EL SALVADOR: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH FMLN LEADERS ON MCA AND JULY 5 POLICE KILLINGS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 001849 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2016 TAGS: ECON ES PGOV PREL PTER KMCA SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH FMLN LEADERS ON MCA AND JULY 5 POLICE KILLINGS REF: SAN SALVADOR 1736 Classified By: DCM Michael A. Butler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a July 12 luncheon that had been planned with leaders of the opposition Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) prior to the July 5 murders of Civilian National Police riot-cotrol (PNC/UMO) officers at the National University (UES),Ambassador Barclay discussed the proposed MCA project, the July 5 murders, and El Salvador's spiraling crime rate. Although the FMLN attendees are not expected to become enthusiastic supporters of the MCA as a result of the luncheon, there did appear to be some progress made. Moreover, the luncheon provided the Ambassador with an opportunity to express our outrage at the July 5 murders, which have clear links to the FMLN. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) FMLN attendees included Party Chairman Medardo Gonzalez, FMLN Legislative Assembly delegation chief Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Deputy (and spokesman) Sigfrido Reyes, and Deputy Irma Lourdes de Palacios, FMLN representative to the Legislative Assembly's Commission on Health and the Environment. In addition to Ambassador Barclay and DCM Butler, Embassy participants included Acting USAID Director Tully Cornick, Economic Counselor Jessica Webster, and Acting Political Counselor Philip Thompson. The meeting had been scheduled at the Embassy,s request in order to discuss the FMLN,s opposition to El Salvador,s bid for Millennium Challenge funding; the events of July 5 near the University of El Salvador (UES),in which twelve policemen were killed or wounded (see reftel),were added to the agenda, as were discussions of a shared concern about more generalized violent crime. MCC and the Environment -------------- ¶3. (C) Invited by the Ambassador to share their concerns about the northern zone development project proposed by the GOES for funding by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),Sanchez Ceren outlined the group,s concerns that the construction of a road in the northern zone would facilitate activities by private mining companies and the construction of new dams along the upper Lempa River. Although the group acknowledged that neither mining nor dams were part of the proposed GOES concept for MCA funding, they stressed the vulnerability of the important watershed region to damming and pollution. Palacios reiterated a position she had taken publicly, following a briefing by the GOES MCA team for her Legislative Assembly commission, that the northern zone project should focus on the rehabilitation of the Upper Lempa. Expanding on concern about dam construction, Reyes referred to past experiences with large dam projects in the region, laying out his concerns regarding the impact of relocation of residents of affected communities. The FMLN guests also alluded to their concerns that the project would leave a superhighway across the northern zone, leading to heavy traffic and an increase in crime to the detriment of residents. They inquired broadly about the consultative process, and asked about the government institutions that would be managing MCA funds in the implementation process. ¶4. (C) Emboffs explained the requirement that environmental impact assessments be conducted for all proposed activities and that environmental standards be respected. While acknowledging the importance of environmental protections, Ambassador Barclay pointed out that these were concerns that must be addressed in any development process, and that it was critical to remained focused on the key objective of poverty reduction. Emboffs posited the importance of economic growth to environmental protection, and to offering residents in the region a viable, sustainable economic alternative to environmentally-risky activities. The Ambassador pressed hard on the purpose of the Millennium Challenge in combating poverty, and urged Sanchez Ceren to support progress on the Compact, given the favorable conditions for the Compact that now exist. Emboffs briefed FMLN guests in broad terms on the components of the proposal: infrastructure for connectivity, investment in human capital, and productive activity. Reyes appeared especially interested in the financial breakdown, and how an adjustment in the ultimate award--if the GOES did not successfully negotiate a $442 million Compact--would affect the design of the program. July 5 Police Murders -------------- ¶5. (C) Turning to the events of July 5, the FMLN attendees at first refused to take responsibility in the killings, which appear to have been premeditated assassinations carried out by former FMLN Mejicanos City Councilman Jose Mario Belloso Castillo and FMLN militant Luis Antonio Herrador Funes, the latter of whom has been apprehended and who has confessed to his role in the killings. They characterized the week-long delay between the murders and any statement of condolence or condemnation by the FMLN as a necessary period of reflection and analysis. (Note: Reliable Embassy contacts report that the delay in the FMLN's public response to July 5 was actually related to ongoing power struggles between the FMLN's two main factions--both of which are orthodox hardliners. End note.) Following the Ambassador's robust expression of shock at the presence of such arms and lethal violence on campus, the FMLN guests seemed somewhat more forthcoming in their willingness to condemn the previous week's events. The Ambassador went on to demonstrate that the Embassy knew more about the planning of the killings than the FMLN was aware, and forcefully admonished Gonzalez, Sanchez Ceren, Reyes, and Lourdes that the FMLN was "on very thin ice". He urged the FMLN to cooperate fully in the police's efforts to find and arrest the killers. The FMLN guests were almost sheepish in their response, and thanked the Ambassador for his frankness. A Newfound FMLN Commitment to Crimefighting? -------------- ¶6. (C) The luncheon conversation ended on a positive and amicable note after all present agreed on the need to address the nation's critical crime problem. (Note: The FMLN's Legislative Assembly delegation has generally opposed most law-enforcement-related initiatives during the administrations of both President Saca and his predecessor. They fought President Flores's "Mano Dura" anti-gang program, Saca's "Super Mano Dura" that followed, and they remain opposed to a Wiretapping Law passed by the previous Legislative Assembly that must be ratified as well by the present Assembly. FMLN-oriented judges have also been slow to implement the nation's new Witness Protection Law, and appear poised to fight long-overdue judicial reform measures tooth-and-nail. End note.) ¶7. (C) COMMENT: The discussion of the MCA Compact was as cordial as could be expected. We suspect that the group knew much more than it let on, and that Reyes and Palacios, in particular, are likely well-informed about the government,s northern zone proposal for the Millennium Challenge Corporation. In the end, the FMLN's opposition to the proposed MCA project is likely rooted more in their sense that ARENA's poverty-alleviation efforts pose a real threat not to the environment, but to the FMLN's traditional bases of political power in the northern region. In any event, the luncheon was an unsurpassed opportunity for the Ambassador to express our outrage at the police killings, which was made unequivocally clear to the FMLN. Indeed, they departed the luncheon somewhat chagrined at knowing that the Embassy will be watching them closely in days to come, as the search for the killer progresses, and when he is afterwards brought to trial. END COMMENT. Barclay