijos knew
nothing about politics and that both of them would realize
that soon enough. Later, Aleman allegedly confronted
Torrijos, with Aleman threatening that "he could talk" and
the President allegedly replying that he also could talk but
that Aleman's "dossier" was larger.

Black List Forces A Backdown
--------------

8. (C) Another PRD source told us with many PRDistas
supporting Aleman, on April 27 Aleman met with Herrera,
Legislator Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, and presidential hopeful
Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro, making sure that
photographers were present, with the idea of pressuring
Torrijos. When word of the meeting spread, Real and Solis
allegedly began making a black list of PRD officials who
could lose their jobs, the movement to back Aleman lost some
steam. Navarro told Ambassador that when Torrijos and Aleman
stopped talking to each other, he convinced the President to
reach out to his long-time friend, Aleman. To Navarro's
horror, Aleman triumphantly refused to take the call.
Navarro said he then brokered a reconciliation meeting that
lasted nearly three hours. Finally, Aleman decided to face
the inevitable and step down. But not wanting to return to
his National Assembly seat, Aleman reluctantly accepted a
small office at the Palace as member of a special Canal
widening commission.

Is Samuel Lewis (SLN) To Blame?
--------------

9. (C) One PRD current blames President Torrijos's close
relationship with VP/Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro.
"Part of this entire problem is SLN," a POL Specialist
contact said. "He is just too influential over Martin and it
is widely known that Martin wants him to be his
(presidential) candidate for 2009. SLN has been the reason
there have been so many internal disputes in the party."

"Ungrateful" Martin
--------------

10. (C) Less than a week after the shakeup, a former PRD
legislator told POL Specialist that many party members
believe that Torrijos had acted "ungratefully" toward Aleman
(who managed the 2004 Torrijos election campaign) by kicking
him out of the cabinet, especially the way he did it.
Confirming all the stories recounted above, he said, "Hector
is badly hurt and if Martin thinks that he will forget this
episode, he is wrong. Hector will take revenge from the
National Assembly." True, Torrijos has the goods on Aleman's
business with PNP motorcycles and prison kiosks but, he
added, Aleman is well aware of the money both of them, among
others, pocketed in exchange for approving the CEMIS contract
(a scandal from early 2002). More importantly, Hector knows
about all of Martin's current businesses, he continued, the
ones he is doing solo and the ones he is doing with Ubaldino
Real. (Comment: Real is known as being Torrijos's investment
counselor, business partner and bag man. End Comment.)



Chump Change
--------------

11. (C) The ex-legislator dismissed Aleman's participation
in the Palace-based Canal expansion commission as "a fake,"
claiming that Aleman accepted the job on advice from party
supporters and because he did not want to return to the
Assembly. But the source also claimed that Ubaldino Real,
knowing that Aleman wanted to keep his connection with the
Palace, had mocked Aleman by telling him that he would earn
only $4000 a month in the expansion commission job, while the
other commission members -- former Finance Minister Catin
Vasquez (now replaced by Carlos Vallarino),Presidential
Advisor Jorge Ritter, Media Advisor Jorge Sanchez, and Marcel
Salamin -- would make $6000. Aleman would make more money by
returning to the Assembly ($7000 a month) than at the
commission. (Comment: Aleman apparently has filed the
necessary paperwork to draw his legislative salary, while
retaining his office at the Palace. End Comment.)

PRD Sentiment Negative
--------------

12. (C) According to PRD Legislator Freidi Torres, sentiment
in the PRD is turning against Torrijos. In an April 19
conversation with POL Specialist, Torres attributed
Torrijos's diminished inner-PRD standing to "constant
mistakes," "passing the ball" to PRD legislators (demanding
votes on legislation that the Palace has not bothered to
consult legislators about),and ignoring the party's
grassroots. The President's growing distance from the party,
Torres added, is weakening his ability to control it. Also,
Torres said 11 PRD legislators (Franz Wever, Cesar Pardo,
Rogelio Paredes, Marina Laguna, Maricruz Padilla, Benicio
Robinson, Ruben DeLeon, Carlos Alvarado, and three others
from indigenous comarcas) are openly meeting with Former
President and Torrijos nemesis Perez Balladares. Aleman
recently was seen having lunch with Perez Balladares at a
local PRD hangout, adding to speculation about internal PRD
intrigue.

Yuppies vs. Politicos
--------------

13. (C) His point was echoed in a separate conversation with
opposition Panamenista legislator Luis Cleghorn, who
explained that PRD members are pushing hard against "Team
Martin," who tend to be young professionals who do not really
need a government job but have most of the high-ranking
positions. The old PRDistas, the ones who are used to "make
a living from the state," identify with Aleman because they
find themselves on the outside.

What About Balbina?
--------------

14. (C) Torres recounted "a bad fight" that Balbina Herrera
and technocratic Trade Ministr, Andy Ferrer, recently had
outside the Palace, where Herrera openly cursed Ferrer.
Herrera (and Aleman) are annoyed, Torres explained, because
Torrijos pretends to listen to them but pays more attention
to non-PRD members Ferrer and lawyer Jimmy Arias.

"They Hate Each Other"
--------------

15. (C) Comptroller Kuzniecky confirmed Torres's story.
"They hate each other," he said, adding that every time Andy
opens his mouth at the cabinet, Balbina makes a point to
oppose him. "He says white, she says black." "Balbina is a
political animal," Kuzniecky expounded. "She is smart,
aggressive and is used to get what she wants most of the
time. She is so good that she can be badmouthing someone and
that person steps into the room and she can hug and kiss that
person as if they are best friends. I don't trust her for
that, but I respect her because she works hard."

Balbina To Run For Mayor
--------------

16. (C) Herrera told Kuzniecky recently that she would run
for Panama City Mayor in 2009. She also told him that "she
rather die" than support Samuel Lewis for President. The one


with the most PRD support for President is Mayor Juan Carlos
Navarro, Herrera thought. Her hatred for Andy Ferrer is
partly because she sees Ferrer and Lewis as a "dupleta"
("daily double"). They think alike and hang around together
all the time and since the rumors for some time have been
that SLN would prefer someone like Andy to be his VP instead
of Aleman or Herrera, both Hector and Balbina dislike him
even more, Kuzniecky said.

Comment: Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows
--------------

17. (C) In a May 22 meeting with POL Counselor, and repeated
to the Ambassador on May 28, Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro
claimed that the controversial decision to name Noriega's
former goon-squad chief Benjamin Colamarco to Minister of
Public Works was not discussed at the PRD's national
executive committee, an unusual omission. Navarro called
Colamarco's appointment "an unforced error." When asked,
"Who thought that was a good idea?" Navarro could not say.
One interpretation is that Samuel Lewis did. With his
standing in the PRD's main faction (which includes Balbina
and Hector) at rock bottom, Lewis (with backing from
Torrijos) might be trying to boost his presidential ambitions
by favoring the Tendencia faction (which includes Colamarco
and Labor Minister Rivera). Lewis also has been visibly
campaigning on Balbina's turf in the impoverished San
Miguelito district of Panama City. Seen through this optic,
Panama's May 9 vote for Cuba, Venezuela, and China in the UN
Human Rights Commission -- which Lewis publicly defended --
appears as a further political sop for PRD leftists.


18. (C) During a conversation with DCM, Aleman said he
remains loyal to Torrijos, and that he departed on good
terms, although he hedged those statements enough to create
considerable doubt about just how "true" to Torrijos he will
prove. He added that he has his differences with Torrijos
mainly about the way he has ignored the National Assembly.
Aleman claimed that Torrijos has surrounded himself with
"yes" men who do not have the party's interests in mind. He
pledged that he would continue to voice his opinions
internally, even if they meant disagreeing with the President.

EATON