EL SALVADOR: SACA TIES FMLN TO POLICE MURDERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 001736

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2016
TAGS: ES PGOV PREL PTER
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: SACA TIES FMLN TO POLICE MURDERS


Classified By: DCM Michael A. Butler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: In violent July 5 protests at the
University of El Salvador (UES),one or more snipers
associated with radical leftist protesters assassinated two
Civilian National Police (PNC) officers from the PNC's elite
riot-control unit (PNC/UMO),and wounded at least 10 other
officers. President Saca has accused the opposition
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) of
complicity in the killings, and vowed to lodge protests with
the UN and other international bodies. Although it seems
clear that the FMLN fomented protest that they fully expected
to turn violent, it is possible that elements that the Frente
thought under its influence actually acted on their own. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) The protests were held ostensibly in opposition to
rising electricity costs and increases in bus fares due to
escalating oil prices. (Note: Retail electricity rates and
bus fares are controlled by the Government. Electricity
rates are adjusted every six months to reflect changes in
underlying costs in a competitive market; rates rose 14
percent on June 10. End note.) Masked militants associated
with the Popular Youth Bloc (BPJ),Salvadoran Revolutionary
Student Brigade (BRES),and other radical leftist
organizations rioted outside the University of El Salvador,
vandalizing businesses and police vehicles and firing into
the air. As police deployed tear gas to disperse rioters at
approximately 10:30 a.m., one or more snipers armed with
high-caliber automatic weapons began shooting police
officers, and also fired on circling police helicopters. Two
officers, 32-year-old Miguel Angel Rubi Argueta and
26-year-old Jose Pedro Misael Navarrete, died immediately
from wounds to the head and chest, respectively. A wounded
police helicopter pilot succeeded in making an emergency
landing of his craft, which was damaged by heavy gunfire from
campus. UES faculty member Herberth Rivas was wounded in the
shoulder during a faculty meeting; UES authorities afterwards
alleged that the fire had come from a police helicopter, but
police responded that the helicopters carried no weapons, and
that in any event the bullet hole's location in the meeting
room's glass panels indicated that it had originated from
where protesters fired on police. (Note: The PNC/UMO
detachment employed no lethal force at any time during the
incident, and were armed only with rubber bullets, tear gas,
plus personal sidearms that for the most part remained
holstered. End note.)


3. (C) Leading dailies La Prensa Grafica and El Diario de
Hoy featured front-page photos of an M-16-armed shooter
identified as Jose Mario Belloso Castillo firing on police,
with the assistance of an individual identified as Luis
Antonio Herrador Funes; both are reportedly FMLN and BPJ
members. The 37-year-old Herrador Funes was later
apprehended at his home in San Marcos; Belloso Castillo
remains at large. Channel Four television reporter Kathya
Carranza reported that alleged shooter Belloso Castillo had
been seen later in the evening at the Legislative Assembly in
the company of FMLN Alternate Deputy Ana Guadalupe Erazo (a
former BRES militant, and Popular Social Bloc/BPS leader) and
hardliner FMLN Deputy Jose Salvador Arias; this report
remains unconfirmed at present. At approximately 11:00 p.m.,
police from the Rapid Reaction Group (PNC/GRP) entered the
University campus in search of suspects and evidence, and
found explosives, M-16 magazines, camouflage military
uniforms, as well as ski masks and
hammer-and-sickle-emblazoned red kerchiefs of the type used
by protesters to mask their identities. Classes at the
University of El Salvador have been temporarily suspended.


4. (C) President Saca publicly charged FMLN involvement in
the slayings, and pledged to take complaints to the United
Nations and Organization of American States (OAS); Saca views
the armed attacks as having breached the terms of the 1992
Peace Accords of Chapultepec that ended the nation's 12-year
armed conflict. All political parties--with the notable
exception of the FMLN--strongly condemned the killings; FMLN
Legislative Assembly delegation chief Salvador Sanchez Ceren
dreamed up a fanciful scenario in which police snipers, Army
"helicopter gunships", and Air Force A-37 jet fighter
aircraft had mounted a concerted attack on peaceful
demonstrators, and that police had somehow become victims of
the Government's own massive firepower. Director of the
Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH) Beatrice Carrillo
weakly lamented the police deaths as "unfortunate", and
blandly opined that their murders pointed up the need to
review increases in electricity rates and bus fares. (Note:
Carrillo interjected herself into negotiations with prisoners
during a violent December 2002 riot at Mariona Prison; after
prisoners killed two PNC hostages, Carrillo dismissively
conveyed that police deaths were not her concern, and that
the PNC "could look out for themselves". End note.)


5. (C) Ambassador and DCM attended a late-afternoon July 6
briefing by President Saca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lainez, Minister of Gobernacion Figueroa and National Police
Director Avila. Although Saca and Figueroa spoke of the
shooter,s and his accomplice,s ties to a "left-wing party",
a video presentation of the evidence collected by police
directly fingered the FMLN. Avila told the gathering (which
included the diplomatic corps and national deputies) that the
shooter and his accomplice had been arrested several times
during violent demonstrations, only to be sprung by FMLN
deputies. (Avila demonstrated photographs of the two during
protests outside the Casa Presidencial and along the Comalapa
airport road, which has been blocked several times in recent
months by FMLN-affiliated groups.) Avila also suggested at
least one trip by the shooter to Venezuela; stated that the
police helicopter had been fired upon about a minute before
the murder of the police; and added that one of the injured
policemen had been wounded by a home-made grenade.


6. (C) During the briefing, Saca noted that police had
responded with care even after the killings, refusing to
follow the shooter in hot pursuit into the university out of
fear of injuring students. He added that the police search
of the university came later, and resulted in the discovery
of a literal "armory of arms and explosives." Saca promised
that the GOES "would not fall victim to provocations", but
would act "with firmness and prudence."


7. (U) Ambassador attended the July 6 memorial service for
the fallen officers. A visibly emotional Avila stated just
prior to the later briefing that the Ambassador,s presence
"meant a lot to us."


8. (C) The GOES moved quickly July 6 to pass anti-terrorism
measures through the legislature under expedited measures.
Christian Democratic Party (PDC) leader Rodolfo Parker told
DCM that the Assembly would form two special commissions
following the shooting, one to investigate the crime, the
other to study anti-terrorist legislation. He pledged that
the latter commission would complete its work with passage of
legislation within fifteen days.


9. (C) COMMENT: There is little doubt that the FMLN
orchestrated yesterday's protests; just last week, the FMLN's
Erazo and other FMLN officials made public calls for protests
over electricity rates and bus fares, and the BRES, BPJ, and
BPS are widely acknowledged to be under the sway of the
FMLN's hardline leadership. All indications point to an
ambush that had been carefully planned beforehand by a
trained marksman. There seems little doubt that the FMLN
leadership fully expected the demonstration to turn violent;
whether they actually planned the police officers, murders,
or saw elements of the demonstrators they thought under their
control act on their own, is less certain. END COMMENT.
Barclay