DOMINICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL TO RUN FOR SENATE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 000344

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR D, WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/CEN, INR/IAA, INL, G/TIP,
L/T, L/LEI;
STATE PASS DEA FOR OEL-LUIS PIZARRO;
NSC FOR FISK; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD;
JUSTICE FOR CRIM/OIA-MAZUREK AND ORJALES;
TREASURY FOR OASIA-J LEVINE; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2021
TAGS: PREL PGOV DR SNAR KJUS KCOR EFIN PHUM NU HA
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL TO RUN FOR SENATE;
REACTIVATES ALEMAN CASE

REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 0287

B. SANTO DOMINGO 0273

Classified By: Ambassador Hans Hertell for Reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: On January 26 Dominican Attorney General
Francisco Dominguez Brito previewed for the Ambassador that,
at the request of his political party (the ruling PLD),he
will take a three-month leave of absence to run for senator
from Santiago in the May 16 election. He is responding to
the request of the ruling PLD. He plans to announce this
decision February 2. If elected, he will reassume his AG
duties from May 16 only until the August 16 inauguration of
the new legislature. An eventual possible replacement as AG
is respected presidential legal adviser Cesar Pina Toribio.
Dominguez Brito told us he has just called Nicaragua's
Attorney General to obtain documents needed to investigate
charges of money laundering here by Nicaraguan ex-president
Aleman. The two-hour meeting touched additionally on
extraditions, combating trafficking in persons, the Quirino
Paulino narcotrafficking cases, possible accession to a
multilateral treaty for transfer of prisoners, progress in
reducing killings by the police, and Haiti. End summary.


2. (U) On January 26 Dominican Attorney General Francisco
Dominguez Brito accepted the Ambassador's invitation to drop
by the Embassy to discuss his political plans as well as law
enforcement and human rights issues. DCM and poloff attended.

Attorney General to Make Senate Run
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3. (C) Dominguez Brito said that his party, the ruling PLD,
had asked him in the May 16 elections for senator from his
home province, including Santiago, the nation's second
largest city. He was initially reluctant, but President
Fernandez was granting him a leave of absence from February
16 to May 16 for the effort. If Dominguez Brito wins the
election, he will reassume his current duties for the three
months until the August 16 inauguration of the new
legislature. If defeated, he will retain the post of Attorney
General. He said the PLD faces a difficult situation in
contending with a probable opposition alliance of the PRD and
the PRSC. "My party's generals have told me I'm needed on
the front where the battle is raging. How can I say no?"
The campaign poses some risk to him personally, he said,
because an election loss would have a high cost for his
political future. He will conduct an intense campaign. The
PLD planned to announce most of its candidates for the
congressional and municipal elections on January 30 (Note:
This announcement was subsequently postponed until February

5. End note.); Dominguez Brito said he would announce his
bid separately. He asked the USG to hold this information
closely until then.


4. (SBU) Dominguez Brito is generally regarded as an
individual of principle, a view shared by the Ambassador and
Embassy staff. He ran for the same senate seat in 2002 and
narrowly lost. He believes that operatives from he PRD, his
opponent's party, carried out electoral fraud. "And they are
still there." Dominguez Brito is widely viewed as a
potential presidential candidate, if not in 2008 then in 2012
or later.


5. (C) The AG said that, if opposition parties' "pink
alliance" holds, his most likely adversary on May 16 will be
PRD elder Rafael Abinader, university rector and unsuccessful
aspirant for the PRD's 2004 presidential election. Embassy
shares the AG's view that if Abinader becomes the opposition
candidate, Dominguez Brito is likely to win.


6. (C) Deputy AG Rodolfo Espineira Ceballos will run the
Justice Ministry during the AG's leave. Dominguez Brito
believes that if he wins, his most likely successor as
Attorney General will be presidential legal Cesar Pina
Toribio. Dominguez Brito sees Pina Toribio as an honest
legal expert favoring an institutional approach with ethical
weight and strong ties to civil society groups and to the
Supreme Court. Comment: We know that President Fernandez
thinks highly of Pina Toribio, but do not know whom he would
pick. End comment.


7. (U) The Ambassador expressed appreciation for the Attorney
General's close collaboration with the Embassy over the past
17 months on law enforcement, judicial system reform,
improving respect for human rights, and measures concerning
counternarcotics and trafficking in persons. He said the USG
looks forward to a continued productive relationship with him
and any eventual successor as AG. The AG expressed similar
appreciation for USG support.

Money Laundering
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8. (C) The Ambassador spoke of the need for Dominican
authorities to investigate money laundering in this country
by Nicaraguan ex-president Aleman (Ref A). The AG
acknowledged that the United States and Nicaragua had asked
him to pursue this topic last year, but he had never received
the originals of documents requested from Nicaraguan
authorities. Earlier the same day he had spoken with
Nicaragua's Attorney General, who replied that he had
dispatched the documents last June 5. Dominguez Brito said
he had never received them. The two agreed to task their
staffs to locate the missing materials and deliver them as
soon as possible. With those in hand, the Dominican
authorities can investigate. Dominguez Brito said he had
discussed the matter with Hieromy Castro of the Financial
Investigation Unit of the Superintendency of Banks.



9. (C) The Ambassador inquired about evidence collected by
DEA that two prominent politicians -- ruling PLD secretary
general Reinaldo Pared Perez and opposition PRSC secretary
general Victor Gomez Casanova -- had acquired luxury
apartments paid for in cash from the Ulloa brothers,
subsequently extradited to the United States to face drug
trafficking charges. Dominguez Brito indicated that no
investigation of the two politicians was contemplated, on
grounds of insufficient evidence; "hundreds of businessmen
buy similar properties," he said. He dismissed the idea that
the PLD was removing him from the AG position in order to
protect party members

Drug Trafficking
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10. (C) Dominguez Brito expressed disappointment that so far,
U.S. investigators of extradited drug traffickers, including
Quirino Paulino and the Ulloa brothers, had not provided
evidence implicating others still in the Dominican
Republic,and implied that the slowness of the U.S. cases hurt
the ability to hold and prosecute additional persons
connected with Quirino in the Dominican Republic. He noted
the recent Dominican judicial decision to release alleged
Quirino accomplice Eleuterio Guante for lack of sufficient
evidence. He asserted that many high-ranking military
officers in the Mejia administration, such as former
Dominican army commander Gen. Zorrilla Ozuna, had received
money from the Quirino gang or other traffickers.
Traffickers in the barrios buy protection from police and
military personnel. Also he asserted that Quirino's band is
still operating under the leadership of one of his family
members.

Extraditions
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11. (C) The Ambassador expressed disappointment that the
names of four persons whom the United States had requested in
extradition had been published this month in local
newspapers. The news of the Supreme Court's issuance of
extradition orders was published before the suspects could be
located and detained. The AG acknowledged a procedural error
within his office, which was being investigated, and he
undertook to tighten and clarify the procedures. He believed
that the press leak had come from "a secretary." He informed
us that, despite this, one of the persons wanted for
extradition had already been arrested.

Trafficking in Persons
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12. (C) The Ambassador reiterated to Dominguez Brito our
concern that Dominican authorities need to prosecute and
convict more traffickers in persons under the Dominican
Republic's 2003 TIP law. The DCM asked about a couple of
potential cases.


13. (C) Noting that assembling documentary evidence can be
difficult, the AG promised to review Dominican progress with
Assistant Attorney General for TIP Frank Soto to see if any
cases could be moved along. On a positive note, the AG said
that some of the trafficking networks that existed in 2003,
such as one that trafficked Dominican women to Argentina, had
been dismantled. Trafficking had shifted toward other
regions such as eastern Europe.

Prisoner Transfer Treaty
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14. (C) The Ambassador asked about prospects that the
Dominican Republic might join a multilateral treaty on
prisoner transfers. While keeping alive the prospect of
eventually joining such a treaty, the AG expressed concern
over how many prisoners might take advantage of the treaty to
return and, if they did, where the Dominican Government could
put them. "There is no place to put 2000-3000 repatriated
prisoners," he said. The Ambassador suggested consideration
of privately operated penal facilities, but Dominguez Brito
countered that such a solution would be very expensive. The
AG said Dominican authorities were working to improve prison
conditions, and he invited the Ambassador to visit one or
more newly renovated and reformed prisons.

Killings by Police
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15. (C) The Ambassador raised the issue of indiscriminate
extra-judicial killings by police in so-called exchanges of
gunfire. The AG said that in December the number of such
killings was at the lowest point in years, at 14 for that
month -- a holiday season that has usually shown an increase
over the average rate. Official figures indicate that the
number of such killings had declined steadily since June.
The AG attributed this reduction to the appointment of a new
police chief in August, more vigorous investigation of
policemen suspected of unjustified killings, implementation
of the ciminal procedures code, and the effects since early
2005 of the government's "Plan for Democratic Security."

Haiti
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16. (C) On Haiti and recent incidents involving Haitian
immigrants in the Dominican Republic, Dominguez Brito
disagreed with those who would characterize as anti-Haitian
the attacks in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Santo
Domingo on January 22, which left 81 persons, mostly of
Haitian origin, homeless and injured 10 or more. He
acknowledged that a disturbance on the Dominican-Haitian
border (Ref B) had been motivated by national resentments.
Normally, Haitians and Dominicans live and work together
peacefully, he said. He expressed concern over various
recent outbreaks of hostility. As for Haiti's problems, he
informally urged the United States to rebuild institutions
there and improve conditions for the people, especially via
education. "You should stay for 10 years, not less."
HERTELL